Tenet

This year has not gone the way we planned at all and I honestly didn't think we would get any new theatrically released films this year. However now cinemas are open, I went yesterday for the first time in six months to see Tenet and it was a great experience.

Without question, the best thing about this film is you can feel it's a Christopher Nolan film literally as soon as it starts. With the camera looming over a certain area and when that score starts to play, you feel Christopher Nolans mark on the film and you feel his ambitious and powerful direction throughout the film.

What I also really liked about the film was his execution of the concept. Because of all the secrecy of the films story, I'm gonna be respectful towards it and not reveal any spoilers or at least try not to. But what I will say is he finds a way to execute the concept with it realistically embodied in the real world and without it looking extremely cartoonish. Christopher Nolan is very good at taking concepts like this films one and transforming them into big movie blockbusters. It feels like he's the only director in this world who can do that and that makes me excited for his future films.

And as this is a Christopher Nolan film, you've got to talk about the cast and once again, he's got a very strong cast on him. John David Washington is proving to be a real chip off the old block in regards his father and a real rising star. I really enjoyed his performance in Blackkklansman and he gives a fantastic performance in this film. Its really nice to see Robert Pattinson return to more worldwide films since he's been doing more indie films since his twilight days but he's also great in this film. Elizabeth Debecki and Kenneth branagh also give great performances as well.

There's also some really great sequences and stunt work in this film. Once again, I'm not going to give any details but the stunts we see are very Christopher Nolan-esque and it's hard to tell if they were practical stunts or filmed in a studio. My money would go on the former.

And finally, the visual effects are just incredible. Everything that happened in this film looked so believable and it's really hard to imagine how this film was made without any special effects. Its one of those situations where you think "making this film must have been so boring in compared to watching it" and I say that as a really good thing.

Onto the mixed aspect in the film, it's actually in regards of Michael Caines addition. It's nice to see him in appear in films but whilst he had a good screen presence in this film, he's not in it much at all. In fact, he's only in it for one scene and by the end of the film, you actually forget he was in it so it makes me wonder if it would affect the plot if you cut him out of the film.

Another mixed aspect are the action scenes; now at times they are very were crafted, staged and well choreographed but there's times where they look really odd or they're edited quite choppily.

Now onto the negatives; now before I go on any further, I just want to say I am not saying there's anything wrong with this film or Christopher Nolan does anything wrong. I am just talking about how I felt about my experience with this film. Whilst I enjoyed the concept and the execution, watching this film ended feeling like a chore because the entire time, I kept wondering what the story was. And that was the big problem for me. This film can get extremely confusing at times and that is due to the fact I struggled to understand the main story. Even when the concept of Tenet is being explained, I had trouble processing what was being said.

Now there's times where I was on board and following the film quite well but very quickly, it became very confusing again and that stopped me enjoying the film all the way through. This is a film where I think I'll need to rewatch it but maybe with someone else so I can see what they think and they can help me out if I'm having trouble following it.

Also now this is a bit of a nitpick but it bothered me that John David Washingtons character didn't have a name. It confused me when I saw he was just credited as the protagonist and I wondered maybe there was a reason why his name hasn't been revealed. And by the end of the film, he had no name and I just felt it was very odd. Especially when during the film, several people ask his name and he shrugs it off by changing the topic.

Overall, this is a well crafted, visually stunning and ambitious film which is not necessarily Christopher Nolans best but it's still an impressive, well made film that I wish I enjoyed me if I didn't spend the entire time being confused.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Eurovision

From the moment I first heard of this film, I honestly just rolled my eyes and assumed it would be another Will Ferrell over the top man child film and from what I saw, it pretty much is that.

There are some positives however. First and foremost, the best thing about this film is Rachel McAdams. She plays the most likable character and she has a great screen presence. Also she has got a fantastic singing voice. Now granted, I have no idea if any auto-tune was used but if there wasn't then wow she has got one hell of a voice.

The songs are also very good and catchy. They're not the best written songs but they are very catchy and are good at getting stuck in your head and when the final song is played in the 3rd act, it's a situation where you just get caught up in the moment and can't help jamming away.

Finally and it's not often I do this sort of praise but I really liked the production to this film. I don't know if they filmed in a studio or at an arena for the Eurovision scenes but you really believe they're at an actual arena especially with all the sound design and lighting.

Unfortunately we've got to talk about the bad and the biggest problem with this film is Will Ferrell himself. His character, like a lot of his film characters, is very unlikable and pretty much every scene he's in just brings the film down and makes Rachel mcAdams seem inferior. It did not surprise me at all when I found out he wrote this film. You can tell it's a typical Will Ferrell film.

This is quite frustrating for me because I do like Will Ferrell, I do think he's a good actor but I also feel he is his own worst enemy because he comes up with these great ideas for films but he's obsessed with his outdated style of comedy, he makes the film worse.

Watching this film, I really felt Rachel McAdams could have carried this entire film on her own. This is the second time I've watched a Will Ferrell film and thought "I really believe there is a great film in here". In fact I want to make a prediction: I reckon if this was a drama starring Rachel McAdams with a hint of comedy in it about her character achieving her dream, this film would almost definitely make my top 10 of the year maybe even top 5. I know I'm spending a lot of time on this but I just wanted to get it off my chest.

Also this film just isn't funny at all. There was only one scene that made me laugh, the rest of it just made me roll my eyes or cringe and spending of cringe, the dialogue is just awful. There's a sense where Will Ferrell stuffs something down his pants and says "I need to make my ding dong look bigger" it's lines and attempted humour like that that shows that Will Ferrell needs to change his humour up otherwise in 10 years time, we may hear very little from him.

Overall while this isn't a terrible film, I can't say it's a good film either. With a different script and direction, this could be a major hit but at least we have some catchy songs and a great performance from Rachel McAdams.

⭐⭐

Onward

 This is a film I wasn't necessarily interested in but since there are no new films coming out any time soon, I decided to check it out and for the most of it, I actually really enjoyed it.

Starting with the positives, this is just a simple fun adventure film that knows what it wants to be and it doesn't overstay it's welcome.

The voice acting is also fantastic. Tom Holland and Chris Pratt are perfectly casted as Elf Brothers Ian and Barley, to the point where you look at the characters designs and personalities and I just cannot imagine anybody else voicing these two.

As this is a pixar film, most of the stories they come up with are always emotionally satisfying and connect with audiences and they don't stop here. The main story is a very heartfelt one that will connect to a fair amount of young people out there and the emotion is used really well throughout the film.

Finally, this is a very funny film. A lot of the jokes work really well and I was laughing the whole way through.

On a mixed aspect, it took me a while to get used to the world building. Now usually I always love the world building in a pixar film but for this one, at first I felt the characters quite randomly placed in the film but as it went on, I got more used to it and enjoyed what they did with it.

Now onto the bad and the big problem is the 3rd act. I don't know what happened here but I just didn't connect with it at all. It felt like somebody else stepped in to direct it. There is a very forced action scene placed in that although was foreshadowed in the film earlier, I feel could be edited out and wouldn't affect the film at all and the look of the villain is the most laughable design I've ever seen.

Also how the main story concludes, I found it to be very anticlimactic and personally I feel cheapened the emotion throughout the film. In a way, it reminded me of how I felt about last year's Glass, I understood where the makers were going with the film but it's not the direction I would have gone with.

Besides my thoughts on the 3rd act, this is a very enjoyable fun family film that I do recommend and though it's not pixars best film, it's certainly one of the better ones.

⭐⭐⭐