When I first saw the trailer for this film, I was very sceptical to see it. It looked very weird and not that interesting. Then I heard the really good reviews and decided to give it a chance and I'm glad I did because it's a good film with a lot of surprises and twists.
First the cast and acting are fantastic. The two standouts are Samara Weaving as Grace and Henry Czerny as Tony. Grace goes from a happy blushing bride to a total badass. She brings confusion, grit, terror, tension and pain to her performance so so well. Tony is very OTT with his outbursts and that's what makes him so good. His outbursts are very funny and memorable and he's a psychotic villain who you just find entertaining to watch. Adam Brody and Mark O'Brien were also fantastic but Samara and Henry were my standouts.
The plot sounds weird reading it but watching it, it all becomes very entertaining to watch but there are two things this film does that really works; Character development and smart humour. Adam brodys character Daniel is the most developed in this film because he is very interesting and unpredictable. You know he doesn't want to kill Grace but he has to so it ensures the families survival and you just left wondering whether he'll help her or kill her.
The humour is also spot on. There's some memorable laugh out loud and scripted comedy moments and character reactions that really steal the show. One scene involving one of the family members and a crossbow is the funniest scene and perfectly timed and all of this just works because of the directors. I'm not familiar with their work but they are serious rising stars for the future. How they mixed the tension, humour, scares and OTT moments shouldn't work but does brilliantly. The tone and cinematography reminded me of a gothic type genre film.
What also impressed me was the film was at times it plays with our expectations and twists them. We think grace going to spend the entire film at the house and instead at one point she actually makes it out. She's seen wielding a shotgun to defend herself and the gun turns out to be a fake.
My main criticism though is the character of Helene. I feel she was underused too much in spite for comedy. She is a seriously creepy woman and has some tense scenes with Grace but I felt there was a showdown due between them but they mainly used her for comedy which I felt was a missed opportunity. Also I mentioned she was a creepy woman but I think she was a bit too creepy. Some scenes made her a bit either non human (which is saying something considering the family are psychopaths) or a bit pantomime creepy.
Also I thought some of the gore was forced at the end. Throughout the film, the gore we see is very storyline and character led but the ending made me feel the gore was forced to make it even gorier. I also at first had an issue with the ending but after reading the plot and really thinking it through, I'm more satisfied with the ending than I was before.
Overall this is a risky but very well made film which is entertaining, funny and will please a lot of movie goers.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Saturday, September 28, 2019
Friday, September 13, 2019
Crawl Review
I had quite a bit of anticipation for this movie since I'm a fan of these type of films but I didn't realise how much I'd like it. It's very well made, plausibly written and well acted. Yes the plot of a category 5 hurricane hitting where the main characters live while getting attacked by alligators in their basement is far fetched but it's fun and entertaining.
The star of this film though isn't any of the actors or the alligators but in fact director, Alexander Aja. I've seen and liked a lot of his films and like this one, you can see how well he's directed it. One thing I've noticed watching his films is he likes to develop his characters and this film is no exception. The two main characters are very well developed to the point you actually hope they make it out alive.
He also manages to avoid any cliches or any predictable scare moments. There are scenes you think the alligators are going to strike and instead they actually appear where you least expect it. There's one scene where one character swims through a pipedrain and you start to predict the worst case scenario but that doesn't happen either. I was very impressed how he avoided these moments.
The main actors of this film are also standouts. Even though you can imagine other actors in these roles, Kaya Scodelario and Barry Pepper give fantastic performances. Scodelario's character, Haley is very likable and she proves to be quite selfless and caring when she goes to extreme measures to check on her father. One key element in her character is she's a swimmer and she's able to use that to her advantage with some dangerous situations. I'm glad this element wasn't underused or forgotten.
Her father, Dave starts out as a jerk at first but as the film progresses, you start to see he does love his daughter even if he doesn't show it at times. As the film progresses, the dialogue between the two characters helps us care for them more and as I said before, makes us hope they make it out in one piece.
What is also great about the film is it has that tense feeling that the alligators could to strike when the characters are forced to venture into the water. There are also some clever set ups where Haley and Dave have to use the house to help avoid the alligators, the bathroom scene is my favourite. What's also entertaining is somehow things start to get worse and worse for them as the water rises constantly and it's fun to see them both get out of these situations.
Now my only criticism is even though it's revealed how the alligators haven't gotten into the basement, it's not exactly revealed how the alligators got into the area of where they live. What was also frustrating was the amount of people we saw the alligators kill and they couldn't even kill Haley or Dave. At least one of the side characters could have provided some help to the characters and instead they were killed within 5 minutes of appearing.
Despite these little criticisms, this is a very entertaining, tense and fun film that has a fantastic cast and a satisfying ending.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
The star of this film though isn't any of the actors or the alligators but in fact director, Alexander Aja. I've seen and liked a lot of his films and like this one, you can see how well he's directed it. One thing I've noticed watching his films is he likes to develop his characters and this film is no exception. The two main characters are very well developed to the point you actually hope they make it out alive.
He also manages to avoid any cliches or any predictable scare moments. There are scenes you think the alligators are going to strike and instead they actually appear where you least expect it. There's one scene where one character swims through a pipedrain and you start to predict the worst case scenario but that doesn't happen either. I was very impressed how he avoided these moments.
The main actors of this film are also standouts. Even though you can imagine other actors in these roles, Kaya Scodelario and Barry Pepper give fantastic performances. Scodelario's character, Haley is very likable and she proves to be quite selfless and caring when she goes to extreme measures to check on her father. One key element in her character is she's a swimmer and she's able to use that to her advantage with some dangerous situations. I'm glad this element wasn't underused or forgotten.
Her father, Dave starts out as a jerk at first but as the film progresses, you start to see he does love his daughter even if he doesn't show it at times. As the film progresses, the dialogue between the two characters helps us care for them more and as I said before, makes us hope they make it out in one piece.
What is also great about the film is it has that tense feeling that the alligators could to strike when the characters are forced to venture into the water. There are also some clever set ups where Haley and Dave have to use the house to help avoid the alligators, the bathroom scene is my favourite. What's also entertaining is somehow things start to get worse and worse for them as the water rises constantly and it's fun to see them both get out of these situations.
Now my only criticism is even though it's revealed how the alligators haven't gotten into the basement, it's not exactly revealed how the alligators got into the area of where they live. What was also frustrating was the amount of people we saw the alligators kill and they couldn't even kill Haley or Dave. At least one of the side characters could have provided some help to the characters and instead they were killed within 5 minutes of appearing.
Despite these little criticisms, this is a very entertaining, tense and fun film that has a fantastic cast and a satisfying ending.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Friday, September 6, 2019
IT Chapter 2 Review
This film could have been one of those films where it's highly anticipated but once released turns out to be highly disappointing. It has happened so many times, however this is not the case. Now this is not as good as Chapter one but it is just as good. It's a definite worthy sequel which captures the same heart, soul, humour and scares.
Now I'll start with the negatives to get them out of the way. Now I get Henry Bowers is a big part of the book and the original adaptation but in this version, he seems very out of place, irrelevant to the plot and doesn't make the impact it should. It feels like they forced him into the film just because he was part of the book where really, he could and should have been cut out of it.
Also there's some development of Richie thats hints the character is gay but it's left to the viewers to decide whether it's true or not but I would have liked Richie to confirm it himself as I feel that would have really deepened his character.
Now the rest of the film is pure praise. Let's start with saying chapter 2 is a lot better than the original second half of the adaptation. The second half back then felt rushed at times and the ending was disappointing. IT took the form of a giant spider, Eddie died of a heart attack and remaining survivors tipped the spider over and ripped it's insides out so the characters never got the closure of the evil clown who made their childhood a misery. This sequel is so much better and you definitely get the sense of closure for the characters.
Now let's move onto the cast. I don't know how but the actors are all perfectly cast as the Losers. Its like they were all made for the roles but the best two actors of the group are Bill Hadar as Richie Tozier and James Ransome as Eddie Kaspbrak. As soon as these two appear onscreen, you instantly know who these two are playing and the chemistry between these two as friends are fantastic.
Ransome really captures Eddie's insecure, paranoid and germaphobic personality and Eddie gets a great character arc which makes his death much betterly handled and a really sad moment but Hadar really is the star of the show. Richie was the best character in chapter one and that doesn't change in chapter two. He has some hilarious one liners and some real comedic moments. When Hadars casting was first announced, I felt he was more of a comedy actor and was unsure he could do horror but how wrong was I. He brought some genuine terror to his performance as well as comedy.
Also as I mentioned before, there some hints that Richie is gay which as first seems out of nowhere but if you really think about it, it's very clever. Richie, in chapter one was always the loudmouth of the group, always going on about having a "long lang" and joking about his friends being virgins which can be seen as him trying to prove he's straight. Plus it was the 80s. Homosexuality was still something a lot of people wanted to hide in those times.
Now Bill Skarsgard was once again phenomenal as Pennywise. In this film, as well as terror and charm, there's one scene where he brings emotions to the point where some of us can actually feel sorry for him. Yes he uses this to manipulate a little girl for him to eat but it's still a touching, genuine moment and Skarsgard really pulls it off effortlessly.
There's also a lot of genuine scares and some very creative entities. The horrific old naked lady is horrible to look at, the demon Pomeranian is a clear stand out and the Stanley Uris spider head (no I didn't just make that up) is extremely gruesome and it's hard not to watch it without looking away and director Andy Muschetti really does a fantastic job with these scares and telling this story. He creates such tension and in the 3rd act, he crafts it perfectly. There are times in the 3rd act where it gets very psychological and how Muschetti directs it all fantastically. He's really delved into tbe world of Pennywise and created such brilliant and loveable characters.
As well as chapter one, there's some really touching and beautifully filmed moments between each character and they all get their moment to shine. They also venture on their own to rediscover themselves and the cleverly edited flashbacks really help with that.
This is probably one of the longest horror films ever but I didn't mind the runtime. It felt really nicely paced and came naturally with the story that was being told. The scenes with the adults going on their own journey was a genius decision as it helps viewers really connect with them just like we connected with the kids.
Ultimately there may be some misteps which prevents this installment from being better than chapter one but it still contains the humour, scares, heart, soul and such captivating performances which makes this a truly worthy sequel and a fantastic and pleasant conclusion to the story of Pennywise.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Now I'll start with the negatives to get them out of the way. Now I get Henry Bowers is a big part of the book and the original adaptation but in this version, he seems very out of place, irrelevant to the plot and doesn't make the impact it should. It feels like they forced him into the film just because he was part of the book where really, he could and should have been cut out of it.
Also there's some development of Richie thats hints the character is gay but it's left to the viewers to decide whether it's true or not but I would have liked Richie to confirm it himself as I feel that would have really deepened his character.
Now the rest of the film is pure praise. Let's start with saying chapter 2 is a lot better than the original second half of the adaptation. The second half back then felt rushed at times and the ending was disappointing. IT took the form of a giant spider, Eddie died of a heart attack and remaining survivors tipped the spider over and ripped it's insides out so the characters never got the closure of the evil clown who made their childhood a misery. This sequel is so much better and you definitely get the sense of closure for the characters.
Now let's move onto the cast. I don't know how but the actors are all perfectly cast as the Losers. Its like they were all made for the roles but the best two actors of the group are Bill Hadar as Richie Tozier and James Ransome as Eddie Kaspbrak. As soon as these two appear onscreen, you instantly know who these two are playing and the chemistry between these two as friends are fantastic.
Ransome really captures Eddie's insecure, paranoid and germaphobic personality and Eddie gets a great character arc which makes his death much betterly handled and a really sad moment but Hadar really is the star of the show. Richie was the best character in chapter one and that doesn't change in chapter two. He has some hilarious one liners and some real comedic moments. When Hadars casting was first announced, I felt he was more of a comedy actor and was unsure he could do horror but how wrong was I. He brought some genuine terror to his performance as well as comedy.
Also as I mentioned before, there some hints that Richie is gay which as first seems out of nowhere but if you really think about it, it's very clever. Richie, in chapter one was always the loudmouth of the group, always going on about having a "long lang" and joking about his friends being virgins which can be seen as him trying to prove he's straight. Plus it was the 80s. Homosexuality was still something a lot of people wanted to hide in those times.
Now Bill Skarsgard was once again phenomenal as Pennywise. In this film, as well as terror and charm, there's one scene where he brings emotions to the point where some of us can actually feel sorry for him. Yes he uses this to manipulate a little girl for him to eat but it's still a touching, genuine moment and Skarsgard really pulls it off effortlessly.
There's also a lot of genuine scares and some very creative entities. The horrific old naked lady is horrible to look at, the demon Pomeranian is a clear stand out and the Stanley Uris spider head (no I didn't just make that up) is extremely gruesome and it's hard not to watch it without looking away and director Andy Muschetti really does a fantastic job with these scares and telling this story. He creates such tension and in the 3rd act, he crafts it perfectly. There are times in the 3rd act where it gets very psychological and how Muschetti directs it all fantastically. He's really delved into tbe world of Pennywise and created such brilliant and loveable characters.
As well as chapter one, there's some really touching and beautifully filmed moments between each character and they all get their moment to shine. They also venture on their own to rediscover themselves and the cleverly edited flashbacks really help with that.
This is probably one of the longest horror films ever but I didn't mind the runtime. It felt really nicely paced and came naturally with the story that was being told. The scenes with the adults going on their own journey was a genius decision as it helps viewers really connect with them just like we connected with the kids.
Ultimately there may be some misteps which prevents this installment from being better than chapter one but it still contains the humour, scares, heart, soul and such captivating performances which makes this a truly worthy sequel and a fantastic and pleasant conclusion to the story of Pennywise.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
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