Candyman 2021

I have been excited for this film for so long. The week it was released, I watched the original film for the first time and I loved it, the sequels I knew wouldn't be necessary to watch but I decided to watch them anyway and although they're not as strong as the first film, I found them very entertaining to watch.

But as for this new direct sequel to the original Candyman, I avoided as many trailers as possible so I could be surprised and I'm not even going to hide it, I loved this film.

Kicking off with the positives, the best thing about this film is it finds a way to expand on the mythology of the Candyman, explore the world building and create new lore whilst staying faithful to the original film. This makes me dislike the sequels more because this feels like the most logical step and direction to take with Candyman but that franchise just wanted a new slasher icon.

The cast is also really good. Yahya Abdul Mateen ll gives a great performance, I've always liked him as an actor and I've never seen him give a bad performance. I also like Teyonah Paris in this film and I can't wait to see what she goes next. The rest of the cast all do a stellar job.

Also we see plenty of the Candyman and you do feel his presence in this film even when you don't actually see him and what this film does wisely is not have him compete with Tony Todd and have him just appear when he needs to.

But the films main asset is the woman of the hour, Nia DaCosta. I am now excited for The Marvels because this woman is a talented director. She has a keen eye when it comes to subtlety which is how I would describe the scares in this film; subtle. They're not in your face, there's no annoying jump scares, in fact I would say they are utilized very well.

I also need to praise John Guleserian for his fantastic use of cinematography because it is an essential key for the kills in this film. First, the use of mirrors mixed with the cinematography is really good and clever at times. It helps enhance the Candymans presence in the film but another way the camerawork is used well is for the kills. Now I love my gore and carnage candy and there's a brutal kill with plenty of that in this film but the way some of the shots are framed and mixed with sound design, it's a rare example of how hearing the kills and seeing them off screen is just as brutal as actually watching them.  There's one kill where the camera pans out more and more into the distance and just the framing of that shot is just visually incredible.

And my final positive is the ending. Without giving spoilers, the ending feels like a worthy and earned ending that is on par and faithful to the original film and also there's one twist in this film that I didn't see coming and it helped me buy into the sequel, why it warranted a sequel and not a remake and it felt very clever as it ties everything together.

With all that said, let's move onto the mixed aspects of the film and the only thing that comes to mind is the actor who portrays The Candyman. Now since he's taking over Tony Todd who is one of the greatest horror icons of all time, it's natural that he would have a difficult role to love up to and I liked him in this film but he didn't do anything that made him pop out to me or do anything more distinct to make the role his own.

Moving onto the negatives now and I did have some issues with this film. First big problem is the pacing and I will blame this on the runtime. Now I get why it was 91 minutes since the franchise has films that are around the 90 minute mark but this feels like a film that need to be at least 2 hours because it has a slow start which I was okay with but as the film goes on, there's scenes that feels like they were edited out and the 3rd act feels very rushed and some characters feel very underdeveloped by the end of the film.

And finally, speaking of characters, there's some characters who feel tonally out of place with the film and have some forced humour which this film did not need.

But besides that, so far this is my favourite horror film of the year and one of my favourite films. It's currently in my top 5 but if the script had a longer runtime, it could have been a bit higher but overall I would highly recommend this film.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Don't Breathe 2

Don't Breathe was one of my biggest surprises and favourite films when it came out. I didn't watch a trailer, I didn't read a plot synopsis, all I did was look at a poster and decided I wanted to see it and excuse the pun but I went in blind and I loved it but when I heard a sequel was being made, I tried to ignore it because a sequel just felt unnecessary.

Starting with the positives, the best thing about this film was Stephen Langs performance. This guy is a great action star who can probably carry his own franchise let alone film. Just like the first film, he's menancing, he's brutal but he's also very human and more vulnerable now that he has something to lose. The actress who plays his daughter is also very good and I can see a big future for her.

The action within this film is really really good also. Great brutal killings, fight scenes that aren't heavily edited and what I like about certain scenes was there was no moment of safety. Even when someone is winning, there's always a dilemma or someone is in danger. It's all very visceral and tense at times.

There's also some nice foreshowing for what events are in store for the film and in particular, how the film ends. It ends on a  very satisfying note. Also there's never a boring moment during this film and especially gets very entertaining during the 3rd act.

However it's not perfect so let's move onto the mixed aspects. And the big thing to talk about is this film doesn't feel like a direct sequel to Don't Breathe. This film feels like a revenge action film starring Stephen Lang as the blind man. There's no direct link to the first film and though there's references to his past, in all honesty, he may as well be playing a different character.

Now moving onto my negatives, my biggest is this film suffers without Fede Alvarez directing. This film is directed by Rodo Sayagues and he does a good job but not as good as Fede Alvarez. In the first film, you could cut the tension with a knife and in this film, you barely feel it. Another aspect of the weaker direction is Sayageus relies on apsects of the previous film to tell the story he's telling and that hurts it a bit.

This film basically rehashes the plot of the first film which doesn't feel as strong as it was and it gets very annoying and feels lazy when it directly copies scenes that were a lot better in the first film.

Another aspect that really hurts the film is the predictability. Whilst this film has good foreshadowing, there's also some massive predictable moments that was not present during the first film especially when you get to the 3rd.

And speaking of the 3rd act, as entertaining as it is, it is incredibly far fetched and requires a lot of suspension of disbelief. From the action, to the injury detail and one plot twist that I cannot believe actually made it to the final draft of the script because it has so many plot holes.

But in general, I did enjoy this film and can definitely rewatch it so I would recommend it to fans of the first film. It's not as strong but definitely has great moments in it.

⭐⭐⭐

Space Jam: A New Legacy

Now in all honesty, I have no past history with Space Jam. I watched it for the first time ever yesterday a couple of hours before I saw Space Jam 2 but I wanted to watch it because it was a sequel to a 90s classic and I did enjoy the first film. I had plenty of nostalgia for the Looney tunes characters and that was my most anticipated moment for this film.

And pretty easily, the Looney Tunes characters and animated segments were my favourite moments. There was plenty of laugh out loud moments and I found them very very funny and the animation for them and the animation throughout the film is really great.

Also this is a film that has a well meaning message that I thought was really nice and will connect with plenty of people.

And finally the performances are really good. LeBron James is very charming throughout the film and Don Cheadle is very entertaining as well. 

Unfortunately that was all I enjoyed of this film so now we need to move onto the negatives. And the big problem with this film is it doesn't feel like a film made by a director with a clear vision. It feels like a studio product taking what was built from the foundation of the first Space Jam film and used to feature previous film adaptations as a meaning to remind audiences of their acclaimed properties and given the history of Warner Bros and the issues and treatment of previous directors and their films, this is a really gross and distasteful idea that I cannot believe this studio has the audacity to do.

Now I could respect this idea if Warner Bros would do this to apologize for their actions and attempt to make amends but instead it feels like they have no consideration or remorse for what they did and instead made a film that feels self-indulgent, pretentious and has studio interference written all over it.

And it doesn't help that they only reference their acclaimed and successful properties. Now yes you could argue that many studios can reference their past work in other films but all that matters with the writing and the writing for these references are just so in your face like they're forcing you to admire their work and with doing that, they're sacrificing a film that could have had a cohesive story and instead gives us a film that feels like a gimmick.

Now moving over from this, this is a film that also suffers from a distinct target demographic. Because they're referencing their past properties and placing them in a film filled with Looney Tunes characters, this begins the question of who this film is targeted to, who would want to watch this film, who is the target audience? And I really don't see a coherent audience being targeted for this film. Some adults may find the Looney tunes segments amusing but overall I don't believe they're not going out of their way to see Space Jam 2 and the children who do see this film are not going to understand all the precious products that are in this film.

Game of thrones scenes are replicated in this film that even if you ignore the fact that Game of thrones ended years ago, children aren't exactly familiar with the characters of that show. The Matrix is featured as well and yes it's a well known film franchise but are children really going to understand the references? Pennywise the Clown is even featured and many children would not be familiar with It. And yes adults would be familiar with these products but Looney Tunes is all through the marketing of this film so they're not going to be interested.

And finally the 3rd act is just too long. Its entertaining at first but it seriously outstays its welcome and eventually becomes a very confusing messy finale.

So overall whilst there are indeed films that's have been released this year that are indeed worse, this is probably the most distasteful film of the year with few redeeming qualities and is not going to age well at all in years to come. I have never said this before about a film but I do hope this film bombs because Warner Bros need to have their eyes opened about how they have treated directors and audiences and choosing to do this as their next film is just a really distasteful thing to do.

⭐⭐

The Suicide Squad

Once this film was announced, I was a little sceptical due to the previous Suicide Squad adaptation and the history of that film. But then James Gunn was announced as the director and then I was all for it. It sounded like the perfect film for him for his sense of humour and he always seems to do a great job at bringing together huge ensemble casts and using them really well.

Starting with the positives for this film, easily the best thing about The Suicide Squad is it is not your everyday traditional superhero film. There's no sentimentality, no hard hitting speeches about family, there's betrayals and back stabbing, this film basically avoids almost every superhero cliche there is. This film also earns its R rating with how brutal, graphic, gory and unapologetically crass it can be and I love it for that. This is how the Suicide Squad should be.

The cast here is really strong. There's too many cast members to mention but all of them feel perfectly cast, get their chance in the spotlight and not one actor gives a bad performance. Their characters are also more fleshed out and developed as the film goes on.

James Gunn does a really good job at directing the action as it is handled and choreographed really well whether that's the fight sequences or the stunt work and alongside that, the production is just incredible especially in the 3rd act where I just started thinking how they possibly filmed it. I love it when I watch a film, I don't see actors on a set or behind a green screen. I see characters in believable environments.

James Gunn also does something that I love that directors are able to do; make me fall in love with animals no matter how small their screen time is. I feel in love with a rat and I never thought I'd say that in a film review.

And finally this is a very funny film. I laughed at almost every single punchline, comedy moment and one liner.

However it's not perfect and I did have some issues so let's move onto the mixed aspects and the first thing is I struggled to feel the chemistry from the group when they were together. By the end of the film, I finally did but the characters seemed to work better on their own or with other characters than the team they're supposed to be.

Next mixed aspect is the main villain of Starro. Now on one hand, you feel this villains presence and what a threat it can be and that is the best thing about this villain. It's also nice to just have a villain that is just there as a threat. No hard hitting motivations, no deep backstory, it's just there to serve a purpose. However, it's a very odd choice to adapt into film and looks very goofy when the 3rd act plays out.

And finally the 3rd act itself I feel will divide viewers because it becomes intense and gripping to watch but then at the same time, it feels extremely cartoonish and goofy to watch. I enjoyed it for what it was but I do feel some viewers will feel how absurd it is.

Onto my main negatives now and first of all, this film never lives up past its opening 10/15 minutes. It feels like James Gunn throws everything at the opening sequence then the rest of the film never feels as exciting as it should be until we get to the 3rd act but that also feels a little lacklustre in comparison to the opening act.

There's also one character I never felt connected to and that is King Shark. Now I don't know what it is about this character but I never liked or cared for him as much as I wanted to and that is very disappointing to me.

Finally there's one action sequence that I thought looked awful. It's all light filtered, has a huge contrivance to make it work and just looks bad to watch.

So overall I don't think it's as good as so many people have made out it is but at the same time, I do think this is a very good film with great performances, good characters, and a great example of a R rated non traditional superhero film.

⭐⭐⭐

Old

M Night Shyamalan always leaves me interested when he has a new movie announcement and I always have a deep respect for him as a filmmaker for always coming up with a original idea.

And that's actually where I'll start with my positives of the film. The concept is actually really interesting and engaging. All the way through the film I was always engaged with the story and never felt bored.

Next I really liked the location setting. Whilst set almost entirely during the day, it's nice for a film to feel atmospherically eerie without having to go dark or have dark settings. The beach was also very creepy at times and like Jaws made people afraid to go in the water, Old has the potential to make people feel afraid of the beach.

I also admire M Night Shyamalan respect for the audience. There's times where something is happening to people and instead of the characters addressing what is happening, it feels like he wants the audience to work out what is happening and for my experience, I found it easy to work out what was happening to the characters. I always like it when films don't overexplain current events. Now soon I'll have something that will compromise that but on this section, I truly admired it.

Unfortunately this film couldn't stick the landing to its premise so we need to move onto the negatives and I'll be honest, I had a lot of issues with this film. Now I'm going to start small and work my way to the big issues.

So first, the camerawork was really distracting because there's multiple times where a scene is framed but some characters are cropped out and whilst that may not sound particularly bad, when you watch it, it feels like a really odd choice. There's one scene where characters are grouped together but the camera is sinking into the water and the group become out of focus or another scene where the group are in a circle and the camera starts turning but it's so fast, the scene becomes blurry and characters talk out of focus. At one point, I started questioning if the cameraman was drunk or something because it began to really annoy me.

Whilst staying onto the technical aspects, the editing is also very frustrating because scenes are cut out at annoying moments. For example, one character is killed off but when they die, the scene cuts their death scene and we don't even get to see their body. Considering this is from the director of the sixth sense that features multiple scary and gory scenes, it confuses me why this decision was even made.

Now I am a big defender of actors because I know how hard it is but there was some really bad acting from several actors. Some were good but others were very bad, especially when it came to their line delivery like the actors didn't really know what they were saying and just went with it.

But the biggest problem with the film is the resolution of the concept. All the negatives I have up above, I could overlook if this film had a way of ending things on a positive note and help me buy the answers that are given to me to the concept and once this film starts giving answers, that is when it started to fall apart for me.

That is when I started noticing multiple plot holes and had more questions than answers towards the end. It starts to get really convoluted to where I couldn't even summarise the answers given to me in a simple sentence. I feel like I need someone to explain to the ending to me in case I missed something.

But my final issue is whilst this is an interesting concept and is the films strongest value, it also becomes the films major flaw as it can't stick to its own rules and at one point, cheats its own story to create new plotlines. This really feels like M Night Shyamalan created the concept, started filming but didn't have a plan for the rest of the film so made everything up as he went along.

So overall, whilst I would say this is not the worst film of the year and is certainly worth a least one watch to experience it, this is probably the most flawed film of the year and it's a real shame. I really wanted to be more positive.

⭐⭐