Cherry

Considering this is the Russo Brothers post Endgame movie which stars Tom Holland, one of the youngest A list actors in Hollywood today, this was one of my most anticipated movies of the year.

Kicking off with the positives, Tom Holland just steals the show with his performance. He's able to bring up so many different emotions during this film whilst keeping his natural charisma and it's just impressive with how he does this. He's really proving He is a very versatile actor and I'm excited to see his future projects.

I also really like the concept of the story. It's a story that feels like an obvious Oscar pick but is also a very character driven story and those are usually my favourite types of stories in films.

Finally I really appreciate that whilst this is a more smaller scale film, it's also feels as ambitious as their previous projects. 

But unfortunately I was massively disappointed in this film so it's time to move onto the negatives and the biggest problem with this film is the execution of its story. As I said before, this feels like an obvious Oscar pick but I doubt it will even be considered now and it breaks my heart to say this but I have to put it down to the Russo Brothers direction.

This is basically a simple tragic character story that should be easy to follow but it feels like the Russo Brothers want it to be more than that. It feels like they want to separate themselves from their previous MCU ventures whilst keeping the ambitious feelings in their movies and I can appreciate and respect that but this film is simply too ambitious. It should be a more grounded, independent feeling film and the films story execution suffers as a result as it gets too drawn out and at times the storytelling feels very messy due to its stylistic tone.

That's another issue with the film. It's stylistic tone is again too much. The Russo Brothers don't seem to know what kind of aesthetic to use for the film so they just use a whole bunch of them. There's different visual cues, cinematography changes, there's a couple of times Tom Hollands character breaks the 4th wall and unfortunately these aesthetics never seem to suit this film at any point.

Finally and this really bugged me but this film is overbundled with narration to the point where it just gets annoying. I don't mind narration in films but not to the point where it treating the audience like idiots and explaining every little detail to them.

Overall this is easily the most disappointing film of the year for me so far. I really wanted to enjoy it but I just didn't. It's simply too much for how little the story is and I do blame the Russos for this films faults.

⭐⭐

Zack Snyders Justice League

This film I have been curious about but was never fully excited until it's final couple of months before release. I always felt it would be better than the monstrous justice league we got before but I wasn't sure how much better it would be.

But to my surprise and to kick off the positives, this is so much better than I expected it to be. It exceeded all my expectations. Every scene we get, even the ones I wasn't a fan of which I will elaborate on later, is so much better than the 2017 version. I truly love that we got Zack Snyders true vision for what he wanted his fans to see.

My next positives have to go to the characterisations for the entire justice league. Watching this film just showed how much was cut from the 2017 version and that costed characterisation and development but this film makes up for it with big spoonfuls and the cast make up for it for their fantastic performances. Bruce Waynes character arc is just fantastic going from the cynical old man Batman, who was against alien life to the man who forms the Justice League to make up for his mistakes.

Victor Stone/Cyborg gets the best development however as we learn how he became Cyborg, what his life was like before, how much he is struggling with his new life and anger toward his father and eventually accepts his new life. Ray Fisher plays him brilliantly and after everything that happened to him with Warner bros, I hope this helps kick start his career again.

Ezra Miller as Barry Allen also improves amongst this film. I have always liked him in this role but his utilisation was really off. He is used much better and seems to have a place within the team. He gets some good action scenes and again some good character development. Wonder woman and Aquaman are also fantastic in this film. They help fill in the teams dynamic. I also just loved how this film seemed to give homage to Man of Steel with Superman flying for the first time in his black costume with that powerful Han Zimmer Man of Steel score.

The team undergoes so major and much improved development as a whole since in the 2017 version, I never felt any chemistry amongst the members in that film. This film feels like a three act structure where the team form their alliance, the cracks eventually start to show during the middle of the film and eventually form a plan and work as a team to defeat the main antagonist. The team earns their chemistry and have some great moments during the final battle.

And what an improved score this film has. The Justice League 2017 was just dull and forgettable even when the film was playing. This one is so much better and feels more powerful especially during the final battle and when a major character appears who I'll talk about in the next section.

Now let's talk about the man himself. Darkseid. Yes he appears in this film and his presence is severely felt despite his limited screentime. You just feel how intimidating this character is and why the characters should fear him. Where the MCU had Thanos, the DCEU has Darkseid. Now I don't know if Darkseid will be as brilliant as Thanos but this is one hell of an impressive start.

And finally I just loved how much effort Zack Snyder put into this to make this the film of his career. You feel his stylistic direction, the tone fits his creative style and his precious two films, there are some fantastic and incentive action sequences, the conclusion to the final fight is so much more satisfying and after the ending we get, I want the films that are set up after this. I want a Ben Affleck Batman film or series, I want Justice League sequels especially after what I heard about what Zack Snyders plans are. It makes me excited just thinking about it.

Oh and just some minor praises but the green screen is so much better in this film. All the environments looks so much more real than the previous film. Also I loved the Joker and Batman confrontation scene. Such powerful dialogue between these two and that one scene just shows what a complex relationship they have. And speaking of the dialogue, we get some fantastic and badass lines from our characters.

Moving onto the mixed aspect now and there's a few things. First let's talk about the obvious one. The 4 hour runtime. This is a widely debated runtime that has had praise and criticism all over the reviews I've seen. Now I had no issue with the runtime. Despite it being a 4 hour film it seemed to go really fast and move at a really nice pace. It never felt like it was dragging on. I think the best way to go into this film is to know what genre fan you are. For example the Irishman a couple of years ago is a three hour and a half long film and I couldn't watch that because I'm not a gangster/mob film fan. But because I love superhero films, I could watch a three hour long avengers film or a 4 hour long Justice League film so just know who you are before watching.

My next mixed thought is the main villain for this film Stepponwolf. Now I didn't think I'd ever say this but he is a much better villain than he was before. He gets some decent development and motivation and I love his cooler design. Unfortunately he still felt like a generic and forgettable villain. I saw tweets from people saying he's one of the best villains now and I just don't agree with that. He's much better but not fantastic.

My final mixed thought is the 4.3 aspect ratio. Now I understand Zack Snyder used Imax cameras which means the aspects ratio shows at the side of the screens instead of top and bottom. Now at first it really bugged me but as the film went on, I got used to it and it didn't affect my thoughts on the film but at times I noticed some characters faces were cut off because of it and it just looked odd to me.

Onto the negatives and there are a few things. First I never liked Supermans resurrection storyline in the previous film and whilst he obviously gets resurrected in this film, for those who haven't seen it yet I won't spoil it but I didn't like how he resurrected in this version either. Its just very uninteresting to me. I would have preferred a fan theory that I read online which feels interesting and also fits in with that final scene in Batman v Superman. And we get that awful 'You smell nice! Did I not before?' line and I really hated that line in the previous film.

Also I really wish they changed The Flashs suit design because again I never like it before and I still don't like it now. It looks too overdesigned in my opinion. We also get Barry and Iris's romance setup during this film and it felt so awkward and forced for me. I'm not going into spoilers but you'll know what I mean when you see it.

My final negative is for the marketing because some characters are heavily marketed for the film and have very little screentime. I also avoided almost all the trailers and it shocked me how many trailers were released for this film. Because I didn't watch them all, I can't comment on what was in them but it's like Snyder didn't think anyone would watch this film so he decided to show as much as possible to the audience.

Despite these negatives, this is a film that was wanted by so many fans and could have failed but luckily was a massive success for me personally. I loved watching this film and is officially my favourite film of the year. Everything in this film felt earned in a lot of ways and this could be my favourite film in the DCEU.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Raya and the last Dragon

Now I'll be honest. If this film had come out in the cinema, I probably wouldn't have watched it but since cinemas are still closed, I just figured why not and I've paid for premier access with Mulan so it made no difference to me.

Starting with the positives, I'll just say right now I really really enjoyed this film. This was a fresh, exciting and fun film to watch that I think a lot of people will enjoy as well.

What I loved most though is how creative and imaginative this film is. While there are aspects to it that aren't entirely original, there's plenty of moments that feels new and has fresh ideas to explore. This also feels like an ambitious which you don't really get from animated features.

At the beginning, we learn about what this film is about, there's plenty of interesting worldbuilding and it just feels like the writers knew what they were making, like they really thought this film through and had a clear vision. There's clear motivations, a straightforward story and it all feels like one whole cohesive and a well crafted story.

The characters are fantastic and fun to watch. Raya herself gets some strong character development which I'll elaborate on more later but you understand why she is the way she is and she is voiced greatly by Kelly Marie Tran who I hope gets more roles in the future. She was unfairly treated during her star wars days and the trolls who horribly abused her the way they did should be ashamed of themselves.

Awkwafina is just flawless as Sisu and really steals the screen. She's just so likable and charming to watch and I loved her characters design. I don't know why but there's just something about the way her character looked that always made me laugh but not only that, her characters naivety just helps make her cute and even more likeable. That's probably the best thing about the characters. They're all just so likable and get their moment to shine. Even the minor characters and also the villain of the film get a some great development so they don't feel one dimensional or forgettable.

But the one thing that I noticed and what made me grow enjoy this film even more was that this is a thematically rich film as it focuses on the theme of Trust and that is references at so many points throughout the film and helps with the development of characters. It's how you understand Raya, it's how it makes Sisu a more fun character to watch, it even drives the story forward at times and makes the films conclusions more ballsy and ambitious. That is how you have a great usage of a films main theme.

This film is also beautiful to look at. The animation is gorgeous to watch and has a nice aesthetic to it. This is probably one of the best looking animated films and there's different types of animation used throughout which makes sense storyline wise.

Finally I was very impressed with the marketing as it hides a major plot point of the story that I didn't see in the trailer I watched. I even watched one of the other trailers to it and it hid that main segment to the story really well. I love that we can still get trailers that don't spoil the film.

As we get to the negatives, honestly I only have one and that is the story can feel predictable at times. The first 25% of the film is where you feel it's predictability the most but it also happens frequently throughout the film.

Overall this was a nice surprise and fun film to watch. It has great characters, a great story, beautiful animation and a theme that helps tie it all together.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Coming 2 America

I was mildly anticipated for this film just for the sake it would be a Eddie Murphy comedy and we could all do with a laugh at a time like this. I hadn't seen the first one though so I did a double bill of both films. The first film I liked very much but I didn't love it. I found the story a little unfocused and it has some moments that don't age well.

Starting with the positives, I think it's great to see Eddie Murphy back doing a comedy as it's become rare to see him doing any sort of film, let alone a comedy. He still has his onscreen charisma and charm.

I also think this will bring a lot of nostalgia for the fans of the first film as there's some nice callbacks.

Unfortunately I had a lot of problems with this film so it's time to talk about the negatives and the big problem with this film is it doesn't feel like a sequel to a over 30 year old film. This feels like a generic throwaway comedy and that is really disappointing to me. Take a film like Bad boys for life that so many people has no faith in and turned out to be the best of the franchise and one of the best films of last year, this film should have been on the same track as the original but doesn't come close.

It also feels like there was two films planned but a third wasn't likely so they squeezed two movies of plot into it. You have the story of Akeem looking for his son which feels really rushed and badly written and you have the story of his son following in his father's footsteps which also feels rushed and has moments that doesn't feel earned.

And whilst I did like some callbacks, I'm not going to spoil them but there's too many moments where it feels like it's retreading the first film and it has some odd flashback sequences that are overly long and feels like the director didn't think people would watch the first film so inserted scenes to help them understand this films storyline.

And I could forgive all of this issues if this film made me laugh at least a little bit. Nope! I didn't think it was funny at all. All the jokes fell really flat for me or had me rolling my eyes. The new cast aren't funny, slightly annoying and feel like they're doing an SNL parody for a sequel.

Overall whilst I wasn't a massive fan of the first film, it's far more superior than this attempt for a comedy sequel and it's really disappointing for Eddie Murphy.

⭐⭐

Tom and Jerry

Now I grew up watching Tom and Jerry but I will be honest, I had no faith this film would work at all. First off, I could not imagine Tom and Jerry working as a live action film or as CGI live action characters.

Second, I'm not a fan of Tim story. He's never really had a big film hit and after hearing how he treated Jessica Alba in the Fantastic Four films, it made me dislike him even more.

Third, live action adaptation of previously cartoon shows don't have the best track record of doing well or being solid hits and also after all the controversy that I've heard about Warner bros, that was another reason to be sceptical.

Then I saw the first trailer of the film and it seemed a little odd to have Tom and Jerry as fully animated characters alongside real life human characters so as I said, I could not see any hope for this film. But admittedly, it wasn't as bad as I expected it to be. In fact, I can say this is officially the best live action Tom and Jerry movie I've ever seen.

Starting off the positives, easily the best thing about this film is Tom and Jerry themselves. I will give Tim Story credit for how he managed to envision the title characters. They feel like the same characters we all watched on the old cartoons years ago. Whenever they're onscreen, it's just a lot of fun watching them chase each other all over the place and find creative ways to trap each other. The slapstick humour really works as well. It doesn't feel outdated or feels too dark for a kids film. It always feels suitable enough for the appropriate age group. This films number job had to be getting the title characters right and that is this films biggest achievement.

Surprisingly though the positives don't stop there. Now although there are human characters, it never feels like Tom and Jerry are an afterthought. They get an equal share of screen time just as well as Tom and Jerry and I think that will be appreciated especially from a filmmaking point of view.

I also really liked the hotel setting. It's fun to see Tom and Jerry causing mayhem in the hotel and there are a lot of fun ideas to explore in this hotel with these two characters. It's also fun to see several other character's from the Tom and Jerry shows especially Spike the Bulldog voiced fantastically by Bobby Cannavale.

Finally, I think this film does a good job with targeting their main demographic of audience. The films main is naturally children but I feel film can also be very nostalgic for grownups who grew up watching Tom and Jerry as children and for me, I had plenty of nostalgia.

Moving onto the mixed aspects of the film, the first thing that comes to mind is the choice to make this an animation/live action hybrid film. Now I think this is ultimately the right thing to do since I struggled to imagine the title characters as CGI real life characters but at the same time, at times it did seem odd to see animated characters alongside real life human characters.

Also it makes the worldbuilding feel unexplored. Yes we're watching a Tom and Jerry film but when you watch a film where every animal character is animated and human characters just act like it's normal, that makes intrigued by what kind of world do these people live in and you to see this world explored and developed and despite it being fun to watch, it doesn't feel fully developed.

Onto the negatives now and as you'd imagine, the human characters are the weakest part of the film. Now I'm wondering if it was the right idea to make Tom and Jerry into a film in the first place because when you watch a Tom and Jerry movie, you're only watching it for the title characters and the amount of plot you'd expect to see, anything over an hour would already feel too much and potentially repetitive and when it has human characters in it, it becomes less fun to watch and you just don't care for them at all. 

Someone is trying to get a job, you don't care especially when her character is a weakly written characters, two people are trying to get married, you don't care about that. Someone is trying to capture Tom and Jerry, you just don't care because you know Tom and Jerry will succeed.

And because you don't care about the human characters, it makes the pacing of the film feel very slow at times and certain scenes seem to drag on for so long and you start wondering when Tom and Jerry are going to come back on.

The runtime is also an issue. Now I am usually defender of runtimes but for this film, an hour and 40 minutes just feels too long. I don't know how too long it seems to be but by the time it gets to the hour mark, you feel like it should be ending soon.

Finally, the animation for the characters felt very outdated. It didn't feel like 2020/21 era animation which is just incredible. It felt like I was watching animated characters from the early or mid 2000s.

So overall when this film is a Tom and Jerry movie, it's pretty decent and servicable. But when it moves to the human plotlines, it becomes a slog to get through. It's not a bad film but I can't say it's a good film.

⭐⭐

Wandavision

After finally watching the final episode today, I knew I really wanted to talk about Wandavision to say what I thought of it. This is my first tv show review and this will be a spoiler review but I won't be spoiling everything. Just certain aspects that I really want to talk about so I just warn any readers so let's get started.

So to start off, I was really nervous for this show. There were certain castings I was confused by, judging by the trailers it looked set to be a very different version of the MCU and it just seemed odd to start doing MCU shows and I say this as a massive fan of the MCU.

Starting with the positives, without question, the best thing about this show for me was the look and feel of it. When you think of a t.v. show based on the MCU, you start wondering how it'll capture the same magic as the films did especially on a tv budget but was I wrong. This was a much higher budget show than I expected and with that, it looks like a cinematic show. It feels cinematic. It looks like an expensive production and if this was show in a cinema, it would feel just as impactful as any of the films would be. That is this shows biggest success.

I also really loved the story that was told. Now certain aspects I will talk about when I get to my negatives but the overall story I think was executed fantastically and was so deeply crafted and really well written. It's a story where you know how it will eventually end but when you do reach the end of it, it's so much more impactful and emotional than you anticipate and is beautifully acted. It's also a story where you have different feelings over Wanda. At times you can sympathise with her and how she's feeling but other times, she is the villain for trapping these people in a world with no control for their actions and that makes it a lot more powerful in my opinion.

I also really like and appreciate how it tied up certain loose ends from the major MCU films especially Visions fate after Infinity war and showed us where Wanda was after endgame and before the events of Wandavision.

Next to talk about is the performances of Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany. These two are brilliant together. Wanda and vision are an odd pairing but Olsen and Bettany make them so believable as a couple with their chemistry. They also have to channel deeper acting chops than they've ever had to before. Bettany has some very good comedic timing throughout the show and is also great when he's discovering the truth about what has been created.

Olsen however steals the show as she helps make Wanda finally feel like a fully fleshed out character. She's funny, charming, emotional, caring, intimidating, scary and lost all in 9 episodes and that must be so difficult acting all of this out. Channelling so many emotions in a small space of time. Throughout the show, Wanda becomes such an interesting character as a hero and in some ways as a villain and no one else but Olsen could have portrayed her.

I also really loved the return of Darcy Lewis, Jimmy Woo and Monica Rambeau. On paper, this just sounded really odd to bring these characters back but as the story is told, it makes so much sense. Darcy becomes a much better character, Woo is a tonne of fun to watch and Monica is a brilliant character. Her attachment to S.W.O.R.D. is massively important to the story and it's great to see her following in her mothers footsteps. These three characters also have a great dynamic and really good chemistry amongst each other and I'd love to see them onscreen together again in the future.

Now let's talk about Tyler Hayward for a bit. Now this could have been a one dimensional villain and indeed he starts off that way with how he treats Visions body but if you interpret all of these events in to his own perspective, he becomes a more intriguing character. He is witnessing Wanda take an entire town captive and held against their will. I'm sure anybody else would see her as a threat.

The special effects in this show are still as ground-breaking and affective as they were in the films. I just thought I'd give them a mention.

And overall I'm just excited for the future of the MCU. I'm excited for the future tv shows and I'm excited for the films it sets up especially captain Marvel 2. I've heard rumours that it will set up the fantastic fours arrival to the MCU so I'll be intrigued to see that.

However as much as I enjoyed the show, it wasn't perfect so moving onto the mixed aspects and first I just want to take this moment to say many of the plot twists were spoiled for me via social media and while you can say to me "don't look at social media" it's hard when you talk to people and talk about other shows on there so please restrain yourself from revealing spoilers so you don't ruin anyone else's experience unless you have a spoiler warning.

Next it's to talk about the the sitcom style and tone. I always struggled with the sitcom style of the show. I saw so many tweets from people who loved it but I always struggled to connect with it and I also felt it interfered with the momentum of the story in future episodes. I never hated it but I just struggled to connect with it.

Onto the negatives now and this show has some really big problems. First I'll start with a nitpick. The first 3 episodes were really difficult to get into with just how different the show felt and there never seemed to be any forward momentum.

Now my biggesg issues, this show tricks us into thinking this is how the X men will be introduced especially when you get Evan Peters to reprise his role as Quicksilver from the x men films and then it's later revealed it's not what it seems. It always bugged me a bit why Aaron Taylor Johnson didn't get to reprise his role and after the final episode, it now really bugs me.

Also I wasn't really a big fan of Agatha harkness being introduced. Now if she was brought in a different show or film as the main villain against Wanda, I think I would feel different towards her but her introduction really interfered with how complex and beautiful Wanda and Visions story was. It also felt like she was only introduced as a plot device to explore Wandas origin and how she became the Scarlet Witch and even when we get to the big action scenes, as fantastic as they are, it's clear she was only ever brought in so Wanda would become more powerful and that makes the character not so interesting for me.

Finally now I get this is a big budget show with a huge production crew but the credits were just too long. The credits were around 7 minutes where I feel you could squish them down to around 3/4 minutes so we could get a bit more plot.

Despite my really big issues, this show is yet another fantastic achievement for the MCU and I'm excited for the future shows to come out. I would highly recommend this to all MCU fans and I'm excited to see Wanda appear in Doctor Strange 2.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Wrong Turn 2021

Now I'll be honest, I only heard about this film a couple of weeks ago and I'm not the biggest fan of the wrong turn films. I like the first 3 but the rest I haven't really seen and considering what the ones I've seen are like, I just figured this would be a typical generic B movie slasher film. How wrong was I.

Kicking off with the positives, the absolute best thing about this film is just how different it is. This does not feel like a a studio made horror film. This feels like a director wanting to put his own stamp on the wrong turn franchise, having his own vision and freedom to do what he wants and that completely works. I always say if you're going to remake a film, take it in a different direction.

Now I'm not going to spoil anything but what I will say is the villains are really well done in this film. There's some interesting backstory, mythology and world building inside of this film and I never thought I would ever use that to describe a wrong turn film. There's also some really nice production design at certain point of the film.

I think it's also really nice that we still get films that shoot upon location and don't rely on green screen effects. This makes the film really nice to look at. Also there are some very creative traps in this film so combining that with the real location makes this film feel more real.

And finally the cast is really really good. I only know one of the actors in this film and it's nice to see new up and coming actors get to shine and show what they can do and they do a great job.

Onto the mixed aspects and first this is just to say like I said before, this is very different to the previous wrong turn films but in a good way so I would say subvert your expectations but not too much. Prepare yourself to be surprised.

Second are the characters and this is frustrating because there are times where the main group of friends are really good. They're independent, loyal towards each other and have great chemistry amongst each other but theres times throughout the film where they can be hostile towards each other and when that happens, they can become quite unlikable and at times unbearable especially when it comes to their stupid decision making. One character also takes the goes from nice guy to unbearable jerk development and I'm kind of tired of that trope now.

Finally oddly enough, the kills aren't that great. Now at times they are brutal and gory but other times and certain injuries are off screen or overly edited which is very odd in a wrong turn film and I'm someone who likes my carnage candy.

Onto the negatives and I only have two. First is the overall script. This feels like a film that had two films in one where a sequel planned but the director didn't think he's be able to do a sequel so he trimmed both films down and squeezed them both in so the first half feels rushed and the second half feels rushed and underdeveloped.

Finally it's the ending. Now the film almost ruined my experience with how it ended but it luckily redeemed itself but it feels like a final piece of filler to fill in the runtime and there's too much requirement to suspend your disbelief to buy the events that happen. There's too many plot holes once you think about it and one section of the ending is so easily predictable.

But overall I really really enjoyed this film. It's fresh, it doesn't feel generic and it's given me hope new directors can give out fresh ideas in the future. I highly recommend this film.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Shadow in the cloud

When I heard about this film, it immediately made me excited and intrigued. I love creature features and this sounded just the film for me. I was down for some dumb fun and as a result, I certainly got the dumb part.

Starting with the positives, when we get them, the creature scenes are good to watch and I like how they are designed. This film is only an hour and 23 minutes so its very short and doesn't outstay it's welcome and Chloe Grace Moretz is fantastic as well. She could have chosen a better film but I really like her as an actress and hopefully it won't be too long before we see her next project.

Yeah I wasn't going to be too long on the positives because I had a lot of problems with this film so we need to move onto the bad and the big problem with this film is its a complete mess and doesn't know what it wants to be. It tries to be a social commentary film, a war film and a creature feature and those three genres do not mix well at all. It wouldn't surprise me if there was some studio interference either because the creature feature scenes felt like reshoots on an already complete story.

Another really bad thing about this film is the characters. They are terrible, one dimensional, extremely forgettable and unlikable. Even with chloe Grace Moretz's character, she starts off ok but something happens at the end of the film that's makes you question her entire character development.

But the one thing that bugged me the most is the social commentary in this film. Now this film tackles sexism and I understand it's a relatable topic but I've always felt the best way to approach it is subtlety. Don't make it so obvious. Take a film like The Assistant. A film that explores sexism extremely realistic and in a captivating way. Tell the story visually.

This film spend the first 20-30 minutes with the characters making cruel and misogynistic comments towards this one girl and the more you hear it, the more it feels like the film is forcing it in your face like you're stupid or incompetent. This film tackles the subject all wrong and that is its biggest sin.

Also there are some big plot twists in the film that feel like ideas are being thrown at you but when you think about them, they make no logical sense at all.

Overall this is a terrible film and easily the worst film of the year so far for me with very few redeemable qualities. I cannot recommend it and it's a disappointing experience for creature feature fans.

⭐

Greenland

I've known about this film coming out for a good while but it was always frustrating me when I could never find a release date. Luckily it was released on Amazon prime and I had a lot of fun with it.

Starting with the positives, this is easily the most enjoyable film I've seen this year so far. One of the things I enjoyed most about this film is how fast paced it is. The main story kicks off after around 10 minutes into the film and never seems to slow down. As the film goes on, you feel the metaphorical ticking clock as our characters have to get to a destination and that latches onto the viewers captivity to the film.

Something that really surprised me with the film is even though it's a disaster film, it doesn't focus too much the special effects. It relys on the characters to carry this film and tell the story and explores what the characters are willing to do to survive. The special effects are great but they're not high budget effects and they're not all over the screen and in your face which makes the film better.

The cast are also great. I really like Gerard butler and I'm a big Morena Baccarin fan and they give some fantastic performances. Whilst this shares some common tropes with other disaster films which I'll elaborate more in the negatives, one trope it executes so well is the meaning of family. You feel the theme of family throughout the film as the characters desperately try to survive and you can buy our lead stars as a family. The child actor cast in this film is also really good.

Finally I was really impressed with the marketing for this film. The trailer hides certain plot points unlike a lot of trailers and I was certainly grateful for that. There's a lot of unexpected moments in this film and it's nice to be surprised without everything being spoiled.

Unfortunately this film isn't perfect so let's move onto the negatives. Now I really enjoyed this film and I didn't have any specific issues but there were a few things I wasn't a fan of. First of all, I'm going to start off with a nitpick. I swear Gerard butler had two different accents in this film. One minute he's Scottish then he's American and when he's trying to be American, it sounds really bad. Either get the man A dialect coach or let him use his natural accent.

Also I stated this earlier but this film shares a lot of tropes with other disaster films. Two people having relationship troubles are forced to band together to try and survive a natural disaster. They even get separated at one point and have to find each other to continue their journey. We've seen these tropes in so many disaster films. The day after tomorrow, 2012, San Andreas etc.

Finally whilst this is a face paced film, the film seems to run out of steam towards the 3rd act. The first two acts are gripping and captivating but once we get to the 3rd act, it feels like the weakest part of the film. It's still good but just not as gripping or memorable.

But overall this is the most enjoyable film I've seen this year and it delivered the escapism I look for in disaster films. It's got good effects, good actors and good characters and I would highly recommend this film.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Malcolm and Marie

I haven't exactly been anticipating this film but was built with a lot of curiosity. With a bit of a backstory, this was the first film made since lockdown last year and was even made during the pandemic. There was a limited film crew and only two actors who were in each others bubble; John David Washington and Zendaya. Both had to prepare on their own and filming only last a month I believe but I could be wrong with the last one. That's all I knew going into this film

Starting with the positives, Zendaya and John David Washington completely hold their own in this film. I was nervous about watching a film with just two actors because that can bore a viewer very easily but that was not the case. These two have great chemistry amongst each other and are able to carry this film from start to finish.

And whilst I'll have more to say about Washington later on, Zendaya is just outstanding. She's able to be funny, sarcastic, emotional and vulnerable all the way through this film and she just pulls it off whilst making it look so so easy.

This is also a very dialogue heavy film and the dialogue is very powerful and hard hitting at times. Now a lot of films can have unnecessary exposition that can become a bit of a drag unless the film is dialogue based and this film 100% fits in that category. With the dialogue, we're able to understand who our characters, learn all about them and with that, they feel like fully developed characters.

Moving onto the mixed aspect of the film, the first thing I want to talk about is John David Washingtons performance. Now he gives a good performance but he also unnecessarily overacts throughout the entire film like he drank a whole case of energy drinks before shooting his scenes. In fact when he needed to be serious, it came off as very comedic so I wish he had contained his performance like Zendaya did.

Also now this is from a viewer perspective and I wasn't sure whether to mention this but watching this, this film covers emotional abuse in these characters relationship but the reason it's mixed for me is because I found it unclear who the main abuser was because both these characters are completely toxic towards each other and have emotionally abusive characteristics so it was hard to teĺl if one or both were abusive to each other. 

Onto the negatives now and before i go on, I just want to say this film did nothing wrong. This is just how I felt watching this film. The biggest thing that comes to mind is the cinematography. I have never enjoyed black and white films and this film is no exception. I appreciated the craft that went into this film but I really wish they had filmed it in colour because there were times I struggled to get into it.

This is also a film I don't think is rewatchable because of the films nature. I feel if I watch this film a second time, knowing what happens I would get bored after maybe 20 minutes. As a one time experience, it's fine but more than that, I would need to be in a very specific mood.

Overall this is a well made film that has so much to appreciate and will appeal to others differently. This isn't bad film but just not a film I'm likely to watch again.

⭐⭐⭐

Pieces of a woman

Once I heard this film was coming out, I was very excited. I always look forward to any film Shia Labeouf is doing and I'm a big fan of Vanessa Kirby and like the idea of her doing something different than action movies.

Starting off the positives, easily the two lead actors are the best thing about this film. They deliver incredible and award winning performances. Vanessa Kirby shows she is more than an action film star and she is a true authentic and incredible actress.

Now I understand Shia Labeouf has been controversial over the years but I still like watching him mainly due to nostalgia. I always enjoyed the films he was in during the mid 2000s but I may start checking out his independent stuff because he is just fantastic in this film. I'll have more to say about his character later on but his performance as a grieving father is just fantastic.

This film also has an incredible opening act where you become engrossed in the film during the first 30 minutes. I honestly couldn't take my eyes off the screen. The cinematography is just so captivating and we get one of those filming styles where it seems it's filmed in one take and whilst it may not have been and just edited to seem like it, it's so believable and realistic.

Finally I really appreciate this film doesn't hold back and goes for really gritty and hard to watch scenes. There's one scene in particular where I had to turn away. This film doesn't sugarcoat the subject matter and I always love it when films do that.

Onto the mixed aspect of the film, first it's just to say this is not and I mean, not for everyone. In fact I will strongly urge those who have been through stillbirths and baby related events not to watch this film because as I said before, this film doesn't hold back and for certain people, this film will be too difficult to watch.

Also I found myself really mixed on Shia Labeoufs character. Whilst he gives a fantastic performance and you sympathize with his character because of the events of the film, his character is also very unlikable and does a lot of questionable things throughout the duration of the film.

Onto the negatives now and there's a few things. First off, this film never seems to live up to its first 30 minutes. After it's first act, there's so many points where the film drags on scenes and slows to a halt.

Also I wasn't a fan of some of the story directions for some of the characters. Where the main story I found captivating and extremely powerful, the direction for the characters, particularly Shia Labeoufs character, is just frustrating and slightly distasteful.

Overall this is a beautifully made, powerfully acted but tough to watch film that i would recommend but only to a certain range of people due to this films subject matter.

⭐⭐⭐

Wonder Woman 1984

I have been anticipating but also worried for this film for a long time. I love the first Wonder Woman but this film has suffered multiple delays and whenever a film has more than one delay, that's a sign it's gonna be a bad film. And whilst this film isn't a bad one, unfortunately it's not great either.

Starting off the positives, the best thing about this film is most of the cast. Gal Gadot is really good in this film. She does everything she did as good in the first film but she's got to do it all a little bit more especially when we get to the emotional scenes.

Chris Pine is also a welcome return because I was worried how Steve Trevor was supposed to return considering he died in the first film and I'll elaborate more about that later on but Chris Pine was really good. He has good comedic timing and he has a fair amount to do and I just love his chemistry with Gal Gadot. I have never understood critics stating their forced chemistry because for me, it feels completely natural.

Pedro Pascal is also very good as the main villain Max Lord. Now I do have thoughts on his character but I cannot fault his performance.

I also like the 80s vibe and setting as it's very fun to see Wonder Woman running around in the daylight. The previous wonder woman was very grounded setting wise and tone wise whereas this one has a lot more freedom.

Now I do have issues with the main story but I loved Steve Trevors return sub-plot. As I stated before, I was worried how Chris Pine was supposed to return and whilst I fully admit this return does cheapen his original death scene in the first film, I think they executed it really well. It feels like a natural progression to Wonder Womans character development and he feels like a pivotal part in the story. He helps with the action, he is good with the comedy but the emotion is where it all feels earned. You can predict how this story will end but it all feels earned.

I also really loved Han Zimmers score and the great action scenes. I don't really have much to elaborate on them but I did really enjoy them and I also enjoy that as it goes along, the stakes get bigger especially for Wonder Woman.

Onto the mixed aspects now and there a few things. First is the main story. Now I won't spoil what it is but I love the idea of it as it has an interesting premise to it and at times, it's executed very well but other times, it's executed feels very cartoonish and bizarre at times.

That brings us to the tone. Now I do really like the less groundedness of the first film and lighter tone but this film struggles to balance the tone between light and cheesy. At times when I was watching, I kept thinking " did Patty Jenkins really direct this? This feels too different from the first film"

Finally I do like Party Jenkins as a director but I think she has a problem with ending her films. Now this is a better 3rd act than the first film considering there was reported studio interference and this 3rd act fits with the story but it's just so exposition heavy.

Onto the negatives now and there's quite a bit. First I'll start small. The opening first act should have been cut because it doesn't feel needed. It has no reason to be in the film and just feels like filler to fill in the runtime.

Now I'll transpire from what I said about the tone and this film feels very cheesy a lot. From an action scene in the first act to how some of the villains are, it feels just feels like very cheesy and cartoonish.

That's brings us to the villains. Max Lord could have been a great villain and whilst I like Pedro Pascals performance, the character is very cartoonish (that's pretty much the theme of this review) and over the top. The character also has unclear motivations where you can't pinpoint why he's doing what he's doing. It feels very unfocused.

Now I will admit to pure biasy but I have never liked Kristen Wiig as an actress. It's nice to see her do a different role but like Jesse Eisenberg as Lex luthor, she feels miscast and I just can't buy her as the character she's supposed to play. She's better than Jesse Eisenberg but not by much for me and her final villain transformation just feels really unnecessary and once again cartoonish.

Finally this film is the reason I avoid trailers because the marketing showed way too much. I didn't laugh at the comedic elements because they were spoiled in the trailer. A lot of the scenes I expected to see because they were revealed in the trailer. I really wish the studios would not release so many trailers and not reveal so much. It baffles me why they do this.

So overall this is a frustratingly one for me because there are elements to this film that are better than the first film but the film as a whole package is a big step down and is a little disappointing.

⭐⭐⭐

Freaky

Once I heard the concept for this film, I looked it up and was excited for it. First I really like Christopher Landons previous Happy Death Day films and it has Vince Vaughn in it so I avoided any trailer for it because I really wanted to be surprised.

Starting with the positives, the best thing about this film is it feels made for me. I love slasher films and this film is a love letter to slasher. This film just has fun with the tropes and cliches and puts it own spin on it. Some fun I noticed is there were certain elements that reminded me of the iconic slasher films such as Friday the 13th, nightmare on elm street, Halloween, even scream and whilst others may say it's a rip off or unoriginal, I see it as a homage and an appreciation of  the films and genre.

That's another reason why I enjoy Christopher Landon. Now I would like to see him do another genre sometime but in the meanwhile, he can stay in the horror community because he just comes up with these interesting concepts that puts it's own spin on horror; with happy death day, it was a time loop slasher, with its sequel it went more sci-fi and with this film it's a body swap slasher and that makes me interested what else he'll come up with.

Okay I've delayed it long enough, it's time to talk about the cast. Vince Vaughn is perfect in this film. He's surprisingly turned into a very versatile actor with his more serious films over the recent years but this is his most versatile. When the film begins, this guy is terrifying. In fact when a new Friday the 13th film is announced, I want Vince Vaughn to play Jason because this guy has the built and screen presence for it and I never thought I'd be scared of the actor who was in Fred Claus.

But when he swaps bodies, he just goes for it and is the funniest I've seen him in a while and it's just fun see him act like a girl with the way he walks and acts around stuff. Also you know those situations where you need to prove you are who you are? Give this character an award for coming up with the most convincing situations as proof. Thats all I'm saying.

Kathryn Newton is also great in this film. It's very impressive when she goes from shy bullied teen to this scary sexy killer and she does a good job with making her performance scary whilst funny at the same time.

I also really liked the characters as well. The slasher genre is known for having really bad or pointless characters but with these ones, they have something about them that makes them standout for me. They also help provide the comedy which definitely works and there's one line that had me in stitches "you're black, i'm gay, we're both dead". I just love that line because it fits with the tone and genre with the film.

Finally and my biggest surprise are the kills. There are some very inventive and gory kills and I really wasn't expecting it since this is a horror comedy but weirdly enough the kill scenes feel tonally consistent especially when you see how far they go.

Moving onto the mixed aspect of the film and first it's a certain aspect of the concept that may divide viewers. When you have a 50 year old man in a teenage girls body, immediately that just puts a bad taste in your mouth but I do think this film draws a line with how far it goes with that.

Also whilst Kathryn Newton is great in this film, it's a situation where she gets better as she goes along because when she starts off as the killer, her scenes are so awkward to watch to the point where I started thinking the concept wasn't going to work. She literally spends scenes just looking at people weirdly and making it obvious something wasn't right.

Onto the negatives and I don't have many. First thing that comes to mind is this film tries to do the ugly duckling trope with Kathryn Newton and for me it doesn't work. She is a very attractive girl and even with how the film styles her, it's a little hard to buy that most of everyone sees her as very unattractive.

Also whilst this very does have fun with the cliches, there's other times where the cliches just become inevitable and at times I rolled my eyes at how apparent they are.

Finally I felt one of the police characters wasn't utilised as best as they could have been. I won't spoil who this character is or where they fit in the film but I just felt the film could have had more fun with the character.

But overall, this is a very fun and successful film from Christopher Landon and I'm excited with what he does next. I even think this could be a little bit better than happy death day but I may need to rewatch to find out.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Soul

Now this is a film I've had a bit of anticipation for. Pixar has a great track record for great storytelling and I was very impressed with the trailers as well. Before I go on, I will say that this is going to be a hard film to give my thoughts on because there's so much I want to talk about but I also want to keep this spoiler free.

Right off the bat, the best thing about this film is this is a very different Pixar film. It has quite an artistic direction to it at times especially when we get to the death life scenes and it just looks beautiful at times. It's gets very cosmic and just had a different feeling to it and the animation is just on another level. I love how far we've come where we can have animation where it is at the moment. 

The voice cast are also great. Jamie Foxx gives a great voice performance as the lead character. He has to provide passion, emotion and comedic performances for his character and he does a great job with it. Tina Fey is another standout in this film and her and Jamie Foxx have fantastic chemistry between one another. The rest of the cast are great but those two were the main standouts.

Something that really impressed me was how this film was able to develop the characters. With Jamie Foxx's character, You're able to understand his character with just visual effects and minimal dialogue and I love it when Pixar does that sort of thing. Tina Feys character gets a fantastic character journey that has a really fitting end and has fantastic emotional payoff.

I was also impressed how this film was marketed. When I saw the trailers, I enjoyed them but I wondered how the story would be constructed together and this film has a lot of twists in it that it's able to keep secret so that's an example of a good trailer.

But what makes this film a true standout and why I loved this film so much is because of the story. What I love about pixar is they're able to come up with bizarre concepts that should never make sense at all but instead are executed where they resonate with not just children but adults as well and this film is a true exception. I'm also going to make a statement and I believe Pete Docter is the best Pixar film director. He just brings such emotion but also tells fantastic stories in such different and compelling ways and three of his four pixar films are in my Top 3 favourites.

When you realize where this film is going, you can just connect with the story and the message it has with it. This film has multiple messages that can be interpreted in many different ways but for me, this is a film about discovering your purpose in life, what you're good at and how your one dream doesn't have to be the only thing you hang on to and that just meant so much to me.

I don't talk about my private life much but this film has so many elements that just means so much to me. I do these reviews as a hobby which I enjoy doing but my dream is to be an actor and how this film expresses your dream job or opportunity is realistic but also inspirational as well.

Moving onto the mixed aspect and first this film takes a while to get used to. I enjoyed it more once the film went on but when it starts it takes a little bit to get into and to get used to the characters.

Second are some of the twists, some people will be fine with the twists and others may roll their eyes and assume it's rinse and repeat of events we've seen before in other pixar films. I'm in the former of the category but I suspect others will be in the latter.

Finally it's how the film ends. I don't want to go into it too much but it feels like the film is going to end in a bold and brave way but instead feels a little too safe like they thought not many would appreciate the ending.

Moving onto the negatives and honestly after much thinking, I only have two. First there are a few moments that feel a little unclear and leaving you questioning how certain moments are able to happen. I can't say more than that without going into spoiler territory.

And my final negative is the villain. I found the villain to be incredibly annoying, quite forced in places and was just unnecessarily used as well. It felt like a short role that was extended for filler moments.

However besides those negatives, this is an outstanding achievement from pixar which will resonate with a lot of people and has some incredibly touching moments. This could potentially be the best pixar film ever made but I really need to think about it.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Love and monsters

This is a film I had no idea was coming out but as soon as I found out Dylan O'Brien was in it, I needed to watch it. I'm a big fan of Dylan O'Brien. I loved him on Teen wolf and I love the maze runner franchise.

And right off the bat, I absolutely loved this film. This is one of those films that just felt was made for me. It has everything I love squished into one film; adventure, humour, monsters, action. Just my thing all over and that is probably the best thing about this film. If you're into that sort of thing, this film is just pure escapism and has fantastic worldbuilding. This film creates an interesting dystopian world that you'd probably like to explore yourself. 

I also really liked the concept and execution of the story. Combining a love story with a monster movie does sound very cliched and overdone but what this film does well with it is helps us buy into the relationships and chemistry of the characters and surprises us with other means of a love story. So whilst it's essentially a love story between a man and woman, it also becomes a love story between a man and his dog and being a dog lover, I can relate to that so much.

The cast is also really good. Dylan O'Brien is just a fantastic as he always is. It feels like he went back to his Teen wolf roots because he provides so much humour with his funny one liners and his non hero status. Jessica Henwick and Michael Rooker (who seems to be in everything these days) are also good in their roles with their limited screen time but my heart went towards the dog Boy in this film. Unlike other films, this film treats Boy like he's an actual character and not just an extra. He helps when he needs to, he has his own personality and best of all, he's just so adorable.

I also liked the main characters development along the films journey. He avoids classic action hero cliches and instead stays true to his own personality and fights for survival in his own unique way whilst becoming a stronger character as he goes along. And whilst the action isn't the forefront of the film, it's very nicely handled and well staged at times.

And as this is a monster movie, you got to talk about the monsters and I loved what how they looked, how they were designed, how they were used and not overused but what also impressed me was essentially how they were created. I won't spoil it since I don't know if this was revealed in the trailer  but when we learn about how these creatures were created, when you stop and think about it, it's the most realistic and creative solution. There's also a few twists about certain monsters that is cleverly foreshadowed for the third act.

Finally there's a nice amount of emotion in this film that feels used enough to stay true to the tone and also contributes to the development of Dylan O'Briens character.

Onto the mixed aspect of the film and the only thing is the use of Michael Rookers character. I really liked him in this film but he doesn't have a lot of screentime and there was times I actually missed his screen presence once he was no longer onscreen so I wish his role was extended quite a bit.

The only negative I have with this film is there's a couple of plot conveniences that  occur where things happen just because the script requires it and I wish the film had found a way to avoid that little tropes.

But overall I loved this film. It's fun, it's adventurous, it's has good monster action and it's just such a good time and I think this is definitely going to be in my top 10 of this year. Usually I get worried about films getting sequels to then but I would be up for this to get a sequel and even becoming a franchise.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Clouds

Clouds is a Disney+ original film and it's a film I was intrigued about but was unsure how it would deal with its subject topic whilst under the Disney brand. In case you're unaware, Disney have a brand to keep their content family friendly and whilst Clouds is a family film, I think it's a debate on whether it's family friendly because this is one of the most emotional and saddest films I've ever seen.

Starting off the positives, easily the best thing about this film is just how the main story is tackled. A young boy is diagnosed with terminal cancer and sets out to become a singer before he dies. That immediately becomes an engaging story and it could have come off as melodramatic but instead the story is explored very sensitively and fully relys on its characters to tell the story and not just the subject matter.

Speaking of the characters, I loved pretty much all the characters in this film. Zach, the main character, is just a great character to watch. He's someone who wants to appear all happy go lucky but deep down is scared about his future and that really gets you to care about him. He has some fantastic relationships with his family, friend and girlfriend who are all greatly utilised characters and it also helps when we have great actors portraying them.

Fin Argus is just fantastic as Zach, Neve Campbell is also in this film and she gives one of the best performances I've seen her do. Some other standouts are Sabrina Carpenter as Zachs best friend and Madison Iseman as his girlfriend and they both give such heartbreaking performances, it's impossible not to feel sorry for them. As I stated before, this film fully relys on its characters and their reactions to tell this story and it succeeds with flying colours.

The songs in this film are just beautifully written and performed with such heart and passion. I'm not a musical guy and I don't usually pay attention to the lyrics in songs as much but the songs performed in this film are just incredible and the lyrics are just beautiful and might I add just how catchy some of them are, especially when it comes to the sell known and YouTube sensation Clouds.

This film also has a satisfying amount of emotional payoff towards the third act. Along the films journey, it's a real emotional roller coaster and when we get toward the end of the film, there's a scene that happens that is heartbreaking, emotionally moving and satisfying all at the same time.

Finally, the biggest praise I can give this film is its the first film in over 10 years that made me shed a tear when watching it. There are only two films I have watched that made me cry; Bridge to Terabithia and Marley and Me. The fact this film got to me that much makes me love it even more.

Moving onto the mixed aspect of the film now and this is just to say this film is NOT for everyone. This is a very sad and emotionally driven film that not everyone will enjoy and certain people may find it hard to watch.

Onto the negatives and honestly, I only have one negative that is like a one percent nitpick and that is I feel at times, the film relied on the emotion a bit too much. There's times where it does feel a bit much and too directly in your face.

Besides that, this is just a beautifully made and emotional film that is a very strong contender for my number one film of the year.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Never Hike in the Snow

This is a Friday the 13th fan film and a prequel to the first film Never Hike Alone directed by Vincent Desantis. The first film is a great and well made film and I highly recommend it. It's easy to find on YouTube and free to watch. I actually wasn't sure if I was going to review this film but I had a lot of thoughts about it. I'm also a big fan of the Friday the 13th franchise in general and I like Jason as a character.

Starting with the positives for Never Hike in the Snow, without question the best thing about this film and the previous film are the filmmaking aspects. These films capture the tension and atmosphere you want from a Friday the 13th film. In this specific film, there's some well shot and lit scenes, especially when dark lighting is needed for tense Jason scenes. I also loved how each scene framed Jason as this powerful imposing figure.

I also like the setting for this film as well. I think it's interesting to explore Jason's whereabouts in a more brighter location. I admittedly prefer him in darker scenes but I do like him in these daylight scenes as it shows he scary he can be even during the day.

The cast of actors are very good as well. Thom Matthews is back as Tommy Jarvis and I'm interested to see what they do with his character in future films. Vincent Desantis acts as well in this film and he does a great job as well. Those are only two who I know but the whole cast in general are great.

Now let's talk about Jason for a minute. I've said it before but this version of him is scary. I like how he was designed, how demonic he looked, they keep his supernatural abilities very tamed yet you do get hints of how powerful he can be and the way he kills people, for a low budget YouTube film, is very affective.

Onto the mixed aspect of the film and the only thing is there are a lot of plotlines in the space of the runtime and it feels a little overstuffed at times. Now I know Vincent Desantis is planning three more of these films so this could be rectified so that's why it's mixed for me.

Also this film states it's a prequel to Never Hike Alone but it feels like it's more of a sequel with the way it's staged and how Tommy Jarvis acts so I feel that should have been made more clearly.

Now as I move onto the negatives, I'm choosing to review this how I usually would with a studio professionally made film and I only have two negatives:

The first one is the runtime. Minus the credits, this film is 25 minutes long and it feels too short. Compared that the first film was just under an hour and with the amount of plotlines in this film, it feels like this needed around 15 or 20 more minutes for the plotlines to be spread out more.

Finally this film ends on a very odd note that can make you feel like you wanted more from it and you should have gotten more. When this film ended, the first thing that came to my mind was "wait? Was that it"? Just a little bit frustrating for me.

But overall this was a great follow up to Never Hike Alone and I'm really liking what Vincent Desantis is doing with these films and now he's continuing the Friday the 13th franchise. I'm excited to see where he takes this franchise.

⭐⭐

The Devil All The Time

When I first heard this film was coming out, I only needed to hear two names: Tom Holland and Robert Pattinson. The thought of these two, Spiderman and Batman, sharing the screen and doing a film together had me really excited and from what I've seen today, this is a film that is gonna have a lot of people.

To start off the positives, without question, the best thing about this film is the cast. I will go as far as to say this is the best ensemble cast of this whole year. Besides the big name stars who I mentioned before, this film has actors like Sebastian Stan, Jason Clarke, Bill Skarsgard, Riley Keogh, Haley Bennett etc. This is an extremely well casted film and these actors do an incredible job but I don't want to sound biased but Tom Holland and Robert Pattinson are the two best stars.

Pattinson does not waste any of his limited screen time and he just embodies his despicable character and the accent he provides, I read he did it without a professional linguist and if that's true, give that man an award now because his accent and performance is purely phenomenal and with Holland, he just becomes such a different actor that we've seen him before. He may have won our hearts as Spiderman but this guy will terrify you as this young violent individual (that's all I'm saying) and so far gives the performance of his entire career.

I also really like the storytelling of this film as this is essentially a character study told in a very different and dark way and the dark tone has a helping hand in making it feel coherent.

Finally I appreciate that this film was unpredictable and I always prefer it when I have no idea what will happen in a film or how it will end.

Onto the mixed aspect of the film and really, it's me giving out a prior warning. As I said before this is a very dark and religiously thematic film and I can see this film dividing audiences. Some will love it for its boldness and dark storytelling and others will be put off by just how dark it is and find it distasteful. This film will not be for everyone.

With that said let's move onto the negatives and the first thing that comes mind are the religious themes. I'm not a religious person and this film primarily focuses on religion and faith and there's times where a lot of that aspects of the film just drew me out of it and I also felt it went too extreme with that subject matter. That's all I can say without giving major spoilers.

Also this film can feel like an audio book at times because this film is just filled with narration and while I didn't mind it at first, it ended frustrating me when it would tell us what's happening instead of letting me see for myself what would happen so I wish the narration was either brought down a bit or was cut altogether.

That's pretty much the only negatives I had. Overall this is a very well casted, brilliantly acted, dark but interesting film to watch that I really really liked watching and I want to see Tom Holland do more roles like this.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Craft: Legacy

This was a film I was mildly excited for mainly because I liked the concept of a film exploring witchcraft. I also found out this is a sequel to the 1996 film so I watched that before I saw this one. I liked it but felt the story was unfocused and rushed and the characterisations were also very rushed at times. But this film makes the first film look like an all time classic.

Let's just get the positives out the way first and I really liked the lead actress who played Lily in this film. She's a very good capable actress who I'd like to see do more in the future. And it's always nice to see Michelle Monaghan in a film nowadays.

Now that's over with, let's get on with the negatives and wow this film is a mess. This is one of those times where I would love to watch the behind the scenes meetings to see what was going through the creative teams minds because this is a film that felt like it had too many visions centering on one story.

Without question, the biggest fault with this film is the marketing. The marketing was horrible for this film. First off, it's seems weird that a sequel to a 90s horror wasn't covered more. There was no official announcement (at least not to my knowledge) that the film was happening, barely any trailers and marketing posters. But what's also weird is the trailers marketed this film as a horror and when you watch the film, you do not get horror vibes at all.

Which brings me to my next problem. This films storytelling and tone is all a mess. This felt like a 10 episode Disney channel series squished into around an hour and 40 minutes. This film shifts between the genres of coming of age, to campy melodrama to even a bit of romcom inserted into it and never once does it feel like a horror film. In fact, this is the time I've seen a horror film and the horror elements feel out of place. This film feels like each scene was directed by different people.

And storytelling wise, if I criticised the first film for being a bit rushed, this film just accelerates through the plot. It literally montages through what feels like an hour of plot and character development which stops you from connecting with the main characters.

Onto some smaller details now, the characters are really forgettable or annoying. Like three male characters were introduced at the same time and once the next scene came on, I forgot what they looked like and I even got one of them mixed up with someone else.

There's other times as well where this film can be a little confusing with the spell casts. There's times where the witches cast spells in their minds instead of chanting them and you just don't realize it. There's one scene where one of the characters performs a love spell but watching the scene, it looks like she's pleasuring herself.

Finally, there's just some really distasteful ideas such as a masculinity cult and performing a love spell on a bisexual character where he's in love with another man. I am shocked that idea was even greenlit by the studio.

Overall this really is an appalling attempt as a horror film and I could spend hours just talking about bad this film is. It's officially in my bottom 5 of this entire year.

🌟

The Babysitter: Killer Queen

I was very late to The Babysitter fan club. I wasn't particularly interested in watching it but I saw the craze for the sequel so I decided to watch them both in the same night. I really loved The Babysitter. It was fresh, had a great cast and was just a lot of fun and I was immediately excited for the sequel.

Starting off with the positives for this film, easily the first thing that comes to mind is the cast. The actors who return just look like their having the time of their lives with this film. Robbie Amell is once again the standout just playing this wacky over the top yet charismatic maniac, Judah Lewis, even though he's a little older, is still able to capture our hearts as this young misunderstood kid who is traumatised by what happened to him, Emily Alyn Lind is great in her extended role and Jenny Ortega is a very nice addition to the film. The rest of the cast is great but those four were the standouts for me.

Also like the first film, you just feel this films energy from the very start of it. You get the sense of fun and never does it feel like it's taking itself too seriously. Like a party, once it gets going, it doesn't stop until it's over and that helps you get really invested into the film.

Finally, the comedy is back and it still works. Now I will say it's not as strong as the first film but you do get a good few laughs and the cast have great comedic timing.

Onto the mixed aspect of the film and the first thing that you've got to talk about is Samara Weaving. Now a mild spoiler but she is in this film. She does appear but how she is used is quite underwhelming so for how much as I love her as an actress and her character in these films, I wish she was used more.

Also while I liked Jenny Ortega, I'm very mixed on her character. She's a good strong minded female who can hold her own but as the film goes on, it's very predictable on how she'll be used throughout the remainder of the film.

Onto the negatives and from what I've seen on social media, this is a very divisive film and I can understand why. Now I'm going to try my best not to reveal spoilers but this was a very very disappointing film for me for a number of reasons.

First of all, there is a mix of good and bad ideas that, for me personally, was executed all wrong. The good ideas involve disbelief, bringing back previous characters, redemption and besides the second one, they're not executed well at all. The bad ideas involve rehashed plot elements and the films main villain and that didn't work me at all. Particularly with the villain twist, the way the reveal played out and just how they styled the villain felt like they were used as a Samara Weaving replacement and it was that moment where I stopped enjoying the film.

With the rehashed plot elements, I really don't like it when sequels do this and though I understood why they did this, it's just so in your face with how they're executed.

There's also an issue with certain extended cues. The stylisation is severely overused in this film to the point where it feel director McG borrowed elements from a certain Edgar Wright film and a few minor characters have extended roles in this film and god are they really bad. They're annoying and so irrelevant to the plot to the point where if you edited their scenes out, it wouldn't affect the film at all.

Finally this is a bit of a nitpick but this film also has an overabundance of plot conveniences. What I loved about the first film were certain clever setups and foreshadowing but with this film, stuff happens with no explanation or without setup.

Overall this was a frustratingly disappointing film that really soured my mood for the rest of my night. There's one detail I want to elaborate on further involving Emily Alyn Linds character but at the same time, I don't want to spoil the film and any more than that will potentially spoil it for viewers.

🌟🌟

Honest Thief

Once I saw the trailer for this film, I really wanted to check it out. I love Liam Neeson and I love him in the action genre and this one was pretty decent.

Starting with the positives, what I liked most about this film is the cast. Liam Neeson is good enough in this film but I'll have more to say later on. Kate Walsh I haven't seen her in a lot stuff but she plays a very good character who makes smart decisions and is not pushed to the side as the damsel in distress love interest. Jai Courtney is good as the main villain and it's always nice to see Robert Patrick in this film as well. I also really liked Anthony Ramos character. He's not your cliched one dimensional villain who actually has some morals for what happens in the film.

The action is also very good as well. There's some good enough fight scenes when they happen, there's a good car chase scene and I really liked the final conclusion to the film. It requires the main protagonist using his set of skills (sorry I couldn't resist) to stop Jai Courtneys villain and it's a clever and humorous way to climax everything.

Finally, theres a really cute dog in this film and I just loved it when the dog made an appearance.

Onto the mixed aspect of the film and the big thing to talk about is Liam Neeson. Now I love him and I enjoyed him in this film but I think it's time he stopped doing action films. Its clear he's getting older now and it's getting hard to buy him as someone who can handle himself in a fight. There's scenes where you see he's running like he's trying to keep up and it strains credibility when you later see him falling from buildings and scaling fences. Its frustrating I've come to saying this and the action franchise helped reinvent his career but like Harrison Ford doing another Indiana Jones film, I don't think I want Liam Neeson doing another action film unless it's a really good one.

Onto the negatives now and it's really the script for this film. I just couldn't buy the main characters motivations for handing himself in to the cops and even the way he does it. He meets a woman, wants to spend the rest of his life with her and decides to hand himself in for a life of honesty. That, for me, felt like a really weak motive and just raises a lot of questions. I think it would be more interesting if his girlfriend was his partner in crime who died doing a job and filled with regret and despair, decided to hand himself in after deciding there's nothing left for him. Or something along those lines.

Also he decides to call up the police station and confess all his crimes then. At first that didn't bother me but then it's clear they're not taking him seriously. Why not go down and provide them with evidence to convince them. All this just felt like first draft script that wasn't thought through properly.

Also the tone is very inconsistent. Its an action film but there's odd humour placed in and there's some really drawn out melodramatic scenes that makes this film feel like a romcom as well. The dialogue is also just really hard to take seriously as well during these sort of scenes we listen to liam Neeson tell his girlfriend he doesn't like her health cookies and how much he loves her.

Overall, this is a decent enough film that delivers what you're looking for but it's heavily flawed with bad script issues and tone inconsistencies.

🌟🌟🌟

Hubie Halloween

We have a new Adam Sandler film!!! Yeah I'm not sure if it's worth being happy about but I can say this; this film is just enough to help forget about this year as a whole.

Let's start off with the positives of this film and the best thing about Hubie Halloween is its a really entertaining film. It's never boring and it's what you're looking for if you're in need for some Halloween fun and surprisingly, Adam Sandler seems like he's putting some effort in.

Also I like the concept of a really nice guy trying to save his town from spooky going ons. It's right up my street and though I will elaborate on it later on, I enjoyed what I got from this film.

I also loved the call backs to his early (and best) films. It brings back a lot of nostalgia and I do wish he'd go back to those sort of films. He also reunites with a cast member who was part of my personal favourite film of his.

Onto the mixed aspect and the only thing that comes to mind are the jokes. Now they're are some genuine laughs in this film (Yes I said that right) and I found myself laughing a lot but there's also the usual Adam Sandlerisms in this film as well. Gross out humour and really cringeworthy and drawn out moments so when you watch this, don't expect to see anything new but also expect a couple of laughs.

Onto the negatives now and this biggest problem with this film is it lacks creativity. When you have a Halloween film with Adam Sandler, I was hoping for supernatural elements and inventive stuff but it's basically a slasher film turned into a comedy. No creativity at all, instead it gets more predictable as it goes on and although the film touches on a couple aspects of horror elements, it fails to fully commit to it and passes it off as a joke.

It also has the usual of annoying and bland characters who don't add anything at all to the film except eye rolling and cringeworthy moments. I also hated Adam Sandlers accent which got more annoying as it went on.

Overall whilst this is a fine serviceable Sandler film and is far from his worst film, it's certainly doesn't add anything new.

🌟🌟🌟

Saint Maud

I have a feeling this film will be very divisive amongst audiences because there is a clear difference between quality and entertainment. What I will say about this film though is I think this is the most unique film of 2020.

Starting with the positives, the best thing about this film is the acting from Mofydd Clarke. I have never heard of this actress before but I want to see her in more stuff because she has the capability to play lead roles and carry a film and leaving the audience intrigued. The other actors do a good job but Mofydd Clarke outshines them all.

Also the cinematography is just outstanding. How these scenes are shot, lit and framed at times is just incredible. This is a very well made film and the editing is also fantastic as it helps gives a hint of the lead characters backstory.

What I also liked about the film is its very unpredictable. I had no idea what direction it was going, I had no idea where it was going to end, I just could not predict it at any point at all.

Finally I appreciate the religious themes it tackles as it's heavily centred to the main plot and again, what I saw kept leaving me intrigued. I was never bored and everything that happened stuck in my mind.

Onto the mixed aspect of the film and it's pretty much based on how I started this review off. This film is not for everyone. It goes so far with the religious aspects of it and there's a lot of unsettling scenes. People will see this as an artistic film where others will be soured by the lack of entertainment.

That brings me to my negatives and personally for me, I didn't enjoy this film at all. I was fascinated by it for its quality but on the side of enjoyment, it wasn't there for me. I wasn't the target audience for it.

And whilst I think Mofydd Clarke did a great job, I didn't like her character at all. She's the most annoyingly boring character in film history for me and there's scene where she tries to not to be so boring and for me, that just came across as odd.

This is also a film that was overhyped as the scariest film in years because I didn't find it scary at all. Unsettling, yes. Disturbing, yes. Scary, not at all.

Finally I wasn't a fan of the character Lily Frazer played. Her character felt like she stumbled into the wrong film by accident.

Overall whilst I was definitely intrigued by this film and it has many filmmaking qualities, I can't see myself watching this again.

🌟🌟🌟

Project Power

Netflix has been a great help to watch films but recent ones I watched weren't so good and I didn't want to do a load of reviews for bad films but luckily that changed with project power.

I think what I liked most about this film is the overall story and concept; A pill that gives you superpowers for a limited amount of time which could be anything. It leads to an interesting look at what could happen to the real world if this pill actually existed.

And speaking of the real world, the world building is just interesting to watch. How people adapt, become addicted, deal the pills and the overall reactions to the pills, how different sides respond to them.

And all that helps when you have a strong cast. All the performances are great to watch. It's nice to see Joseph Gordon-Levitt doing a film again and I love seeing Jamie Foxx in pretty much anything. They both play well developed and interesting characters and I really liked Jamie Foxx's characters main story. I was also really impressed Dominique Fishback. I don't remember her in much before and her character is just fun and interesting to watch.

Onto the mixed aspect of the film and the only thing that comes to mind is the action. Now there are times the action is very well staged and looks really good but there's also times where it looks overedited and it looks like people are just flipping over.

Onto the bad now and while I don't have any big problems with the film, I did notice a few misteps. First of all, the tone is inconsistent at times. It can go from sad and serious to this odd comedic moments that feels very out of place.

And the final issue I had was some aspects of the CGI. There's one scene in particular where somebody takes a pill and turns into a giant muscular monster type person and the CGI just looks bad and very cartoonish.

But besides those two negatives, I really enjoyed this film and I would definitely recommend it. It's a fun, enjoyable and interesting film with some good ideas.

🌟🌟🌟

The New Mutants

This is the film nobody thought would ever come out. It's had more release dates than I've had roast dinners and multiple production issues so I honestly didn't think it would ever come out. And after seeing it, I kind of feel that would be best for the film.

Let's start with the positives however, the best thing about this film is Anya Taylor-Joy. She has the strongest screen presence, the most interesting character and is the strongest actor in this film. She has some really great moments throughout the film and I really look forward to seeing her in the future. The rest of the cast are really good but Anya is by far the best.

Also the CGI are very good and very effective in some scenes. Now I will be calling this back in the negative but from what we get of the visuals, it's really good.

There's also some really nice call backs to the x men continuity and I really appreciated that so this doesn't feel insignificant to the rest of the films.

Unfortunately we need to get into the negatives and this film is a complete mess. I am struggling to believe there was no studio interference because when you get to the 3rd act, it feels like a different film.

This film just cannot decide what it wants to be. It jumps from being a character study, to a horror film, to a generic superhero film. And even when it works well as a character study, it's incredibly reminiscent to Glass. Yes this film was already made before Glass but play these two films together, they are very similar films.

On another level, the film logically makes no sense. This one woman played by Alice Braga is in charge of a big facility, in charge of these powerful mutants and not one of them tries to overpower her and escape. It's just her and although she has powers, she is not as powerful as any other of the mutants. I noticed it pretty much as soon as the facility was established into the film and as it went along, my point just kept getting proven more and more.

Speaking of Alice Braga, she is seriously miscast in this film. She gives a good performance but I really don't think she fits the role at all. There's one scene where there's an incident, she's running towards the incident but the way she runs is so comedic, it feels like an unintentional comedy. I also think Maisie Williams was miscast as well. She loses her Scottish accent in places and when she transitions into her abilities, she feels like a screaming child; once again, making this film into an unintentional comedy.

This film also has some serious pacing issues. Once we get to the facility, there's so much dialogue and exposition, the main plotline doesn't start until it feels around halfway through the film. Speaking of the dialogue, it is either very predictable or weirdly cringeworthy.

Once we get to the 3rd act, this is when it feels like a very different film because it goes from being very confined to portal jumping and very CGI heavy. This is when I wonder if this whole sequence was a studio produced reshoot because I did read there was studio interference although I could have read wrong. There's also not a lot of chemistry between any of the new mutants, there isn't any team dynamics between them.

Finally and whilst this is a nitpick, it did bug me that they were watching Buffy the vampire slayer and it spoiled it for me a little. I'm halfway through season 2 and I didn't appreciate the spoilers in the upcoming seasons.

Overall, whilst I do appreciate Fox trying something different, this is a really dull, messy film that just failed to live up to the hype and it's really disappointing to me.

⭐⭐

Mulan

I wasn't really sure if I was actually going to watch this film because I'm not a fan of the Disney live action remakes but since it was released on Disney plus, I figured why not and I really really liked this one. Now before I go on, I just want to clarify something; I have never seen any adaptation of Mulan. This is the first time i have watched a Mulan film, I am aware of certain aspects of the original Mulan but I've never watched it so I basing this review on my watch right here.

Onto the positives and the best thing about this film is the production. Now I don't know if this was filmed in a studio but it really looks like it was filmed in actual locations. You believe this is a Chinese community at war and it all looks brilliantly realistic. It even looks like they used practical stunts rather than CGI and they did not waste their budget. I thought this film just looked brilliant and beautiful at times.

Speaking of how it looks, the cinematography captures the action scenes perfectly, particularly that war sequence in the middle of the film. It reminded me of a PG-13 battle version of game of thrones and for Mulan, it actually worked. There's other places in the film where the cinematography just looks really impressive but that war sequence was just incredible.

Speaking of the action sequences, the action is also handled pretty well. Especially for the actress who plays Mulan, it doesn't look like they used stunt actors. (although they may have done) From what I saw, the actors actually used hand to hand combat which I always love when actors do that and the final battle between Mulan and Bori Khan is staged and handled really well.

The lead actress who plays Mulan gives a very impressive performance. With everything Mulan has to go through to prove herself and how she develops along the way, I thought she handled the role really really well. The rest of the cast are also really good and some of them have very good development arcs which surprised me a little.

And finally there's quite an emotional weight to this film. I won't reveal where but there are places in this film where you really feel the emotion between certain characters. Also this may be an unpopular opinion but there's certain changes that I'm aware of from the original version that I think worked really well. Again I won't reveal what the changes are but for the type of film this is, for the genre and how realistic it looks and is, the changes made I feel were the right ones.

Onto the mixed aspect of the film and it's the main plot for me. Again I am aware of the main story in the original version and it worried me. The story of Mulan changing her appearance to look like a boy just sounded so dated and watching it, I still felt the same way. Now I appreciate the film for sticking to its source material but with all the changes it made, I felt that's the one change I would have liked to have seen. I just don't like the idea or story of a woman having to change her appearance to fit in.

Onto the negatives and I'll be honest, there's not a lot. I really enjoyed this film but there were some things holding it back. First, I didn't care much for the love story for Mulan and Honghui. For the film I was watching, it just didn't seem necessary adding the love story in it and I just didn't think there was much chemistry between them.

Finally and this is a nitpick but with how beautiful this film looks, there's one scene where it looks really bad. It looks overlyprocessed and CGI heavy and looks out of place with the rest of the film.

Besides those two, this is a brilliantly made remake of a beloved Disney remake and this is how these remakes should be made. I really enjoyed this film.

⭐⭐⭐⭐