262.
Fantasy Island
3/10
Another horror movie coming out of Blumhouse Productions and I'm already wondering whether it will be heading to the good pile of movies to come out from the company or the bad pile. In my opinion, they are a hit and miss kind of franchise but when they hit, they usually get the bull's eye. From the trailers, this movie did look very interesting and excited me a little but I still had an apprehension, just in case all of the good scenes had been already shown. Michael Pena and Michael Rooker were the only two members of the cast that I could recognise coming out of this movie and I had already, mentioned in a previous review, a lot of these movies could have a young cast that we would be introduced to and then never see again. This doesn't sound like I'm setting a confident picture, but let's find out.
The movie introduces us to a gang of people who have been promised that traveling to this island can make their dreams come true. The group is as diverse as it comes, with a businesswoman, step-brothers, a former police officer and a girl who could be classed as a little disturbed.
The movie seems to be revolving around her a little more than the others and once we are introduced to Mr. Rourke, Pena's character. who is the island's keeper, we are thrust into people fantasies. The brothers head to a party in a mansion, the officer heads to war in honor of his father, Gwen the businesswoman has the chance to accept her ex's marriage proposal and Melanie, our little crazy girl, gets the chance of revenge on an old bully. It isn't long until these fantasy's start taking a turn of the worse. As Melanie releases a video to her old bully's husband regarding her cheating, she also sees a video of the bully being kidnapped and brought to the island against her will. Now she realises that, indeed, shit is getting very real. Some sort of crazed doctor walks in to get in on the act but Melanie begins to act. Freeing her old bully, they both finally escape but run into Damon, an investigator on the island played by Michael Rooker.
Before coming into this movie, I had no idea he had a role. He takes the girls to a cave and explains that these fantasies come from the 'spring water'. The had it mixed with their welcome drink and a crystal heart under the islands shows the guests their deepest desires, no matter how wrong they may be. Damon is there to investigate Rourke until he was offered to see his dead daughter. He took the chance and got trapped on the island for his troubles. After collecting some of the water, our trio heads to the resort to find a phone.
As for our other characters, Gwen has said yes to marriage, she has a kid but doesn't feel right, she isn't enjoying her fantasy. Rourke appears and tells her that he once made a wish which came true. That was to have his dead wife back but to keep the dream alive, he has to make the guest's wishes come true. If he doesn't, everything is over. Gwen somehow talks Rourke around and gets to change her fantasy. The island doesn't like this and starts turning everyone else's fantasy into nightmares. To be fair, I already thought Melanie's was. The brothers at the part get set upon by some cartel, while Gwen is taken to the night that she accidentally started a fire and killed a neighbour. She tried to rescue him but passed out in the smoke. She was actually rescued by Rourke's assistant Julia. We, along with Gwen, realise that every guest except for Melanie was there that night in their own little roles.
We haven't spoken about that former policeman much and his fantasy was to see his father in the war. Knowing that this was his last chance to see his father alive, he even tries to manipulate the fantasy by stopping the troop from going on their last mission. This last mission turns out to be saving the brothers from the Cartel that have captured them. After killing the cartel, the island brings them back as zombies and Patrick, the ex-cop, watches as his father sacrifices himself so that Patrick and one of the brothers can escape. The Asian brother survives yet the American gets shot to death. That's right, they are step-bros. The girls are set upon again but the surgeon, now a zombie but Damon flings himself and the zombie off the cliff, killing them both. This movie has now turned hectic. After making their way back to the resort, Sloane the bully, gets her husband to call in Damon's military buddies, even after seeing the video that he saw of his wife. The remaining survivors regroup and are cornered by Rourke who explains that they are all part of someone else's fantasy in which they are all killed. The gang realise that this has to be about Nick who died in the fire and maybe Rourke and Julia are his parents. They try to escape, ready for Damon's men to come and save the day but they are shot down by the Cartel who have made their way to the resort and now that the setting has become daytime again, I feel that it is drawing to a close of sorts. If I'm honest I'm actually getting bored of going into the little detail that I am.
The group runs to the cave to destroy that mysterious rock but on the way, they are confronted by manifestations of their demons but making their way through the tunnels, we have our final twist to the tale. Melanie stabs Patrick, the ex-cop, whilst taking her bully hostage. It turns out that this was Melanie's fantasy after all, she wanted to get everyone else here as revenge for the death of Nick, who she was meant to be going on a date with the night that he died. It is also revealed that the worker on the island, Julia, is Rourke's wife but I think we had already guessed that one.
Outside of the cave, Julia begins to die, as she does every day but this time she asks Rourke to let her go, forgive himself and help the others escape from the island. Sloane, who is the bully, is the only one who can think at the moment. She realises that being on the island, she can have a fantasy too. She wants Melanie to be with Nick and this causes Melanie to be attacked by a Zombie version of the guy she was meant to go on a date with and she gets drag into the water by him.
Before she drowns, she manages to pull the pin on a grenade and send it in everyone else's direction. Patrick, the once coward who wanted to prove himself in war and was too much of a coward as a policeman to run in and save Nick, throws himself on the grenade and the scene turns to black.
The gang now wakes up in their hotel beds and realise what has happened. Rourke seems healed from the dark power and agrees to let the tourists leave the island. As they board the plane, the remaining brother makes a deal with Rourke to bring the dead one back to life. He makes the deal to stay behind and Brax, the remaining brother becomes Rourke's new assistance and changes his name to Tattoo, which is the start of the TV series which was out in the 70s'.
That movie is over and with that, so was another poor attempt by Blumhouse in my opinion. When I saw the trailer, I had high hopes that this could be one of the top entries to come from Blumhouse but I was left with a sour taste in my mouth. The trailer seemed to contain the action and when we actually sat down to watch the storyline take place, it seemed every clustered. I understand the story and enjoyed the major twist that came along with it but there were loads of little side stories, which filled up important space to expand on certain characters and this led to rushed storylines and a very rushed ending. I didn't see the main twist coming, I'm going to admit and it came at the right time within the movie, just as we were wondering if it was going to be a very safe and predictable ending. Looking back though, nothing made sense regarding the ending. Melanie has this plan all along but a lot of the movie, we were watching her panicking, being attacked and even nearly escaping on the plane she called. So which ending did she truly want?
The cast was mostly unrecognisable, with a few exceptions, I had finally gotten around to realising that the actress who played Melanie, Lucy Hale, was in another Blumhouse production, Truth or Dare. Clearly, she is a favourite with them but that movie wasn't great either. Everyone else was pretty damn forgettable and the role for Michael Pena, as mostly being a villain, didn't suit the guy at all. I was always kind of waiting for a comedic moment from him.
Always one to give horror a go, I came into this open minding and although the movie had some potential and dark moments, they would always stop short of actually getting right where I wanted it to head. Again, this could have been down to the cohesion of the storyline but having never seen the TV series, I have no idea who it would resemble it. The movie felt really lazy and depending on a younger audience to connect with some characters rather than taking too much of an interest in the plot holes that came along with it. The only major things that the movie had going for it was the location if that can be a thing. I'd love a trip to the island if it didn't come with the horror aspect. It reminded me of how much I need a holiday. It would take a desperate person within me to go back and watch this movie again on my own accord. I don't envisage this being a franchise or even producing a sequel unless it goes straight to VHS!
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.
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
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.
258.
The Invisible Man
7/10
Back onto the horror route and The Invisible Man was intended to be part of the Dark Universe that was being set up and ultimately failed with Tom Cruise's The Mummy and everything was forgotten about. This is a remake from the movies in the '30s where a scientist finds a way to become invisible and goes on a murderous rampage. I actually remember watching them years and years ago but can only remember who the invisible man himself was depicted. Our damsel in distress is called Cecilia Kass, played by Elisabeth Moss, who I have witnessed in Us but would be recognisable for a lot of others from The Handmaiden's tale. Who we are looking at as the main perpetrator is going to be played by Oliver Jackson-Cohen, called Adrian Griffin and if it wasn't for me recently watching The Haunting of Hill House, I would have no idea who he is. Let's get into the movie and hope this isn't just a no show for the Monster Universe.
The movie starts in the middle of the night. Cecilia is sneaking about, bagging some items and ultimately trying to escape the house of Adrian, who she is in an abusive relationship with. She has set up the escape with her sister who comes to pick her up in the middle of the woods and even with a last-ditch attempt by Adrian, Cecelia is away.
Hiding out with her childhood friend James, who is a detective and his daughter, she is seemingly safe, even if she doesn't feel it. Months later, Adrian commits suicide and leaves millions to Cecelia in a will that is handled by the lawyer who is also Adrian's brother. As time moves on, Cecelia is trying to move forward but with some unexplained events, she feels that there is an unknown presence in the house. She has a job interview, but collapses and the doctors find a high amount of substance in her system. This is the same substance she used the night she escaped from Adrian and one returning home, she finds the same bottle on her bathroom countertop. She had left the bottle behind during that last-ditch attempt to stop her by Adrian.
After having enough, Cecelia sets up a meeting with her friend James and the brother of Adrian, Tom. Passing across her concerns, she is put in her place and made to sound like a crazy woman. She believes that Adrian faked his death, used her expertise in science and optics and is now tormenting her. Instead, Cecelia now turns to his sister, who isn't best pleased as seemingly, Cecelia has emailed her abuse and saying that she never wants to see her again. Back home, Cecelia is talking to Sydney, James' daughter, until she is hit with an unseen force and James, along with Sydney thinks it was Cecelia with her spiralling craziness. The father and daughter combo leave as Cecelia tries several tactics to capture this figure and after finding Adrian's old phone in her attic, she covers the figure in paint and escapes with her life.
Heading to Adrian's old home, she works her way down to his secret basement and finally finds the suit that makes someone invisible. She once again gets to meet with her sister Emily at a restaurant to explain her findings. Doesn't go to plan though as Mr. Invisable slits Emily's throat and places the knife in Cecelia's hand. Before we know it, she's in the nuthouse.
The doctors have confirmed to Cecelia that she is, in fact, pregnant, to her shock as whilst she was with Adrian, she would take contraception tablets. This means that it has happened since she escaped. Tom turns up with a plan, but it's not a plan that Cecelia would like to hear. He will get her charges dropped if she returns to Adrian and raises the baby. To her shock of maybe that fact that she was right, or that Tom was in on it all along, she still rejects the deal but manages to steal a pen from Tom. That night, she uses the pen to falsely attempt suicide to draw the invisible figure out and when the figure tries to stop her, she stabs it enough times to cause a malfunction. As the security team shows up, this invisible figure turns into some sort of beast. That's just a description though, what I mean is that he takes everyone on, killing or incapacitating everyone that it comes up against and escapes, closely followed by Cecelia. The figure actually speaks and says that it doesn't want to hurt Cecelia due to the baby but is happy to harm the ones she loves. This surely means James and Sydney. She arrives to find the attack has already begun, she sprays a fire extinguisher and shoots the attacker a couple of times. Unvailing the mask, it turns out to be the brother Tom! Maybe it's some sort of revenge for her making Adrian kill himself. On a police investigation at Adrian's they actually find him tied up in a hidden room within the basement. Cecelia once again ain't too happy with the outcome. She thinks they were in on it together and Adrian sent the brother to the house knowing that death was coming.
Once Adrian has settled back into his house, Cecelia agrees to meet with him there over dinner, but she has an ulterior motive.
She wants him to confess that it was him that was behind it all but once again he is adamant that he got kidnapped and that it gave him a new perspective on life and how he had treated her. He then starts to use the same phrasing as the invisible figure. Keeping quiet and smiling, Cecelia excuses herself and heads to the restroom, knowing the secret basement, where the suit is and using it, she slices the throat of Adrian, which doesn't show up on any of the house's security cameras. She returns onscreen and acts in surprise to the apparent suicide that has taken place. Calling the cops, James moves in first as he was outside waiting for the confession on tape. She even taunts his body of camera before James races in to find out what happened. She explains what could be seen on camera and he even notices the suit in her bag before leaving her go. Could this lead to another installment?
I really enjoyed this movie. I wouldn't exactly call it a horror, maybe a psychological one but I'd edge towards a triller. It had a couple of jump scares, which were also shown in the trailer so I'm not too sure they had the same impact if you'd seen the trailers floating about. The storyline itself was very clever. There was never a sure thing with the storyline as we followed it piece by piece. Which brother would it be, how much was she exaggerating on each occasion and would people end up believing her? All of these were answered as we continued on the story. The answers were never obvious as in some other movies of this type.
Our cast was well suited for the movie in my opinion. We had Moss as the female lead and her attitude would have to change quite often due to the circumstances. She went from a conflicted and scared lady to the lowest of the low and then onto a raging lunatic and finally a conspiring female with the confidence to kill at will. The transgression may have been a little fast-moving but it did actually work well and wasn't too overboard for a woman pushed to such lengths. As for the role of Adrian, the actor had the same look about him in The Haunting of Hill House. A creepy bloke who you'd wouldn't trust in any shape or form. Although we would only see this guy play the role at the start and end of this movie, he would still pull off being the main protagonist. Other side characters played their roles well and all added another dimension to the storyline, whether that be on the good side or the bad side such as the brother of Adrian.
This was a very compelling movie and even if some parts were a little more humourous than they were intended to be, some may have only got past the creepiness of what was happening by giving a little giggle. The part of being locked in the mental institution reminded me of the film Unsane, where once again the female is locked away against her will and not being taken seriously. Out of the three movies considered to be within the dreaded and failing 'Dark Universe', which already includes 'Dracula Untold' and 'The Mummy', this would be in the first place, followed by Dracula and Tom Cruise's failure at the bottom rather than counting it as the third. If you fancied a bit of suspense on your Saturday night, look no further, even if you're not a fan of horror, this isn't one than would be a concern.
Frozen 2
5/10
It's safe to say the first Frozen movie was a complete phenomenon and to get into the mood for writing my opinion on the sequel, I'm going to stick the first one back on the TV thanks to Disney+. Six years the world has had to wait for this sequel and as soon as the news dropped, everyone was in wait and that goes for all ages. The original gang is back, such as Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel and Josh Gad, added to with a few other voice actors and actresses for the new characters of course in events that take place 3 years after the first movie was set. From what the trailer is showing us, we are about to venture outside of their home of Arendelle to discover the source of Elsa's powers. Let's get into the unknown.
The movie begins many years ago with a young Anna and Elsa being told a bedtime story by their father and mother.
He explains how his father created a treaty with the nearing tribe by building them a dam at their Enchanted Forest. However, at the twelfth hour, a fight starts and the King at the time is killed. This then enrages the elemental spirits of Earth, Fire, Water and Air. They block off the forest with a magical mist and the girl's father escapes with his life with the help of an unknown stranger.
Now we switch to three years after the first movie and although things seem to be going well at home, Elsa hears a mysterious voice calling out to her and after following it, she unintentionally wakes up the elemental spirits which forces the kingdom to evacuate. The trolls are the next characters to return and Pabbie, leader of the trolls, know that they must discover the history of the kingdom to save it.
The usual gang set off into the mist and tackle the elements one by one, each one revealing something else about the fight that once happened and why everyone was trapped behind the mist. They even encounter the soldiers and tribesmen who have not aged a day since being trapped. It turns out that the little tribe's girl who saved their father was their future mother and this would be a common body that would help with this new truth. As for saving their kingdom, it turns out that there is indeed a fifth spirit that can unite people and magic. From here on out, Elsa, Anna and Olaf journey on alone until they find their parents crashed ship and a map of where the next important location is, which Elsa ends up travelling alone for safety reasons. Finding a glacier which holds images of the past, the voice calling her was a young version of her mother, leading her to this place so that she can find out that she was given her powers by nature. This was down the selfless act of her mother all those years ago when she put her life on the line to save Elsa's father. Elsa is the fifth spirit.
Then we see the dark side of the story. Her Grandfather built the dam to decrease the tribe's sources. He wasn't best pleased with the tribe's relationship with magic. He started this conflict by cutting down their unarmed leader. Elsa sends this information to Anna before becoming Frozen in the most dangerous part of the glacier. Olaf, in turn, fades away. It is now up to Anna to actually save the day. She awakens some giants, pisses them off and gets them to launch some rocks in her direction, smashing open the dam and causing Elsa to thaw out. Elsa heads to Arendelle just in time to stop the tidal wave from destroying the kingdom.
Watching the closing scenes, I'm pretty sure the older audience can tell what's coming. Other than Kristoff asking Anna about marriage, Elsa explains that the sisters are now the bridge between magic and people. Elsa can no longer stay in Arendelle and will protect the Enchanted Forest as Anna takes the role of Queen. The will obviously stay in touch and visit each other as much as possible so this isn't a goodbye in any way, it's more of a see you later. We do get an after credits for the movie, not that it leads on to anything else. It is just Olaf reciting the experiences with some of the other snow characters.
This movie was six years after the first and it seemed to mature with its audience. This can be seen as a good or bad thing, depending on who you would ask. For myself, I wasn't blown away by the movie. The dialogue and storyline fell a little short with me at times, either being very predictable or a bit of a mish-mish, as things would always be explained by the characters, just so they would make sense. There wasn't the fun aspect that the first brought and therefore, it was a lot more serious, which ties up the case for the movie being a little more mature.
The characters that we would usually talk about are already well-known for anyone that sits down to watch this. Kristoff has become a bit more of a nervous fella, wanting to get the proposal of marriage out of the way and we follow this until the end, even with a song along the way. Elsa once again gets some 'cold feet' and Olaf is along for the slapstick comedy for the youngsters who may have been lost in the storyline. As for the songs, absolutely nothing stuck in my mind with the same effect as the first movie. I maybe need to rewatch the movie but I still think that would be the case compared to the songs of movies like Frozen and Moana. Into the Unknown is arguably the biggest song from the movie and that's been easily forgotten too. Once again, the graphics and visual effects were smashed out of the park, especially the scenes that would include water. The took a step up from the first movie, with time passing between the two movies and techniques improving, this was always going to happen but it making the movie a little darker was a nice turn of pace.
After this movie falling flat for me, I'm not sure whether thinking a third would be in motion, would actually set the fires burning. A few scenes from the movie could have been cut out and it would have been at the same level but a little shorter. The ending was too quick and the movie was made off the back of the success from the first, but that would just be my opinion. The animators should be commended but I wouldn't say the same for the writers.
256.
Just Mercy
8/10
Odeon has started to strong together their Screen Unseen installments once again and there was a big stir on Twitter saying that this was going to be Just Mercy. A movie I was far than familiar with and hadn't even seen a trailer for. Having a little look into what to expect, but not wanting to give too much away for me, Michael B. Jordan is going to be playing the world-renowned civil rights attorney Bryan Stevenson. Bryan is going to be faced with the daunting task of working to free a wrongly accused death-row prisoner in a highly racist state of America. Starring Jamie Foxx as that prisoner and a little help from Brie Larson, this should be a great account of another true story. I have to be honest, if it wasn't for setting up this Screen Unseen, it would be highly likely that this movie wouldn't have made it to my local Odeon for a chance to see it. Let's see if this movie can be free of any criticism.
The storyline seems a pretty simple one with a linear narrative of the beginning, middle and end with no major changes coming in that way as we have a true story with the setting based around homes, town halls and the courthouse and jail. Straight out of Law school, Bryan knows exactly where he'd like to head. We all know the bad image that Alabama has had, even all the way over here in the UK when it comes to racism, etc. This was going to be shown within this movie so if you do struggle to watch some of these attitudes, this movie can either be something you may not want to watch, or one that you'll be glad you did. Bryan moves down to Alabama and immediately sets up legal representation for anyone who cannot afford proper services. We can already see the struggles he'll have as the landlords who own the office spaces, aren't willing to rent out their space for the cause Brian is trying to set up. Finally finding a place, Bryan's next stop is to death row to speak to anyone that he feels hasn't had proper representation and has the potential to be wrongfully imprisoned. Meeting Walter MacMillian, played by Jamie Foxx, he finds out that he was imprisoned for murdering a white girl in 1986. Looking over the case, he realises that it all hinders on one man's testimony and he wasn't even a witness. This guy only stated his contradictory facts to reduce his sentence.
The next step would be asking Tommy Chapman to look over the case. Chapman, played by Rafe Spall, is a prosecutor still looking to make his name and move higher up within the court. He instantly dismisses the case without even looking any further into it. Next, Bryan speaks to a family friend who was with Macmillian on the day of the murder and can testify for him and agrees to give a statement. After doing so, he is arrested for perjury and even though Bryan gets this guy freed, he no longer wants to give any sort of statement in a court environment. The third and possibly best option is to approach Myers, the criminal who stated for a shorter time in prison. He openly admits that he was coerced as the police played to his fear of being burned and even threatened him with the electric chair. With this new evidence and convincing Myers to stand up in court and state that his comments were false, Bryan heads to court for a retrial but is once again turned away. Disheartened and angry and chats with Ansley, played by Brie Larson and knows that it's time to go public.
Appearing on 60 Minutes, he asks for the public to rally. He heads to the Supreme Court and they overrule the circuit court, setting up the retrial or the case and Bryan immediately asks for the release of his client. Knowing that this is going to be something that everyone needs to get on board with, Bryan even turns up at Chapman's house to gain his support but is promptly asked to leave his property.
The movie draws to a close with the motion of dismissal coming, Chapman even agrees to join the case in the courtroom and MacMillian is reunited with his family. An epilogue finishes us off with information about the case. The main point is that it remains unsolved. As for Bryan and MacMillian, they remained friends, fighting for other cases until MacMillian's death in 2013.
This was a true story that the audience could get invested in. Although I'm not sure how popular this movie was within the UK, I'm glad that Odeon made sure we could get a viewing, even for a limited time. A true story always has the potential to be powerful and this followed those exact lines. Just as we are taught, nothing comes easy and for free and we have to see the failures before we get the ending we want and although Bryan was there to free the wronged, this was not always the case. We did see the struggle of starting, the trials of failing to stop the execution on another inmate and then finally the conclusion that we did get for the story. We can always come to expect this kind of journey, whether it be through a fictional or true story and although the audience would be willing the right outcome, with a moment like this and after watching 'Making a Murderer' on Netflix, I've come not to expect the norm at times. I didn't expect Rafe Spall's character to switch sides at the end though, I have to say that.
Speaking of Spall, that can lead us nicely onto my opinions of the cast. Starting at the top with Michael B. Jordan, I have quite recently seen him in a vast amount of roles. Villian in Black Panther, a cocky kid in Fantastic 4, serious and troubled sportsman in Creed II and finally the level headed serious lawyer in this installment. Showcasing his many talents, it's nice to see he's carried on with the roles since the disaster that was Fantastic 4. This movie gave him a bit more of a mature role from the other movies listed. He always has a confidence about him on the screen which would never boil over into a cocky attitude or overconfidence in any way and it would be great to find out whether this was a good account given of the actual Bryan Stevenson. Rafe Spall is another who can play the good and bad. Once again I have watched a movie recently called The Ritual, in which he plays the one remaining survivor in the horror movie and is portrayed as one of the good lads. In Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, he is back to the main protagonist and plays the role well as a slimy bastard. This movie is a leaf out of that guy's book. This dismissive character was fast becoming the villain from the first encounter that we have but this then flips on its head at the depth, even to the surprise of Bryan, as he finally realises the right thing to do. Jamie Foxx also gave a great account of Walter MacMillian. A man who was given no hope and accepted that, changed his attitude as the story progressed towards his freedom. Many other side characters ranged from good to OK but when it comes to Brie Larson's character, I honestly feel that it could have been played by any female and had the same impact on me. That role was not one that has stuck with me afterward.
In conclusion, I enjoyed this movie and once again it gave me the urge to look into the story a little further once leaving the big screen, just to find out where Bryan is now with his career. It showed the justice system for what it was at the time and although it may seem as though this could be a biased account of the situation, it was far from the case. There is a book surrounding this case and it seems as though the movie didn't touch on how bad this truly was at the time. It should be a film that you put on your list for some future viewing and hopefully, that will be the case.
