This is MY power and I'm not running away anymore! (Sonic the Hedgehog 2020)

261.

Sonic the Hedgehog




7/10

What can I say? One of my favourite games to play as a kid when my Sega Mega Drive was working has somehow finally made its way to the big screen and not without many a stumbling block along the way. This movie has been in line since the 90s' but the ball didn't start rolling until Sony bought the rights in 2013. This then hit a delay and Paramount Pictures picked it up the cast started coming in. The most recent negative moment when it came to the movie was the release of the first trailer. Everyone who has ever seen and remembers Sonic probably has an image in their mind of how he would look, other than being simply blue. He has these massive eyes to go along with his character and sass and unfortunately, this wasn't put into his design until the feedback and this caused a delay of three months for a much-needed redesign. Video games becoming movies very rarely have a good outcome, let alone great. Let's find out if this one runs rings around those critics!
The movie begins with Sonic racing through a city, being chased by some sort of craft. It's going to be the usual introduction that has been seen many times. A case of 'this is how I got here' and a run through until we see this moment later on in the movie. Now for the history lesson. A gang of echidnas chasing down Sonic for his power of supersonic speed. His guardian at the time, a massive owl, gives sonic a bag of rings that can create portals and uses one to send him to Earth. She also gives him a map of a planet of mushrooms which he can then escape to if he finds more trouble. Ten years later and Sonic has been living in Green Hills. Green Hills was the location of the first three levels in the Sega game. Whilst living there, he has been unable to make friends but idolizes the local sheriff, played by James Marsden. His name is Tom and with his wife, is due to move to San Francisco soon to take up a job with the Police Department there.
Sonic is really struggling with his loneliness and after playing a game of baseball by himself and upsetting himself whilst doing so, he runs the bases faster and faster until he goes into supersonic speed and creates a power surge that wipes out the power in the Pacific Northwest. This brings the big boys down to investigate and who else other than Doctor Robotnik. 

A scientific genius recruited by the US government, he puts himself straight to work, finding tracks that lead to Tom's shed. As all of this is going on, Tom has encountered Sonic and accidentally shot him with a tranq. Doing this led to Sonic dropping his bag of rings and sending them through a portal to San Fran. After waking up and chatting, getting over the fact that Sonic can talk, Tom agrees to help the little blue guy out. Robotnik isn't too far away and after a confrontation with Tom, calling him a domestic terrorist and taking a punch from the Sheriff, Tom and Sonic escape, taking to the road and bonding a little on the drive. All Sonic really wants it to find a friend after all of these years. 

Now as for Robotnik, he finds a quill from Sonic and discovers that the power that it possesses alone is enough to turn this man into an obsessive maniac. Robots are sent out to track down the pair and one even injures Sonic. Tom takes him to his wife, who is a vet and called Maddie who, after her surprise, is filled in with all that is happening. Although her comical sister who doesn't like Tom anyway disapproves of their plan to help Sonic, Maddie agrees to help and their niece gives Sonic some new trainers. These trainers are the iconic Red and White ones that we've been waiting to see. The trio head to San Fran to the rooftop on which the bag of rings sit but Robotnik is also on his way, in a hovercraft and we are about to catch up with the first scene. Sonic uses a ring to send Tom and Maddie on their way, back to Green Hills, whilst Sonic uses supersonic speed to try and outrun Robotnik but with the use of the quill he found, this mad man can now match the speed. Running through all areas of the world, they end up back at Green Hills. Sonic is shot down by Robotnik but Tom and the townsfolk come to his aide, even the guy who was seen as the crazy man for thinking a Blue alien existed in the woods somewhere. This gives Sonic some time to recharge his battery and turn the fight around, sending Robotnik to that Mushroom planet and ultimately winning. Following everything, Tom and Maddie decide to stay put and let Sonic move in, the Government erases all information about Sonic and the fact that Robotnik existed. On the Mushroom planet, Robotnik has saved Sonic's quill from the ship that crashed and having lost his mind, shaved his hair off and grown a moustache, which is the look that we know for Robotnik, he is looking for a way to return. Back on Earth, we get one final scene. Another portal opens up and with a spinning ginger tail, in flies Tails.

When it comes to Video game adaptations on the big screen this was a reasonable success in my book. With the criticism coming before the movie even hit the main screen, it seemed to work and had a lot of ties with the games themselves. Although we were introduced to human characters other than Robotnik, the origin of the story worked very well. It was a feel-good story that ended in the acceptance that our main character had strived for. The story wasn't too hard for the younger viewers to follow either but with a little bit of hidden adult comedy, there was something for everyone but this can mean that is is the standard story with no real surprises. The character of Robotnik was an interesting one to say the least. It allowed Jim Carrey to head back to his sporadic and excentric roots, just like his role as The Riddler in Batman Forever. I felt a little awkward during a random dance scene for him in this movie but I can ignore that and enjoy the rest and his drop from sanity into the crazy Doctor. Probably the best part of the movie. James Marsden had been off the map for a long time before this movie but his role was an ample one, if not predictable. As for the voice actor for Sonic, Ben Schwartz, I had only witnessed him in a couple of small roles but he got by very well in this movie. He even gave his fave to the motion capture.

If a company is willing to spend the money on a redesign and listen to their fanbase then I was going to take the time and watch this movie. With plenty of nostalgia and easter eggs it will be interesting to see if the rumours of sequels truly are in the pipeline. The humour was pretty average but visible whether it be animated or through the script. This movie was quite short compared to what has been released recently and if you are looking for some family fun, look no further. 

A thousand generations live in you now (Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker 2020)

260.

Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker


7.5/10

A fitting time to post this review when I had just completed watching the Skywalker saga over the past two days, starting on May the 4th (EVEN THOUGH I GOT DELAYED POSTING THIS!). For my two cinema experiences in watching this finale, my first was a triple bill with The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. If it was up to me, I'd have slept through The Last Jedi to make sure I was 100% awake but the mind boggled and needed to be awake to remember how pointless the movie was within the trilogy. J.J Abrams was back at the helm for this one thankfully and I needed to have faith that he could save the storyline from what Rian Johnson has for some reason, been given the freedom to produce. I grew up at the time of the improved first trilogy hitting the cinema again in the 90s', paving the way for my love of the franchise. I really hope that we get a great ending.
As always, it's worth starting with a synopsis of the storyline so if you haven't gotten around to see the finale yet, skip everything else and go and watch it now. As always there is a complex storyline to dissolve so I'll touch on what we need. Since the last movie, Kylo has been on a mission to track down a sith finder which will lead him to an unknown force on the planet of Exegol. We know what that force is thanks to the laughter of Palpatine spoiling the trailers. Not spoiling in a bad way but imagine the audience pop when they come across the Emperor! 

He has been revived by some mystical formula and a load of siths as he explains that he created Snook as his puppet but now that Kylo Ren has found him, he can become what is destined. He must kill Rey and use the armada of Star Destroyers that have been built to take over the galaxy. Rey has been carrying on her training under Leia, who we even get a flashback about as she trains with Luke. Poe and Finn get some information on what lies on Exegol and that they need the same map system to get there. Our heroes are straight on the case. Heading to a planet for their latest clue, Kylo uses the forces to create a bond with Rey and find out where she is. He sends the Knights of Ren, who we finally get to witness but the gang is saved by an old friend. Lando is back on our screen. Finally getting to the clue C3-PO can read the text but his programming does not allow for him to reveal what it means. Enter Kylo. Rey wants to face him and in the tussle, Chewy gets captured and loaded onto a transport ship. Rey tries to use the force to stop it taking off, Kylo tries to help it leave, Rey overpowers, sends a lightning bolt up her arm and blows the ship up. Speechless, just as she is, with the thought that Chewy is dead, what a way to go. Turns out though, that isn't the case, we saw him a couple of scenes later on Ren's ship. Back with the remaining trio and they are heading to a planet that Poe knows to get C3-PO talking and after introducing another couple of side characters, they reveal the location but not before we get a nice character arch from the droid. C3-PO has always been seen as a straight-lined kind of character, never wanting to get into trouble and when he does, gets completely helpless and cowardly. Standing firm, he says goodbye to his friends one last time as finding out the location will reset his memories. With all of this happening, Ren has tracked them down through the use of his knights and after searching the city, Poe, Rey and Finn get up to Ren's ship as Rey feels Chewy is up there. They free him, she has another weird vision encounter with Ren and the team escape with Chewy. This is all thanks to the spy who is actually General Hux! He just wants Ren to fail but I remember a little cheer going up in the cinema when it got revealed. He doesn't last long afterward. On their escape, Ren arrives and finally reveals who Rey is. Her father was the son of Palpatine, she is a Palpatine and this explains the sparks coming from her fingertips earlier I suppose.
Now the story follows Rey on her journey to get the Wayfinder on a moon of Endor where the Death Star crashed all those years ago. She finds the Wayfinder, battle a vision of herself if she turned to the dark side and even gets a visit from Ren, who destroys the Wayfinder and proceeds to attack Rey in a visually stunning scene.

 With Leia feeling what is going on, she uses her last energy to distract Ren with the force and Rey drives a saber through his midriff. Sensing that Leia has given her life for her son, Rey uses the force to heal his wound and steals his ship to complete her journey as he has the only Wayfinder still attached to his little ship. Kylo Ren is left to reflect on his choices in the waves. Finn and Poe are helpless as they watch Rey fly off. Just when you think you have this movie worked out, you may be wrong. Rey has flown to the island that she found Luke and she plans on hiding herself due to seeing the vision of her on the dark side. As she throws her saber into the fire of Ren's wrecking ship, it's caught by the force ghost of Luke, who says that a Jedi's weapon deserves more respect. Damn right it does! I hope that is a big f**k you to Rian Johnson for the last movie. He talks her around to travelling and ending all of this and even lifts out his old craft from the waters, a homage to The Empire Strikes Back when he failed to do so and Yoda did it. A complete arch for Luke. Rey is once again on her way, saving the Wayfinder and sending some co-ordinates back to base for everyone else to follow. R2-D2 receives them and restores C3-PO's memory to explain to the Rebels what is happening. We are on to our final every battle on the Skywalker saga.
At base, Lando is sent to try and get everyone to fight, no matter how scared they are, small their ship is or how far away they are, they need bodies for this and he's off. On Exegol, Rey confronts Palpatine, who wants her to kill him so that his spirit and the spirit of the Sith can pass on to her. In the background, we can see hundreds of hooded figures and I love how dark this part of the movie and scene is.

 Back on the moon of Endor, a soaked Ren is visited by his father and we can finally see Ben re-enter the fold, he knows he needs to help Rey and he steals a really old craft from the Death Star. Above the base, the fleet is ready to leave as Poe and his gang are overrun but everyone knows what is about to come. Lando's voice over the headset reveals that he found a few friends and there are thousands of little ships, even the side characters that Poe knew are in the fight and I remember feeling elated at this moment.

 He makes it to Exegol but is confronted by his Knights. This leads us to a great scene as Ben and Rey once again use the force and take down who they need to. They both confront Palpatine but he ends up draining them of their life force and healing himself, bringing back those evil eyes an antics as he sends lightning into the sky, disabling all of the Rebel ships, just as it looked like they were on to a winner. This is before Rey hears the voice of the Jedi from the past, whether they were in the animated series, Ewan McGregor was there, Yoda, Leia, Luke and even some Samuel L. Jackson as Windu popped in for a word. Rey picks herself back up and gives us an 'I AM ... IRON MAN' moment as she holds of Palpatine's lightning with a lightsaber before claiming she is all the Jedi, picking up Ben's used saber and directing Palpatine's attack back at him and ending his life. The movie draws to its close with the usual Star Wars celebrations on a planet to planet-scale, the characters embrace and we even get some nods to the older movies with the Ewoks. The one quick but massive moment for the older fans was Chewy receiving a medal that was due to him from A New Hope when Han and Luke got theirs. There was an outcry for years and years for this and it finally happened. Rey visits Luke's home that we first met the character back on Tatooine. She buries Luke and Leia's sabers before revealing her yellow one. She is questioned by a passerby on who she is to which she replies Rey, before looking into the distances and seeing the ghosts of Luke and Leia and turning back to say 'Rey Skywalker'.
This movie was never going to be considered one of the classic and to be honest, none of them have been and some have been nowhere near the original trilogy. I really enjoyed this movie and although there was a lot of fan service, it was needed considering what came before. The storyline was really good and the main twist was not expected. It was a little controversial bringing back Palpatine and how they did so but the need was there because they killed off Snoke for some reason and Kylo Ren was nowhere near menacing enough to be a leader of the Dark Side. Rey also needed to be someone if she wasn't going to be related to any of the rebels and although this bridge seemed to be burnt in the last movie when Kylo told her that her parents were nothing, this again seemed to be corrected. Even the fan service and nods for the past and part character were amazing to see. Another example and small example at this would be one of the pilots from the original trio coming back to fly at the end.
Heading on to the characters, it's sad to know that this is the end of their tale but I think everyone ended fittingly. Rey became someone on her own accord and although she doubted herself, she made the right choices in the end. The biggest change had to be Ben/Kylo Ren. Going from the spoilt brat in the last movie, moving on to wanting to kill Palpatine himself as he stood in the way of this total dominance to then finally changing and coming over to the rebel side of things to save Rey at the end by sacrificing himself. It was nice to see Ian McDiarmid back as Palpatine and reprising that role exactly how he left it. We have come to know the rest of the cast over the years and they didn't disappoint. One highly visible change in the line up from The Last Jedi would be Kelly Marie Tran's character Rose Tico. She was kind of forced down the viewer's throats from nowhere in the second movie and they, along with myself, didn't take to her at all. She was given a much quieter role in this finale and although there was a little bit on fondness towards Finn, it seemed nowhere near the amount that there had been.
John Williams gave us the sound that we have become accustomed to, the music that can get us excited but can also set the mood in how we are expected to feel. This helped with how visually spectacular the movie was at times had me wishing that I had seen the movie in an IMAX theatre but work didn't have great shifts for me to do so for travel. From each world, the crashed Death Star and even the fight scenes looked phenomenal, with Exegol and Palpatine's throne room a stand out for me.
The movie needed a lot of change to get the divided fans back on side after The Last Jedi and for me, it did just that. For a lot of other fans, they still didn't like this third, unfortunately. It was never going to be perfect with the number of storylines and characters that it needed to address, which I was truly thankful that they did if I'm to be honest. I have never seen such a middle finger to the movie that came before. It was enough to leave me satisfied with the Skywalker saga and that they had gone as far as they could with the story and characters involved. It was a sad time with the passing for Carrie Fisher during the filming but this was reacted to very well and she was given a hero's sendoff after saving the life of Rey. I would put this movie in the top 5 of the Star Wars nine when looking at everything that it had to offer. The force was strong with this one

Being Joker's girl gave me immunity (Birds of Prey 2020)

259.

Birds of Prey and the Fabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn



4/10

We are heading back into the DC extended universe and a spin of from the disappointing Suicide Squad movie. Margot Robbie shall be leading the line as Harley Quinn, the one success story from the Suicide Squad movie. Directed by Cathy Yan, I have no idea what to expect from her but being a fan of DC, I wouldn't mind a good installment for once. Ewan McGregor is probably the most intriguing part of this move, who is going to be playing Black Mask. Robbie actually helped to pitch the idea of this movie to the executives around 5 years ago and the second R rated movie to come from DC Films was about to begin filming. Let's get into it and find out how crazy it can get.
The movie is not set long after the Suicide Squad. Joker has kicked Harley to the curb, which hopefully means we won't be seeing Leto in the movie. She has cut her hair, joined a roller derby team and adopted a hyena, all shown through narrative and breaking the fourth wall. From here, we are setting the scene and introduced to a few more characters in a short space of time. Harley is drinking away her troubles in Roman Sionis' club, AKA Iron Mask, played by McGregor. There, she gets into an altercation with Roman's driver and cripples him. The singer at the club is Dinah Lance and the surname resonates with me straight away, it's Black Canary. She later stops a very drunk Harley from getting abducted and Sionis witnesses this, impressed with her performance he then highers her. On the other side of town, we have a cop named Montoya looking into some killing to the mob but a crossbow killer. The same night as the killings, Harley blows up the Ace chemical plant to announce the split from Joker.

 The cops know she is going to be a lot more dangerous now that she is making a name on her own.
Finally, we get down to the main story. Montoya asks Lance to be an informant on Sionis, which is rejected and Dinah Lance is then given her first job, which is to drive Victor Zsasz around to pick up a diamond and some account details from a mob family that was killed years ago. After doing so Zsasz in then pickpocketed by a new character called Cassandra Cain, who swallows the diamond when she is arrested. Harley is also run around town by some people she has wronged, including Montoya but is caught by Roman's men until she offers to get the diamond back for him in exchange for her life. 

This leads us onto a chase and a change in morale as Harley and Cassandra bond. Lance informs Montoya of the diamond plot too. Now we head back to the story of the crossbow killer. Turns out its a survivor of that mob massacre. She was a young daughter of the boss at the time and is now around for revenge. Going around as the Huntress she is going to have a role to play by the end. Back at Harley's her flat is bombed as an attempt on Cain's life after the owner of the flat rats Harley out. She offers to give up Cain in exchange for Sionis' protection once again from everyone else gunning for her. He agrees to meet her at an abandoned amusement park. Lance informs Montoya but is caught out by Zsasz who then informs his own boss. This is the first time that we see Sionis don his Black Mask and truly start to lose his sanity.
At the parK, Montoya confronts Harley at gunpoint but is knocked out of a window for her troubles. Zsasz turns up and tranqs Harley, holding Cassandra at gunpoint and then waits for back up. He is taken out by the Huntress after revealing that he was the last killer on her list of killers of her family. This gives enough time for Montoya to sort her head out and a stand-off commences. It doesn't last long as Black Mask arrives outside with a small army and the girls know they need to work together to get out of this alive. The gang fights their way through a 'fun-house' but Cassandra is still captured by Sionis's men. 

This leads to a car chase of sorts and plenty more roller skating. Cassandra ends up pulling the ring on a grenade that she slipped into Black Mask's jacket before Harley kicks him off a pier. That's him dealt with. Now for the loose ends. Montoya quits the force, using the account details for the money and joining up with Lance and the Huntress to start a vigilante team called the 'Birds of Prey'. Harley and Cassandra sell the diamond, start a contract killing business and we are pretty much as tied up as we can get. We even get a little mid-credit scene in which Harley is about to reveal a secret about Batman until she is cut off mid-sentence.
I'm pretty sure I left the movie with a very mixed attitude. This felt like watching Suicide Squad once again if not a slightly worse experience. Starting with some good, the movie looked brilliant, very dark and then flamboyant when scenes called for either. This was just like the Suicide Squad. This can be passed across for more compliments regarding the choreography from scene to scene. There would be some slow-motion action with Harley breaking into the police station and then the final fight scene had a contrast of styles and camera angles to showcase a lot at the same time.
As for the storyline, this is probably the weakest part of the movie for me. It's not something that gripped me in any way shape or form.  For a comic-related movie, it was a very normal styled storyline and this bordered on boring. If I wanted to watch a heist style plot I could pick much better movies. If I wanted to watch a hitman movie or people on the run, there's better out there. What is going on with DC that these terrible plots are simply a non-starter for the DC universe and its spin-offs? Even the script felt forced, at times it brought a little giggled to the audience but then again, it started to feel forced. The wit and r-rated license was lost mid-way through the movie and it just became a chore to follow. The movie came across as a chick-flick by the end, which wouldn't be surprising for a female writer and director being involved. It hardly contained them as the Bird of Prey and the main villain was a shallow gay feller. He didn't develop within the movie and everything then became predictable.
Finishing off with the cast, there could be a lot to talk about but I shall try and round it up. As already mentioned, McGregor was going to be an interesting watch for me and to no fault of his own, I was left deflated. There was a chance of him being totally menacing throughout the movie but it wasn't utilized. Being more flamboyant than evil at times, the one character that I wanted to prevail was rubbish. We know about Robbie as Quinn and this carried on, we don't need to speak too much about it and the fourth wall break at times was great but her story had no arch to it. Wanting to make it one her own, she became a desperate girl trying to stay alive instead. Moving swiftly on to a couple more, Mary Elizabeth Winstead as The Huntress was a very weird moment. Not because of the choice but the way she was on screen, a very serious but awkward portrayal. Not sure where the idea came from to show the character in this way but it didn't work for me. Ella Jay Basco's character Cassandra Cain did not hit home for me. This was the character I enjoyed the very very least. There seemed to be crude for the sake of crude when it came to this girl and the overly, gangster wannabe didn't land with me sorry.
DC needs to take a step back and find out what is going wrong. Nothing seems to be hitting home and I have no idea whether their fans have tunnel vision or are reluctant to say anything bad. I prefer what the DC comics have because it is darker rather than the Disney stuff from Marvel at times. There is something fundamentally wrong with who is writing these stories and the fans need to ask more questions than where that Snyder cut is hiding. The female comic fans could well enjoy most of this movie but it may fall drastically short for the male DC fan, as it did with me.