Senior Year

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

⭐️

Firestarter

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Doctor strange in the multiverse of madness

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Morbius

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

⭐️⭐️

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ambulance

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

⭐️

X

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Batman

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Texas Chainsaw Massacre

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Last Night In Soho

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

⭐⭐⭐

Halloween kills

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

⭐⭐⭐

No Time To Die

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

⭐⭐⭐

The Green Knight

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

⭐⭐

Malignant

This film has been my most anticipated horror film of this whole year. James Wan is my favourite director of all time, I love all of his films and I wanted to make sure I went into this film blind. I avoided all the trailers, only saw the poster and cast and that was it and I knew with all this hype, this film would be either my biggest disappointment or my biggest surprise and wow, surprised is just scraping the barrel of how I felt about this film.

Let's just get the negatives out the way now. For me, this films story lacked focus on what it really was because when it starts, it's like a haunted house film then it starts to feel like a slasher then it goes in a totally different direction so it felt like James Wan couldn't decide what specific horror trope he wanted to focus on.

And whilst this is a horror film, the scares a very limited and James Wan is always good when it comes to scares and tension so that was slightly disappointing that there wasn't more of that.

Finally and this is a nitpick, it began to bother me how often Annabelle Wallis would scream at something. There's a section in the film where something happens, everyone is in shock and Annabelle Wallis just starts screaming and it did get on my nerves a bit.

As for mixed feelings, this film has one of the darkest opening acts in any film I've seen and there will be people who will struggle with the opening act so without spoiler it, be sure to prepare yourself if you see it.

I've also seen people say this is a very campy film and I don't know if it's just me but I never felt that way at all. Dark, yes. Intense yes. Campy? Not at all but that's just me.

Now from here on out, it's all positives and I'll start small and work on to the best of the film. So first of all, the cast is fantastic in this film. I've seen Annabelle Wallis in plenty of projects so it's nice to see her in another horror film and she doesn't disappoint. The rest of the cast I'm unfamiliar with but they are all great.

Like a lot of James Wans films, the use of camerawork is remarkably impressive. How the camera moves, the wide angle shots, the dark lighting and even a grainy colour filter, it's all used very efficiently and it makes this film really nice to look at.

Another James Wan trademark that gets felt amongst the film is atmosphere. Multiple set pieces are so atmospherically felt and even in crowded scenes, mixed with the dark tone, there's no feeling of safety or peacefulness. You always feel the danger of the situation.

But you also feel this film is building towards something but you're not sure what and that is this film biggest achievement. The payoff and shocking twist it has feels 100% earned and within that, we get the best part of the film. A completely bonkers, OTT but badass and awesome third act that doesn't hold back. Pure carnage is unleashed, it's gruesome, it's stomach churning and I loved every bloody minute of it.

And because of the third act and how the story unfolds, it baffles me how the hell anyone could have come up with this sort of twist and even fact checked it. This film also has the potential to age incredibly well because it is pure practical effects. There's moments where I have no idea how these scenes were even filmable with how impressive these effects are and whilst CGI may have been used, I say May because I could not see it anywhere but that just be me.

And finally and I'll keep this very brief, this is a film that has potential for a franchise and unlike previous times where I have said, I do not want a sequel made to precious films, I DO want a sequel to this film and would be interested to see this films premise explored further.

So overall I loved this film. It's so memorable and I'll be raving about it for the next few days. It may not be James Wans best film but it's definitely his most insane film to date and I can't wait to see his next project.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Night House

When I first heard about this film, it was not on my radar at all but then I saw parts of the trailer and thought it looked interesting so I decided to go on a whim and check it out and I'm not even going to attempt to hide it, I bloody loved this film.

Kicking right off with the positives, without question, the best thing about this film is Rebecca Halls performance. This woman delivers not only one of the best performances I've seen this year but without doubt, the performance of her whole career. She portrays a woman who is so filled with grief and feels like she's got the weight of the world on her shoulders but she's also very charismatic in the role and also has some nice dark humour. I'll elaborate more on the progression of this scene later but there's one scene where she has to break down and it is performed so so beautifully.

I also loved the storytelling for this film. Once you understand the story for his film, what we watch is such a realistic take on grief and of a woman who is just trying to get her life back on track but is constantly struggling and who is also finding out secrets about her past. What also impressed me as well was this film is in a way setting up the build up to Rebecca Halls big break down scene and my god, the progression and execution to that moment feels so earned.

This film also has a great amount of foreshadowing that once again has great payoff and like all great moments of foreshadowing, it doesn't come off as predictable. Instead it's used subtlety enough as hints as what's to come and it's easy to miss if you're not paying close attention.

Now let's talk about the one thing that could have been this films downfall; the scares. Now I do have some thoughts regarding these when we get to the negatives of this review but like everything else I've mentioned, the scares are executed really well. Yes there are jump scares but instead of being used as gimmicks and using cheap editing tricks, this film builds up the tension for the scares and that is how you correctly utilize a jump scares. But that's not all. This film has some genuinely creepy moments that unnerved me in places and the use of the clever camera work and perfect camera angles just make the scares more unnerving.

And once we get to the 3rd act of the film, it does not hold back. There's a lot of hard hitting scenes as all the pieces come into place that tie into the themes of the film, what was pre-established during the first act, features fantastic editing and beautiful colour correction.

Unfortunately it's not perfect, I did have some issues so let's move onto the mixed aspects and first this is just to say this film is marketed as a horror film but the horror side is pretty much on the back burner as the main story is pretty much a psychological drama that focuses on Rebecca Hall's characters grief so just bare in mind when you do see it, expect around 60% drama, 40% horror. That's my estimation.

Also this is a film that does warrant a rewatch, especially when the ending gets a little confusing to the point during my first watch, I had to read the ending just to understand what happened but during my second watch, it did help me understand the film a lot more.

Now let's move onto the bad parts of the film and this won't take long at all. I only have two main issues. First one is i felt there was a bit too much exposition during the 3rd act and felt there could have been a way to resolve things without overexplaining everything.

And my only other issue isn't about the film itself, it's the marketing. After my first viewing of this film, I wanted to check out the trailer and I'm so glad I didn't watch it beforehand because it highly markets itself as a horror film to the point where it reveals almost all the crucial scare points during the film. So I would advice you to go in blind and not watch any trailer before seeing this film.

But besides that, I think this film is fantastic, I loved it and it's currently residing as my 3rd favourite film of the year thus far. I highly recommend it and I really want people to see this film as I fear in years to come, it may become an underseen and underappreciated horror film.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Candyman 2021

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Don't Breathe 2

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

⭐⭐⭐

Space Jam: A New Legacy

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

⭐⭐

The Suicide Squad

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

⭐⭐⭐

Old

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

⭐⭐

Black Widow

I'm a big MCU fan and since Black Widow was announced, I've always looked forward to it but I was a bit sceptical about it. Because this is a prequel, it felt a bit odd to be coming out now but I always going to give it a chance.

Starting with the positives, the best thing about this film is the action. It is handled so so well, choreographed fantastically and very creative at times. What makes it even better though surprisingly is the editing. Films these days always seem to mess up action when it comes to editing it but this film find a way to have great action but edited really well so it's not all over the place.

I also really enjoyed the cast for this film. Scarlett Johansson is as always fantastic as Black Widow, Florence Pugh is a welcome addition to this franchise and I can see a long future for her, David Harbour shows how versatile he is as an actor with his goofy comedic performance as Red Guardian and Rachel Weisz is really charming as Natasha's mother and all four of these actors have great chemistry upon one another.

I also really liked Ray Winstones character. I was surprised to hear he would be in this film. He didn't strike me as someone who'd ever do a superhero movie but I did enjoy his performance. His character felt like a respected homage to Marlon Brandos Don Vito Corleone from The Godfather.

Now the MCU is known for its grand use of green screen and sometimes I feel it overdoes that a bit and I could be wrong but this film seemed to be more location based. Now yes some green screen is obviously used but a lot of the time, it feels like they're filming on location and I always enjoy it when films do that.

It's also one of the most thematic MCU films as it focuses on the themes of family and whilst this is a theme that does feel overused, I feel it works well for what this film establishes for its plot and characters.

And my final positive is the humour. This film is very funny and there are some really funny one liners and the banter amongst the cast is great as well.

Now as a mixed thought, it's only the timeline. Now this film takes place between Captain America: civil war and Avengers Infinity war but I feel this could have taken place anywhere within the MCU continuity and if it wants to match with its themes, maybe it would make more sense for it to take place between infinity war and Endgame after Thanos's snap.

Now onto my negatives. Let's gets the obvious one out of the way. This film admittedly feels inconsequential because we know what happens to Black Widow and because everything takes place in the past, nothing shocking happens. Besides a post credit scene, nothing sets up for the future so yes this does feel inconsequential and also feels like it should have come out years ago.

But my biggest issue with this film is there are several plot points that feel very derivative of Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Especially the villain of Taskmaster, I liked this character at first but as the film went on, it turns out to be a less interesting version of Bucky and without going into spoilers, the 3rd act has some strong similarities to the 3rd act in The Winter Soldier.

Finally and this is a nitpick, some of the accents in this film are very dodgy especially Ray Winstone. You can hear his normal London based accent whilst he performs a Russian accent.

However, this is still a solid good MCU film and the solo Black widow movie that we have wanted for so long. Don't let the fact we should have got this years ago stop you from enjoying it because you will.

⭐⭐⭐