There has to be some mistake. We're American, right? (Civil War 2024)

 308.

Civil War

7/10

Sometimes you watch a movie for some escapism to see events that would never happen. Sometimes movies come around and you find yourself thinking the world isn't too far away from something along these lines actually happening. I'm not from the US but it's reported on enough the tensions in the States around election time. The director and writer Alex Garland, known for some experimental and thought-inducing movies such as Annihilation, Men and Ex Machina, gives us a story set in the near future in which a civil war has taken over the United States. The third-term president,  who leads an authoritarian federal government is claiming victory is near, even as the White House will soon be reached by the 'Western Forces' of California and Texas. He has disbanded the FBI, ordered air strikes on his own civilians and his leadership has caused the Dollar to crash.

 We are about to follow a veteran war photographer named Lee Smith, played by Kirsten Dunst as she heads towards D.C. to interview the President before he is set upon by anyone else. She has seen the horrors of war and is completely numb to violence at this point. She knows and discusses her plans with her mentor Sammy. As those close to her either try to dissuade her from heading on her journey or are eager to join make the trip, Lee reluctantly lets a young journalist join the party, played by Cailee Spaeny. Lee, without knowing, takes this young girl under her wings as they approach their first stop at a gas station which is protected by armed men who have hung alleged looters. Lee diffuses the situation by taking pictures of the men with their victims while Jessie berates herself for being too stunned to take any photos. Lee tries to explain to her that becoming a photographer means putting her life in danger. 

Our group get caught up in fighting areas, sniper fire and every moment and incident builds Jessie's courage as a photographer. One moment becomes unnerving for the viewer as a few of them are held at gunpoint by a group of militia and are only saved by Sammy ramming the gunmen with the car before they are shot and buried in a mass grave, but Sammy is mortally wounded. Heading closer to D.C. they find that most of the loyalists have started surrendering, leaving D.C. to be defended by the most fanatical. Lee finds herself unable to document Sammy's death and deletes the picture she took of him. 

The final act by our group is for them to embed themselves in the Western Front as they finally reach D.C. and the White House. Jessie is now full throttle, putting herself in the firing line whilst Lee is struggling with the situation. They reach fortified gates as the presidential limo leaves and is quickly intercepted and the occupants are killed. Understanding that this is a distraction, our final trio make their way into the White House to hunt down the President. Remaining are a few Secret Service agents wanting to discuss the surrender of the President but this quickly turns into a fire fight. Jessie once again puts herself in danger and is only saved by Lee pushing her out of the way and taking the bullets herself. Without a second thought, Jessie documents Lee's death before moving on through the White House. Entering the Oval Office, the President is pulled to the floor by a couple of Western Forces soldiers and prepare to execute him. Joel, Lee's one remaining partner stops them to get a quote from the President, which is 'Don't let them kill me'. Satisfied, he no longer delays and the movie ends with Jessie documenting the soldiers posing with the President's corpse. 

As I mentioned at the beginning, the fact that at times there are residents of the United States threatening actions along these lines is scary. A President who turns around and decides that killing their own countrymen is an act they feel they deserve forgiveness for can only be supported by the brainwashed and crazy. Having recently been to the state and listening to how a waitress was telling me why she votes the way she does, it's not hard to believe that people think in this radical way. The movie felt like it was a documentary and possibly found footage movie at times which is only a compliment as I was gripped from beginning to end by the way the storyline came across. Captivating and intense and without glorifying war, this movie gives a glimpse of what a future could be like whilst also focusing on a 'coming of age' storyline throughout the world of war journalism.

 I think the cast may go very underappreciated as we see Kirsten Dunst lead the line as a weary reporter who is clearly sick of this shit but still has time for the newcomer. Cailee Spaeny as said newcomer quickly grows through this movie until the end, being the main journalist and one unsung cast member who isn't in the movie too long, Jessie Plemons. Plemons isn't credited in the movie but plays one of the gunmen who is around the mass grave. This character is off-the-charts crazy so keep an eye out. 

This movie doesn't come to a happy conclusion, it doesn't leave you feeling warm and cosy at any point. In my opinion, the movie wouldn't have worked if it wasn't exactly as it was. This is the sheer dread of was and doesn't shy away from showing how dark and desperate it can become. I may not revisit this movie again but that isn't a reflection on what it was, it was more of an impact movie that that you may never be in the mood to experience again.

There's something alien out there... . and it's, uh... it's dangerous. (65 2023)

307.

65

6/10

After a year of trying, the account on Blogger is finally unlocked but now there is some catching up to do. I'm going to condense the reviews a little more than before to get through the backlog of movies and see how it goes rather than the synopsis of what I've watched in previous posts. Hopefully flying through these will also lead to a new series revolving around the 'Movie Scavenger Hunt' that I am knee-deep in at the moment, more to come on that.

Let's start back with Adam Driver, front and centre in a SCI-FI movie whose trailer grabbed me simply by the fact the movie was going to contain dinosaurs. Written and directed by Scott Beck who was majorly involved with A Quiet Place and its success I was a little optimistic on what to expect. With only 4 cast members listed, I had a feeling we were going to get really familiar with them, and quickly. The movie seemed a very simple concept and this came to light as we move on to the storyline.

 Adam Driver plays a family man, 65 million years ago on an Alien planet, looking to take a high-paying job on a space expedition in order to afford his daughter's treatment. Whilst on the mission, the ship is hit with asteroids and crash lands on an alien planet, which turns out to be Earth. Being 65 million years ago, he isn't alone but for now, he's getting his bearings, realising that all his passengers are dead he contemplates suicide until he finds a young, lone survivor. Due to them speaking different languages, we watch their trust in each other grow as they try to make their way to an escape vessel which has been located. 

Driver's character Mills takes on the protection role of Koa, played by Ariana Greenblatt, as the discovery of dinosaur skeletons shocks the characters into the realisation that they may be in danger other than just being stranded. The movie moves on to their journey through the unforgiving terrain before being set on by dinosaurs. There's also one more problem. The asteroid that hit the ship was debris from the bad boy that hit Earth and made the dinosaurs extinct. It's time to leave. Fighting with what little weapons he has, in and out of caves, T-rex and Oviraptors in tow, Mills gets the two to finally reach the escape pod before one more highly explosive battle where he is ready to sacrifice himself to make sure Koa can escape. She's not about to leave him behind though and chips in for the final kill before the two make it off-world and on their way to a rescue ship. Behind them, we see the asteroid hit Earth and with the cataclysmic event, we know what comes next. 

Dinosaurs can win me over 9 times out of 10 and yes, it was entertaining but nothing more than being a popcorn movie. I've not gone back and watched it again and it's been a while since my first viewing. This could well be a 50/50 split between the audience and starting with some of the good, it was an exciting concept to have what are technically aliens crash land on Earth during the time period and with all of the threats of death, the suspense in certain situations was definitely created. The sci-fi aspect, futuristic weapons were covered whilst the primitive part of the movie was the winner for me. The CGI and cinematography helped the audience to become immersed in the world compared to something like Jurassic Park or Jurassic World which is modern day featuring dinosaurs. 

As for the plot, it was fairly basic and predictable. Man has obstacles to overcome to save himself and a child has been done numerous times and with only two characters in the movie, it was a little stale, especially with the language barrier between the two, it was hard to see much development and anything that did happen, such as Koa helping with the final scene, you could see it coming from a mile away. I know these are the ways of the movies. It's an interesting take on the isolation genre of movies but I don't think it will light the place on fire. One pain point for me was learnt from the final season of Game of Thrones, which we try not to remember. Quite a bit of the action takes place at night, which is an attempt by the studios the keep costs down but at the same time, some of the best action can be obscured by the darkness of the scene.

Finishing off with another plus for this though would be the extremely small cast. Adam Driver is hot property at the moment for any studio that can get the man on board and sometimes it is a name that can get bums on seats for viewings. This movie shows how much of a versatile actor he can truly be. If you want to see Driver shoot at dinosaurs, you'll find something to enjoy in this movie. If you like a popcorn movie and enjoy watching The Last of Us TV series, sure give it a shot. Just turn your mind off, it's easier to enjoy.

For the prey to live, sometimes the predator must die. (Where the Crawdads sing 2022)

 306.

Where the Crawdads Sing

7/10

This is a movie that easily wouldn't have been showing at my cinema and I'm sure it wasn't around long but this movie based on a 2018 novel with the same name hit the screen mid-2022. The book must have been successful if the adaptation came so soon. The cast is full of unknowns for me, maybe some faces I've seen elsewhere in a supporting role but no one I could tell you on first name terms. Daisy Edgar-Jones is our lead, playing a young girl in North Carolina who raised herself to adulthood whilst also becoming a Naturalist. When a local hotshot is found dead in the Marshes, our lead character is the only suspect in the case. Let's get into the story quickly and then talk about the rest.

The movie begins with news that a dead body is found and Catherine 'Kya' Clarke is accused of murder. We are then taken back in time to show how her earlier life went as her drunk father gambles away the family's money and her mother and older siblings leave the house one by one. She survives by capturing Muscles and selling them to the town shop, whose owners become her friends. Taking herself to school, she is soon labelled the 'Marsh Girl'. A name which sticks with her through life. 

She also makes friends with a local boy named Tate, who lends her books, teaches her to read and becomes close with their common interest in nature. He eventually leaves for college and promises to return on the 4th of July. When he doesn't return and with no contact at all, Kya ends up moving on with her life, dating a quarterback from the area who is very popular. At first, I thought this was a running joke or for a bet but it actually carries on. Kya gives him a necklace she has made from a shell and he even promises her marriage. A year into the relationship, Tate decides to rock up and put a spanner in the works. On the other hand, Kya finds out that Chase the jock is actually engaged to another girl and one you'd expect a jock to be engaged to. 

Kya starts to get an income as her nature drawings and books begin to be published. Her older brother even remerges at his childhood home, explaining that their mother had died before she managed to reunite her children. He promises to return every so often and Kya is once again alone. 

The attention from Chase has always continued but it become more aggressive. He even attempts to rape her before she fights him off and vows to kill him which is overheard by a local fisherman. He trashes her home and 2 days later he is found dead at the bottom of of a fire tower in the swamps. The waters rise and wash away any footprints, there are no fingerprints found and the only thing out of place is the shell necklace that Kya once made for him is now missing. Kya is charged with murder and is already pre-judged by the townspeople. 

At the time of the murder, Kya was meeting with a publisher a couple of hours away from the town but the police and prosecutors speculate that she could have disguised herself to ride the bus home and make the kill in the short layover at night after luring Chase to meeting her, before catching the bus back to Greenville, the town she was meeting with the publishers. With only the missing necklace, the fisherman's testimony and the theory which was a stretch, Kya is found not guilty with the help of a retired solicitor who had come to her aid. 

The movie begins to end with Kya and Tate growing old together, Kya publishes a number of book and meets with her brother and his family many times. Whilst in her 70s, she imagines her mother returning home but in reality, she is having memories as her own life comes to an end. Tate finds her lying dead in their boat. The movie ends with Tate boxing up Kya's belongings and she finds her journal with an entry stating, 'To protect the prey, sometimes the predator has to be killed'. It is alongside a drawing of Chase and hidden in a small compartment is the shell necklace from all those years ago. Putting two and two together pretty fast, Tate walks out of the house in shock, throwing the necklace into the marsh water to protect the memory of Kya as he knew it all those years.

This movie actually took me by surprise and that was from the refreshing ending. If we ever have a film around a court setting, we are usually looking at someone who was wrongly convicted and the movie sets upon fighting to free our main character. It ticked these boxes and gave us reasons to believe Kya couldn't have committed the murder only for that twist at the end. It was nice to have this change of someone we were rooting for all movie to have actually killed someone. Watching this girl grow up, make it through adversity, follow her passion and succeed with it, even make it out of the courtroom in which everyone was against her and only to find out she did it left me a little speechless and I'm all here for it. 

This was helped by some strong acting from Daisy Edgar-Jones, who is soon to be in the new Twisters movie. Playing the role in a murder mystery/romance drama can have its challenges but with the one-screen chemistry brought together with Taylor John Smith as Tate, you are quickly routing for this female. You think she is innocent and misunderstood, abused to an extent but you are left torn by the end once all is revealed. This is only possible by a great storyline from a novel which I have no doubt hit a stream of popularity once this movie hit the screens. Edgar-Jones manages to make you doubt whether anyone else could have pulled off this role as well as she captured Kya.

The movie wasn't without its flaws with some predictable content and a need to condense the story due to its 2 hours run time rather than the option of reading the book itself. In honesty, this can be overlooked by the quick pacing of the movie, which isn't too fast but well enough to get to the point it's trying to make. You are immersed in this swamp life thanks to Polly Morgan as director of photography who manages to find the beauty in a place that people would rarely come to expect. This one is worth one sitting but it always leaves the question of what was sacrificed from the novel to fit the run time on the big screen.

I will avenge you, Father! I will save you, Mother! I will kill you, Fjolnir! (The Northman 2022)

305.

The Northman

7/10

I have been in a massive stint of Viking-themed tv series and games recently as I watched the whole 5 series and movie of The Last Kingdom as well as playing Assassin's Creed: Valhalla months before. It was playing Valhalla that got me hyped for this movie and I honestly didn't know what to expect, didn't see any trailers and ended up watching this movie twice with two different groups of people. Directed by Robert Eggers, known for some darker, edgy movies such as The Lighthouse and The Witch, the guy has a pretty limited number of directed movies and none of them that I've gotten around to seeing before this one. One thing I will mention though is that we have a pretty decent cast with Alexander Skarsgard as our lead, working alongside Ethan Hawke, Nicole Kidman, Willem Dafoe and Anna Taylor-Joy, who is a pretty hot property at the moment. We also have Claes Bang and Gustav Lindh, both of whom I had not seen before. Let's get down to this movie, which is heavily based on Norse Mythology.

The movie begins exactly as I remember the game Assassin's Creed: Valhalla did. A young boy, being shown the ropes by his father before their village is attacked, his father killed and mother carried away by his uncle who is seen as the main 'villain' shall we say. The mother, Gudrun is played by Kidman whilst the main villain is played by Bang. The little boy is run to the sea and puts up a fight before escaping and is reported dead, to stop embarrassment for the Viking who lost him. Skarsgard now plays our main protagonist as we are sent years into the future as the young boy Amleth is now a full grown man, a berserker, pillaging villages before he meets a seeress, who reminds him of his oath to avenge his father.

 He instantly springs into action after finding out that his uncle is now a sheep farmer in Iceland after losing his throne. He poses as a slave and heads on a slave boat to Iceland, meeting a fellow slave on the way named Olga, played by Taylor-Joy. She claims to be a sorceress and will help him with what he needs if he can get her freedom.

Our story becomes a steal operation as Amleth must now find a weapon, and come up with a plan, all whilst watching his mother who is now married to Fjolnir and has also borne him a son named Gunnar. I don't use the term lightly when I say his other son Thorir, is a right prick. Amleth is pointed in the direction of a sword which can only be wielded at the gates of hell, a sword which is guarded by the undead. We get to see him tackle the undead and whilst Olga is poisoning the camp with hallucinogens, Amleth starts picking apart some of the prominent figures around the camp, with Fjolnir and his priests claiming it to be the Gods.

 As the village is in panic due to the hallucinations, Amleth heads to his mother to reveal himself. It doesn't turn out as he would like though and finds out the coup was her idea. She was a prisoner of her father's and Amleth was conceived due to rape. She even tries to seduce him before he loses his shit and heads off to kill Thorir in his sleep. After stealing the lad's heart, Olga is taken and Amleth tries to make a trade but he cannot draw his sword and is captured before being beaten to within an inch of his life. He is only saved by ravens sent by Odin, who release him from his restraints because they are apparently master lockpicks and Olga comes to pick up the pieces. The two head to the shore and manage to board a ship but whilst upon it, Amleth finds out that Olga is pregnant with twins, one of whom is predicted to be Maiden-king. He knows that his family will never be safe if his uncle is still alive. He literally jumps ship and swims back to end this once and for all. 

Amleth makes it back to the farm, freeing the remaining slaves, and taking out some more of Fjolnir's men whilst searching for his Uncle, he comes across his mother and half-brother. Killing them both in self-defence, there is now nothing left for Fjolnir, he offers Amleth a duel at the gates of Hel. This would be the crater of the volcano nearby, a real volcano in south Iceland named, Hekla. The two fight a Holmgang, a duel to settle a dispute. As the fight comes to an end, Fjolnir is beheaded just as Amleth is fatally stabbed simultaneously. 

As he lies dying, he has a vision of Olga, holding his two children and letting him know that they are all safe. He is told to let go, just before a Valkyrie carries him to the gates of Valhalla and the movie ends.

I won't beat around the bush. This movie will not be for everyone. With myself being caught up in Norse mythology and Vikings from other sources, I was into this movie tenfold and enjoyed it. It wasn't exactly as I thought it would be, some aspects were a little weird and full on but I have no doubt these were put into the movie for a reason. That reason is that history tells us certain rituals and events that happened within the Viking way. Some people I watched this with expected it to be like the show Vikings, while others completely disliked the movie. 

For me, the story made total sense as a revenge tale with a conclusion that 100% worked. This guy spent his life to avenge his father and follow a prophecy passed down to him as a child and giving his life to protect his own children was a circle completed from the beginning when his father attempted to do the same. The storyline of betrayal, vengeance and brutal sacrifice comes to a conclusion with Norse symbolism in a way that people who have no idea of what the Norse mythology consisted of, would be completely lost. The twist at the end as his mother explains her own betrayal was one that I had no idea was coming.

The movie was a long one, but with the mixture of surreal imagery and supernatural aspects, it moved very slowly and even going a second time, knowing what to expect, I was still captivated by the scenery in some shots. The movie at little moments may have moved a little slow and not much may have happened but the rest can even that out for a viewer.

I was surprised to find out that Skarsgard was who I was watching on the screen. The last thing I seen him in was Godzilla vs Kong and I'll be honest, the size on this guy, I thought there was someone else with the same name. It was a movie that didn't consist of much dialogue and conversation at times but the figure on the screen helped teleport you to a time of Vikings and I can't fault it. The one casting I didn't warm to was Kidman. I felt she was a little out of place for some reason and I can't quite put my finger on it. Taylor-Joy played a steely eyed, determined female which helped carry out main character to his outcome whilst Claes Bang finishing off the main characters giving a stellar performance and depth for a character that could have very much be seen as one dimensional.

Straight after the movie, I knew I needed more Vikings in my life and have since travelled north to set the castle in which the Last Kingdom was set along with some props and costumes from the show. Next up will be Vikings the TV show at some point and I'm all for it. I do love a bit of history when it is far back enough.

 

I'm coming for you Michael (Halloween Kills 2021)

304.

Halloween Kills

4/10

Always a sucker for horror, I find myself a little less inclined with slashers but I'll watch them nonetheless. Halloween is a franchise which has been around since its first instalment in 1978 and this movie becomes the 12th in the list. A direct sequel to the 2018 movie in which we see Michael Myers being burnt to death in a basement, we know it isn't that simple with this madman. Jamie Lee Curtis reprises her role as Laurie with Judy Greer as he daughter and Andi Matichak as her Granddaughter this movie's timeline is instantly continued after the 2018 movie, the three are taken to the hospital to heal their wounds from their fight with Michael. Listening to the iconic music by John and Cody Carpenter and also Daniel Davies, we know that we are ready. 

As some of the town celebrate the fact that Michael has not been imprisoned for 40 years, or so they believe, firefighters head to Laurie's old house which is ablaze and are soon set upon by Michael Myers who uses their equipment against them and kills them in some inventive and bloody ways. 

It's a strong start for the kill count as Michael then makes his way into town. He moves on to the neighbours before the celebrating party learns that he has escaped. They form a mob of Haddensfield residents, set on killing Michael once and for all. Karen, Laurie's daughter learns that Michael is still alive but chooses to keep the information from her mother as she rests from surgery and Allyson, the Granddaughter, decides to join the mob for revenge against her father's death years before. 

The town is taken out one by one and the rest of the mob look at the kill locations and direction, figuring that Michael is heading back to his childhood home. By this point, Laurie has finally found out that Michael is still alive and makes preparations to leave the hospital to carry on her fight.

Hardly anyone is spared in Michaels rath. As some of the side characters are picked off in quick succession, he is confronted in the street by the mob that is left. Inside the house, he goes to kill Allyson but is stabbed with a pitchfork by Karen, who steals his mask and leads him out to the street and into the mob.

 They swarm him and seemingly kill him before thinking of leaving the scene. As usual, he wakes, slaughters the lot of them and ends up killing Karen whilst Laurie never makes it out of the hospital and remains staring out of her window.

As with the franchise, Michael Myers is just seen as an immovable object. When it comes to some inventive kills, small massacres and little twists, the movie is in abundance but when it comes to some actual substance to the storyline, the movie falls a little short. I'm personally always game for a horror but more centered around a creature feature or something paranormal. When it's a killer walking a mile an horror surrounded by screaming teens, I'm not too fussed as the movie doesn't give you the sense of uneasiness and nor does it usually contain jump scares. 

We've come to know the main cast now as this is a direct sequel from the last instalment with the timeline instantly following on from past events. There really isn't much more to say on our trio of ladies than we already know. I just didn't understand the writing for the characters. Two thirds of the trio spent most of their time in a hospital whilst the main story was going on on the streets. Side characters from the past and town were made out to be chumps, making awful decisions in the face of danger. The cops were non existent, letting the town folk take matters into their own hands and finally the attempt of humour from some characters just fell flat. 

We know there is one more to the franchinse and the only reason I will revisit this movie is to simply refresh the mind. I can live without seeing it again and not miss much to be fair as it has the ability to not make me want to watch the next but knowing the finale is coming, we might as well just give it a couple of hours and say 'no more'. 

Dreams are messages from the deep (Dune 2021)

303.

Dune

7.5/10

Dune is a movie which has had a build-up for quite a while. Although the movie was originally made in 1984 and considered a flop, this remake by Denis Villeneuve had gained traction from the moment the first trailer hit the big screen. In the years between the two, special effects and visuals of movies has moved on ten fold and everyone was instantly stood to attention with what could be achieved with this one. The story is already available for the director as this is a novel. Not a novel that I have read and I also haven't seen the 1984 movie so this story will be brand new to me and I had no idea what I was heading in to. The movie sits at 2 hours and 35 minutes which is becoming so what of a norm with movie coming out in the past year or two. The thing is, this is just Part one of the story. 

Focusing on the storyline first, its easy to see what this run time is only part one of the novel. It doesn't feel rushed and it seems that each of the little things were thought about and wanted to be portrayed. After reading the reviews of the 80's movie, that movie felt rushed and lost the essence of the novel. At times, for me anyway, it felt a little too slow and drawn out for the run time. The movie became climatic only for it to end abruptly and left the audience waiting for more as the characters walk away from the screen. The only way I can explain it is by comparing it to the ending of The Fellowship of the Ring, as we needed the second part almost instantly as the first part felt like it was leading to something huge. At the same time, there is a good point to be made which is the intrigue that the story has began. Making an audience which the second part was coming sooner to find out where we go from here is also only a good thing. I was more intrigued by the dark side of the story and following the villains narrative at times more than our 'hero's' mainly because the character of Baron Valadimir Harkonnen was so dark and creepy that there was almost an aspect of a horror genre. Will our main character be able to fight his war against the forces of evil to protect his family and also fight against his visions of a dark future? Only time will tell.

A lot was made of the cast of this movie and how stacked it actually was. More last longer than others due to their roles in the story and some with much larger roles in the second part I can imagine. Timothee Chalamet is a name gaining traction in Hollywood and he leads the way in this one. Firstly seeming as a young feeble boy, he is quickly trained to fight by a mixture of Josh Brolin and Jason Mamoa in order to last in his future mission. A parent partnership of Rebecca Ferguson and Oscar Isaac keep the cast names flowing before we start seeing Zendaya in Chalamet's visions before meeting her towards the end along with Javier Bardem's character. All doing a stellar job and leaving some questions to be answered with their stories rather than wishing they would be written out of the story. My stand out performance comes back to the Baron again. Played by Stellan Skarsgard, who has been in many a successful project, the Baron was a sinister 600-pound man from the depths of hell. He didn't have to do much to still command the scenes he was featured in.

We can't finish a review of Dune without talking about the cinematography of this movie. The special effects and overall look of this movie made the planets, vehicles and every technical piece look as real as possible. Watching this movie in the context of a cinema setting, big screen and plenty of speakers to blare that movie's score into the audience. The score was so loud, in a good way, that the cinema screen's seats were shaking from the sound's bass. 

I'm left waiting for the second instalment but one thing I've noticed since watching this movie the first time a while back is that I haven't looked to go back and watch this movie again. I will need to and will eventually want to watch it again before the second instalment hits the screen but I don't know how I feel about the fact that I've not been drawn back since. 

Something wicked this was comes (Venom: Let There Be Carnage 2021)

302.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage

5/10

Tom Hardy brings back Venom onto the main screen and this time are promised carnage. With the hope that this is a good thing, Woody Harrelson has joined the cast to play a serial killer named Cletus Kasady, later becoming Carnage. If you've seen the first Venom movie, you know what you're letting yourself in for. Another Sony movie which is struggling to keep up with the MCU in using its Marvel characters well. I would have really been excited for this movie if I knew that Sony wasn't constantly missing the mark but let's digest what kind of carnage we got ourselves in to.

At a run time of 97 minutes, I already think this movie could well be rushed and kept to a minimum in order to lack the opportunities for mistakes. The movie begins by setting up Cletus' backstory which shows him in a home for unwanted children where his girlfriend gets taken away to a maximum security facility due to her special powers. She has super sonic screams and although she puts up a fight and injures a cop, she is still taken to her final cell, with a bullet wound in her eye.

The cop is now a detective and played by Stephen Graham and needs Eddie Brock to interview Cletus as he will not speak to anyone else. Just as this gives his career a boost, his ex calls him to announce she is engaged, much to the displeasure of Venom. Cletus is be to executed for his crimes and one last interview ends in a confrontation between himself and Brook. 

Cletus bites Eddie Brook and a little bit of symbiote makes its way into Cletus' bloodstream. Eddie makes it home and him and Venom have an argument about how Venom feeds, ending with both deciding to go their separate ways. The scene cuts to Cletus ready for his lethal injection but it doesn't go to plan as a red symbiote named Carnage puts a stop to things. As he escapes whilst killing cops and freeing criminals from their cells, Carnage now shows himself in full force. The scene is created to make this symbiote look as violent and large as possible, considerable more than we have seen Venom in the previous movie and scenes from this one. Cletus sets out to find his girlfriend from those years ago and its quite an easy job to find her and free her. Now played by Naomie Harris, Barrison is recruited to help kill Brook and Venom. 

Brook needs to find Venom in order to fight back and finds him in the shop owner Mrs Chen. They forgive each other and prepare for the final battle.

Carnage is holed up in a cathedral, with Mulligan the detective as a hostage, Barrison now has Mrs Chen. Mulligan is seemingly killed by being hung from a chain, Carnage is winning with ease until Barrison is tricked into using her power which separates Carnage from Cletus and kills him whilst Venom devours Carnage. The cathedral collapses on Barrison killing her and Mulligan is somehow still alive with a blue glint in his eyes, hinting that he has somehow digested a little bit of symbiote. 

Brook and Venom are now fugitives and somehow make it to a nice beach resort on holiday to discuss their next move. Up next is the mid-credit screen. They are discussing the symbiote's universe when a large flash transports them to another hotel room. One TV we see J. Jonah Jameson talking about Spier-Man's real identity. Venom ends the scene licking the screen hinting that he wants to eat Peter Parker. Clearly this has been caused by the multi-verse cross over in Spider-Man: Far From Home. 

Another swing and a miss from Sony for me. God loves a tryer but honestly I think they just need to give up any rights they have, back to Disney and say they had a go. The story to this movie felt rushed, patchy and actually boring. Our hero and villain hardly interact and when they do, it's far from edgy and tense, our hero has nothing to solve but find out where the final show down is taking place and have a bit of rough and tumble for 10 minutes. Instead, Sony took us on a journey of a weird feeling gay couple bickering constantly until they split, only to resolve their differences to save the day. 

Hardy, Harrelson, Michelle Williams and Naomie Harris have all had success on their CVs but my word, they'll not want to add this when going for interviews. You can't blame them, you have to look at the writing as we have already mention what the chemistry of Eddie Brock and Vemon was like. Cletus was such a strangely written character as he had no new feeling other than a normal psychopath that could have been copy and pasted from any other movie. Cletus's girlfriend eventually added nothing to the storyline, even with her mutant powers and finally having Brock's ex-girlfriend still floating about with the hope she becomes She-Venom for 30 seconds is just a waste of a role and payslip. Yes we had some laughs with a bit of darker humour compared to normal Marvel movies. Yes some of the action was ok at times and this was a movie for escapsim but is that really enough?

This could have been the exact same movie on much less of a budget as even the CGI didn't spark a smile. The whole movie is made worth while to sit through just for the end credits where there is a link with Tom Holland's Peter Parker but this gets extinguished in a few MCU movies time. Thankfully. It hurts that I paid for this movie for my steelbook collection but life's a bitch. 

God will not punish those who tell the truth (The Last Duel 2021)

301.

The Last Duel

6/10

It had been a while since a good medieval movie had made it to the big screen and I immediately fancied giving it a watch. The Last Duel sprung to my attention as the trailer hit and we saw the list of talent involved. Ridley Scott was about to direct a screenplay which Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, along with Nicole Holofcener had written, with the gents previously having success together. Damon and Affleck were also both starring in the movie alongside Adam Driver, Jody Comer and a handful of smaller names. A movie set around 'true' historical events and a book named 'The Last Duel: A true story of Crime, Scandal and Trial by Combat' by Eric Jagar, I'm glad they shortened the name. The movie revolves around 3 main characters, played by Damon, Driver and Comer. Damon plays Jean De Carrouges, Drive plays Jacques Le Gris and Comer plays De Carrouges' wife, Marguerite. The main event of the movie is Marguerite accusing Le Gris of raping her whilst De Carrouges was away at war. This leads to a judicial duel, in which the winner would be right due to a lack of witnesses and no confessions to the crime. 

Getting into the movie itself, it was told interestingly as we get three accounts of the time period in mention. Before we get to the accounts, we learn about the male characters and how Le Gris and De Carrouges know each other before the main body of the story. They are both swearing allegiance to Count Pierre d'Alecon who is played by a bleach-blonde Affleck. This Count will be De Carrouges' overlord, on behalf of King Charles IV. This starts tension as Le Gris begins to work with the Count and oversees De Carrouges' estate to make sure the Count is paid, which is really the King collecting taxes. To get some dosh, De Carrouges marries into a wealthy family to Marguerite but her father owes the Count money and his estates are suddenly taken away to pay his way. The Count gives the estates to Le Gris as payment and now the once friends are even more strained at friendship. 

We now suddenly have the story split into three accounts. De Carrouges is up first. The pair reconcile for a while at a party whilst Marguerite introduces herself to Le Gris to gain favour for her husband, or so she thought. This was taken as an advance on Le Gris, which more will follow soon enough. One more attempt by De Carrouges to gain coin is heading to Scotland to fight for the King. Whilst we have De Carrouges' state of events, a war in Scotland and a massive struggle, he returns home to be told by his wife that she was raped by Le Gris. After being quite violent in making sure she wasn't lying, De Carrouges beds his wife to make sure he was the last to sleep with her.

Secondly, we have Le Gris and his account. We head back to when he first meets this woman and the encounter is a lot more flirtatious. Le Gris falls in love with her and on the night in question, tricks his way into her house and declares his love. She demands he leaves but he chases her into her chamber and has rough sex with her but insists that it was consensual. He asks her not to tell her husband and after a while, the Count tells Le Gris that he is being accused of rape and it's going to be contested in front of the King. 

Our final account is that of Marguerite. Obviously, we expect this to be on a different end of the spectrum than what Le Gris has said happened. This time around, the first time they met was subdued. It shows her husband as more of a demanding figure, telling her not to leave the castle and the relationship is strained as she cannot bear him a child. The night in question did begin with a declaration of love from Le Gris but what followed was a lot more aggressive. She tells her husband only for her mother-in-law to advise her to drop it for the sake of her son.

The movie finally draws to a close as a duel is accepted by the King. Marguerite is now heavily pregnant and is advised that if her husband loses this duel, she is to be burnt at the stake for purgery. A bloody fight ensues with Le Gris getting the upper hand only for Da Carrouges to fight back and pin Le Gris to the ground. Demanding an apology and the truth which never comes, Da Carrouges kills his former friend but not before the beaten man sticks to his story of being innocent of any wrongdoing. The movie ends pretty sharpish after Le Gris is killed. We are treated to an epilogue which tells us that Da Carrouges dies a few years later in the Crusades and Marguerite lives the rest of her life in peace, never marrying again.

At the end of the movie I wasn;t really satisfied that I knew the truth. The story depicated and carried the female version of events as the true narrative but was this just a story told so that a wife would not be in the wrong or was it actually the truth. The body language and stance of Marguerite at the end didn't give too much away but she was very subdued compared to her husband. But I suppose he did just come out on top from a fight to the death. It is a very interesting take on a movie which is set up quite slow and like something the audience may have seen before but then questions are asked on who we should be believing. Da Carrougues isn't seen as the hero that we thought he might have been from the start and Le Gris side of the story makes the audience question who they should actually be routing for. This ambiguity is ended when the female story is told and the 'truth' is told. This actually ends any mystery that may have been left lingering within the movie and I wonder if that came a little too early. The duel at the end is exactly what we wanted with some brutality and the actions of two desperate men but I'll be honest it didnt last two long and the main story was not really depeitive of the movie's name.

All there main performanes were great. We don't see Damon as a gritty sort of character too often but this showed his range was ticking boxes as he took this up a notch from his usual. Adam Driver is moving on up in some serious roles as he comes out of the shadow of Disney's Star Wars in order to elevate into working under someone like Scott. Finally, Comer smashes yet another out of the park. I really enjoyed her on the other end of the spectrum in Fall Guy but this movie had me questioning whether her character's story was one of truth or deception. This is all down to the work of the cast.

The movie did seem a little long and it's hard to watch a movie of this type without thinking that it's a little too repretitive but at the same time, as the third version of event unfolded, I felt myself sitting a little further forward in my chair because we knew this was going to the truth to how the events unfolded. Being based on a book, it would be hard to change the story of this movie because it needs to follow exactly as the book tells in order to deliver on the dramatic effect as the two and a half hours carry us through. Ridley Scott, who has in the past delievered Gladiator and Kingdom of Heaven, has made us go back to those movies for another watch. I can't ever see myself going back to this in order to enjoy another few hours of screen time. Although when we got a bit of action, he was bloody and top bill but the rest was a bit of a trudge and not one I'm willingly wanting to do again. 

You have all the time in the world (No Time to Die 2021)

 300.

No Time to Die

8.5/10

I'll be as honest as possible and I'm not a massive James Bond fan. I've never got into the franchise, haven't been going out of  my way to watch the Daniel Craig lead films and Pierce Brosnan is proper my favourite in the role, which says a lot. This movie was highly publicised as being Daniel Craig's last out so understandably there was a lot of hype around how he was going to bow out and what or who comes next. I also remember a stir being caused as it was confirmed that the new 007 was a black female but we'll address that is good time. I hadn't seen the movie that preceeded this one and the name almost escaped me but this is a follow on from events of Spectre. Some of the cast are back from that stroy line such as Christophe Waltz and Lea Seydoux but we also bring in Ana De Armas and Rami Malek plays our main villain. I'm going to try and cut down these reviews but not going so deep into the story but let's tackle some.

The movie begins as a flash back stage with a young Madeline witnessing her mother being killed by a guy named Safin. She fires at him and tries to escape but falls through ice and instead is saved by this masked man. The movie now comes to present time with Bond and Madeleine on a holiday together to celebrate his retirement but the quiet doesn't last as Bond is nearly killed in an assassination attempt and he believes his new lady has betrayed him. 

He leaves her on a train and disappears. Five years pass and shit hits the fan with bioweapons being stolen from London which can be programmed to certain targets and therefore be harmless to everyone else. Bond is tracked down by the CIA to help but refused and the new 007 agent also tracks him to ask for help. Played by Lashana Lynch, Nomi seems to have only taken the codename 007 rather than leading the movies for the future. She seems to be a little more to the book than Bond. 

The mission moves to Cuba and a birthday party for Waltz's character who is still in prison but he leads the party in an interesting way. He knows Bond is there and orders everyone to kill him with the Nanobots but instead its been programmed to kill the remaining Spectre members and Safin has made his mark once again with some double agents. Bond ends up working a little more than he wanted to and after meeting with Q, a meeting is set up with Blofield, played by Waltz, to track down who is behind the nanobot killings. In the mean time, Madeleine is in a meeting with Safin and he attaches the nanobots to her, this passes onto Bond and Blofield is killed in a roundabout way. He dies but not before admitting to the attempt on Bond's life at the beginning and doing his best to make it look like Madeleine was involved. 

Bond now tracks Madeleine down to the home she grew up in from the beginning of the movie and learns that she has a daughter now. Bit weird that shes around 5 years old. We can guess where this is off, even with the bright blue eyes, there's little chance she jumped straight into bed with someone after splitting from Bond. She admits that her father killed Safin's parents when he was just a boy and he will not stop with his revenge on the world. His team are moving in to capture our new trio and after some great action scenes in a forest, the mother and daughter are caught.

Safin is hiding out on an old miltary island between Russia and Japan, because why wouldn't they be. The place is a nanobot factory and they have plans to kill millions to establish a new world order. Q send out Bond and Nomi to end the wrath and Nomi asks for Bond to be reinstated as 007, which was a nice touch. The mother and daugther are rescued and sent with Nomi whilst Bond stays behind to finish the job. He needs to open the old missle silos so that the HMS Dragon which is sailing the ocean can pepper the island with missles and end all threat. Bond has faught his way through many a guard and comes face to face with Safin. Bit of a sadistic character to say the least and Bond is shot but eventually gets the upper hand and kills Safin. The kicker is that Safin, in a last gasp effort, infects Bond with nanobots that are designed to kill Madeleine and Mathilde. Bond knows he can't leave the island and after opening the silos, heading to the edge of the island and finds a nice quiet area to speak to Madeleine who admits what we already knew, that Bond has a daughter. He tells her to move on without him and with his love she turns away as the missles hit is location in a pretty sad scene for a Bond movie. 

The movie ends with our remaning M16 characters having a toast to James Bond and the mother and daughter on a road trip as Madeleine starts telling her daughter about a man named Bond.

I tell you what. This was a cracking little send off for Daniel Craig. I enjoyed watching Spectre to catch up on some of the storyline and character and glad that I gave it the chance so that I could watch this movie. The story was very well thought out and I had no idea that it would include so much from the previous movie considering the Bond movies that I had seen in the past were seemingly stand alones. It was quite a long movie looking at the run time but I have seen this movie on a flight since and wasn't put off by knowing how long I'd have to invest into the movie again. This is because the movie was full of action, twists and ultimately the end of an era which audiences want to be part of. 

I hadn't been fond of Craig as Bond but this movie won me over and I don't know if once again it was due to this one being the last or everything coming together and the way that he acted out the final scene. A lot of the cast were seen in the previous movie so Rami Malek starring in this one is really the only one worth going into length about. I found it very interesting to find him cast in the role of the main villain when previously I had seen him in the total opposite character placement. This wasn't a villain who threw his weight around but instead used his powerful ideas to wreak havoc. Even as he state in silence, he had a presence in this movie that always seemed malicious and that's once again down to the good work of Malek. 

I think I have now seen each Daniel Craig movie where he is playing Bond and although some were a struggle, such as Quantum of Solace and Skyfall, Casino Royale and this instalment were 100% the strongest. I went to the cinema to watch it, I watched it a couple of months later on a flight to NYC and enjoyed it just as much the second time if not more. The ending just proved that Bond is a character that they may never find happy ending for and with this being the first real death of Bond on screen it felt a much more powerful ending than any of the other movies. I wonder where they go from here. Rumour has it, Henry Cavill is in talks. That would be a larger figure of a spy than we've been used to.