I feel Pretty

I feel pretty follows Renee Bennett, (Amy Schumer), who after an accident at Soul Cycle, suddenly believes she is the beautiful person she always wanted to be. The film promotes a strong message about body confidence which is always timely and relevant. Despite this neither the premise nor the message is not original, in any way, having been done many times before. However, where this film iterates on the idea is by having Renee be the only one who can see this beautiful person she thinks she is, with everybody else, only seeing the same Women from the start of the film. My main issue with the film is that it relies on stereotypes about women, which reeks of bad writing. Whatsmore Amy Schumer’s performance has no charm coming across as vain, and just quite annoying. This truly is a detriment as you don’t root for her, but rather against her a lot of the time. Using Renee as the idea of every woman is offensive because; she is not nuanced or layered, but rather two dimensional. The high point of the film is its humour and its heart, with it being affecting especially at the end. The film is saved, however, by its wider supporting cast, whether it is Renee’s friends, Vivian and Jane, (Aidy Bryant and Busy Philipps) or Michelle Williams’ character of Avery LeClaire. Vivian and Jane are most better representations of the idea of the every woman, as they just want to be happy and don’t care what other people think, and unlike Renee, you root for them. Williams’ LeClaire is unlike the other confident people and has a true sense of vulnerability, this comes from her need to please her Grandmother. Through Williams’ performance, we see the most well-rounded character in the film. Conversely, the film also uses a lot of needless characters such as Grant LeClaire, (Tom Hopper), who aren’t really characters, but rather just plot devices. To conclude this isn’t the worst comedy to see, it does try and put forward a nice message, but it is hurt by a bad performance from Schumer and a lack to take more daring creative risks. Go and see it for Williams’ performance alone.

2/5
Reviewed by Luke

Solo: A Star Wars Story

Spoilers.

Solo: A Star Wars Story focuses on the early life of Han Solo. The events of the greater Star Wars Universe are not the focus here, with the story itself being far more self-contained. For me Alden Ehrenreich is a believable Han Solo, bringing the right amount of charisma to the role. However, he is greatly outshined by his on-screen peers, Woody Harrelson,(Tobias Beckett), Emilia Clarke, (Qi’ra) and of course Donald Glover, (Lando). Beckett is a father figure to Han throughout the film, and the two have a believable emotional bond. Conversely, the relationship between Han and Chewbacca, (Joonas Suotamo), is lacking with scenes such as the life debt being left out, and the relationship, on the whole, being sidelined for the Han Qi’ra romance. Qi’ra is perhaps the best character as she is incredibly three-dimensional. Qi’ra is a very capable character as shown during third act fight scene with a sword; which is the action high point of the film. The best thing about the writing for Qi’ra’s character is that she is not written as merely Han’s love interest, but instead as a very cunning character whose allegiance you can never be sure of. Furthermore, the end of the film sets up her connections to Darth Maul, which as far as twists go is very welcome and satisfying. Overall the shortcomings of the film are as follows, firstly the film relies far too heavily on nostalgia, with the constant use of Han’s dice becoming unbearable towards the end of the film. This is also reflected in the diegetic dialogue where character will say things that equate to, “remember that?”. Moreover, there is also the use of incredibly on the nose foreshadowing to hint at future events, such as when Qi’ra says something to the extent of, “Chewie needs you and I have a feeling you will need him to”. Furthermore, and this may the films greatest crime, there is no real villain, sure Paul Bettany’s Vos is menacing when he is on screen, but that equates to two scenes if that, with the film lacking real danger as a result. A final complaint is that Donald Glovers’ Lando is underused, he is the scene stealer of the film and seems to be punished for that fact by being given precious little to do. On the whole Solo is a lot better than I was expecting it to be, I believe that both hardcore fans and more passive viewers can find something to like here. I would recommend you see it.
3.5/5
Reviewed by Luke

Breaking In

Breaking In focuses on Shaun, (Gabrielle Union) and her kids as they are preyed upon by a group of burglars. Breaking In is as generic as action thrillers go with its premise, cast and overall direction being very forgettable. Each character is two dimensional and has no complexity to speak off. There character’s backstories are eluded to, but these are just throwaway references. Eddie, (Billy Burke) is the only memorable character, being the main antagonist and, masterfully portrayed by Burke with a cold calculating demeanour. The rest of the cast is very by the numbers, with Gabrielle Union in particular not being very convincing. The major flaw of the film is the pacing issues; which are extremely prevalent in both the 1st and 3rd act. The whole of the first act could have been cut out in its entirety as it is simply very average. The pacing issues are shown again as the film long overstays it’s welcome, with you thinking multiple times that: “surely this must be the end”. The crux of the issue is that this film doesn’t feel like a tense thrilling time, it just feels like a slog. Whatsmore, there are also scripting issues, such as a lack of any kind of character motivations beyond the generic “we want the money” and, plot holes galore. This is best shown by the fact, that Shaun seems to have all these survival skills yet it is never explained how she got them. Also, the writing for the kids Jasmine and Glover, (Ajiona Alexus and Seth Carr), makes them come across as annoying, with them also saying things that just feel unnatural to the situation. This is shown when Glover says, “Whatever freak”, as his sister is about to go and risk her life. To conclude, this film is the most generic, boring, badly paced film out now that you can go and see. Really the only highlight is a menacing performance by Billy Burke.
1/5
Reviewed by Luke.

Deadpool 2

Spoilers.

Deadpool 2 is a superhero film following the adventures of The Merc with a Mouth, Wade Wilson, (Ryan Reynolds). The plot focuses on Wade as he tries to stop the time-travelling mutant Cable, (Josh Brolin) from murdering a young boy; who would later grow up to be a ruthless killer. Brolin is superb as Cable, being the overly serious intense presence, everyone knows from the X-men comics, whilst also having a gleam of roguish charm. The interplay between him, Wade and later Zazie Beetz’s Domino is sublime throughout, with Brolin’s no-nonsense Cable working well against Wade’s running mouth. Moreover, and I’m just throwing in this for the X-men faithful, the reveal of Cables daughter being Hope Summers is inspired: because not only does it expand the X-Men universe but, it also works as great abject symbolism. Deadpool 2 is of course incredibly funny throughout, with plenty of smiles and outright laughs to be had. While most of the jokes are crude, there are also some that make you think and tug at your emotions. To carry on from that, the overall tone of this film is darker than the first film, with the themes of child abuse and sacrifice being prevalent. However, this darker tone is not a bad thing, in fact, it helps to give the film stronger emotional stakes, making for many poignant moments. An example of this is the death of Vanessa, (Morena Baccarin) and the impact that has on Wade. That coupled with the bond Wade forms with new mutant Russell Collins, (Julian Dennison) help to give the film an air of maturity; which sets it apart from its predecessor. The relationship between Wade and Russell is positioned as father and son and, from a narrative standpoint, this works incredibly well, with both characters growing from the other. Best of all the new character is Domino, who is instantly likeable and hilarious, as well as having some slick sequences. From a narrative perspective tying her backstory into the same place that Russell was being tortured, is a masterstroke in character development and motivations; adding a true sense of vulnerability to her. I did have one issue with the film, this being that X Force, Bedlam, Shatter star etc, are barely featured. Yes, the deaths do serve quite a funny sequence, but it still feels like a missed opportunity. On the whole Deadpool 2 greatly expands upon the first film, and setups a lot of interesting ideas for the X-Men universe, with it having one of the best post-credits scenes ever, so stick around for that.

4.5/5

Reviewed by Luke.

Revenge

Revenge focuses on Jen, (Matilda Lutz), who goes on a hunting expedition with her boyfriend and his, “associates” only to be assaulted and left for dead; managing to survive and seek out vengeance. This film has a strong sense of style, best shown through the film’s score and eye-popping visuals. The visual style of this film is quite distinct, with a strong use of colour contrast, as well as vistas to show both the beauty and the hardness of the desert setting. Furthermore, the use of Phoenix symbolism, in the latter part of the film, is great as it represents both the change in Jen as a character, whilst also the ideas of the Rape and Revenge sub-genre. Lutz’s is fantastic as Jen, with her character being not only believable but, also one you form a strong emotional attachment with; to the extent that each time she is hurt you actively worried about her. This film knows it’s a B movie, and relishes it; in all, it’s gory splendour. The violence in this film is ridiculous, being reminiscent of Robert Rodriguez’s early works or, something suitably bloody. My personal favourite scene of the film is when Stanley, (Vincent Colombe) must pull a shard of glass out of his foot: being my favourite simply because of how wince-inducing it is. The sound design here is fantastic, probably the best of the year, with the juxtapositions of diegetic and non-diegetic music being incredible. Such as when Stanley is listening to music with lyrics like “I’m in love”, only to cut to a violent scene with a mad rush of non-diegetic music as well of plenty of diegetic screaming. Another example is during the peyote scene, with the non-diegetic music bridging over into the world of the film as a product of Jen’s drug-infused mind, helping to tear down the wall between the film and the audience. The climax of the film is incredibly tense with Jen hunting down her boyfriend Richard, (Kevin Janssens), with match on actions shots, ramping up the sense of mortality. The villains of the film are all menacing in their own separate ways, with Richard being the most intense, with his tendency toward unannounced aggression making him a truly memorable villain. Overall this film is not for the faint of heart, it can be incredibly tough to watch at times and if you are squeamish this is not the film for you. However, if you do venture to see it you will see one of the best horror films of recent memory.

4/5

Reviewed by Luke.

Entebbe

Entebbe focuses on the true story of the 1976 Israeli hostage rescue crisis. Which was about a terrorist organisation who hijacked a plane, with a large portion of Israelis on it and flew it to Entebbe in Uganda. Once there they tried to use the passengers as leverage to negotiate Israel into a prisoner release. Overall this is a very tense film, with the hostage scenes, in particular, reflecting this: due to you having a real fear for the passengers. This fear is helped greatly by terrific performances by Daniel Bruhl and Rosamund Pike. Bruhl brings a strong ambiguity to the character, as you see him begin to question If he is doing the right thing. However, the real standout here is Pike’s character of Brigitte Kuhlmann, who we see is incredibly unhinged, confirmed by a third act plot twist; and being the highlight of the film. Conversely, there are also significant issues with the character development. These issues are a lack of motivation for both Bose, (Daniel Bruhl) and Kuhlmann as we never see why they want to carry out this high jacking: beyond simply being angry at the status quo and “hating their country”. This issue is only intensified by the fact that Kuhlman is given flashbacks that seem to serve no purpose narratively. So, ultimately the characters are two dimensional. Furthermore, there are also significant pacing issues, best shown during a needless subplot focusing on a relationship between an Israeli Defence Force member and a dancer; which feels overly long. The modern dance scenes, which are a result of this plotline, feel tacked on for the sake of it. Making you wonder if they were included by the director Jose Padilha to make the film seem artsy, but instead missed the mark and are pretentious. The third act action scene is quite oddly bloodless, with the use of slow motion and, cuts to modern dance, not really letting you see much of what is going on. However, the accompanying non-diegetic piece of music does help to add to the tension.
Finally, the performance by Nonso Anozie as Idi Amin is in quite a contrast to the rest of the cast. Though Anozie plays Amin as serious there are moments of levity throughout his performance, which made people in my screening laugh, this is quite jarring. Overall there are highlights such as the score, as well as strong performances from Bruhl and Pike that help to elevate their stinted characters, but this simply isn’t enough as the pacing issues and, bloodless violence really do hurt the film.
3/5
Reviewed by Luke

How to talk to girls at Parties

How to talk to girls at parties focuses on 3 boys who go to a punk rock after party, only to find themselves wrapped up in an alien race’s visit to Earth. With the main plotline focusing on, Enn, (Alex Sharp) and his relationship with alien Zan, (Elle Fanning). Said relationship is very believable and endearing, as you truly care for both the characters. This is in no small part a result of fantastic performances from both Fanning and Sharp. This is a unique film that benefits from a very strong sense of identity. This strong sense of identity is not surprising considering that, How to talk to girls at Parties is adapted from a Neil Gaiman short story. This film builds upon the source material in many ways, fleshing out the universe and its characters. However, I do feel like the origin of the aliens could have been explored more as I was left with a lot of questions at the end of the film. Sharps portrayal of Enn, is very reminiscent of a lot of people awkward teenage years, minus the aliens, of course, making him easily very relatable. Fanning manages to capture the curiosity of an alien coming to our world perfectly, whilst also being very warm and easy to root for. This warmness is shown in her relationship to Queen Boadicea, of the punk scene, played with relish by Nicole Kidman. In terms of characterisation, this film is very strong, all the main cast have well-defined arcs and, you can see the character progress throughout the film. How to talk to girls at Parties, mostly manages to blend coming of age and the science fiction together well. Although this is by no means a perfect film, as there are a lot of plot lines and characters that don’t really go anywhere. Furthermore, there were some pacing issues as the movie felt a bit too long. Overall this film is very hard to describe, it is something that must be seen to be understood. However, it is most certainly not for everyone.
3/5
Reviewed by Luke.

Life of the Party

Life of the Party focuses on Deanna, (Melissa McCarthy) as she goes back to college. To sum up everything wrong with this film in a few words, it is at best a 20-minute comedy sketch, not a 110-minute film. The film’s gravest sin is that is it is not funny, at all. The humour misses it marks every time, ranging from cringey to downright awful. This film has a similar premise to Will Ferrell’s Old School, but that film does it so much better in nearly every way. Whilst both are crude in terms of humour, at least the characters in Old School are likeable, whereas in this they are all either barely even two dimensional, or are just incredibly annoying. This annoyance is best expressed by McCarthy’s character of Deanna, who is shrill and annoying from the get-go. McCarthy plays the character of the overbearing mother to the nth degree, being truly over the top with it, and never in a good way: this is best shown when Deanna must do some public speaking and she starts profusely sweating and then passes out. Furthermore, the lines for her character are just terrible and somewhat contradictory, as she is supposed to be a great mother, yet she can’t tell that in the beginning her daughter, with whom she now shares a college, doesn’t want her there at all. What’s more, the emotional beats between Deanna and her daughter Maddie, (Molly Gordon), don’t feel earned at all instead they feel incredibly forced and unnatural, being the furthest thing from reality. McCarthy’s Deanna is just not likeable in any way and you almost end up rooting for her ex-husband Dan, (Matt Walsh) who is the film’s villain, just because of how unlikeable she is. The direction by Ben Falcone is boring and lifeless, with this film being unable to, at any point, justify its existence aside from being another trash comedy. There are times when the film tries to be clever by inverting tropes, such as when Deanna starts sleeping with Jack who is her junior, clearly an inversion of the usual trope that would see the man sleeping with the younger woman. However, these inversions don’t work, at all, being far too obvious and, at times even a little weird; especially with the late in the game plot twist. Finally, the third act cameo by Christina Aguilera feels tacked on for the sake of it. In the lead up to her cameo, there are a lot of lines of dialogue about Christina Aguilera, with it feeling it some strange sort of way like human product placement. I was going to give this film my first 0/5 but, there was one saving grace, albeit a small one. This was Helen, (Gillian Jacobs). Jacobs is effortlessly charming in every scene she is in, completely stealing the show.
Overall don’t go and see this film, please don’t waste your money, with so many better comedies out this year it almost seems like hearsay to give this lazy, dated, dumb comedy any of your time.
We all deserve better than this.
0.5/5
Reviewed by Luke
Ps Truth or Dare was better than this and, that is my lowest rated film so far.

The Strangers: Prey at Night

The Strangers: Prey at Night is a slasher film focusing on a family as they are terrorised by 3 masked killers. Now before we begin I just want to say that I love the slasher films of the 1980’s. Prey at Night is not new or original, it is the same thing you’ve seen before, however, the unoriginality isn’t a bad thing here. What I mean by that is, though every cliché in the slasher genre is used here, Prey at Night is happy to point out the cliches and have a laugh at them. This film in many ways is a very loving homage to 80’s slasher films, with everything from the near unstoppable killers to the rebellious teenager, proving that this film is very aware of its DNA. To phrase my overall thoughts in a succinct way this is “horror junk food” it is dumb scary fun to be enjoyed until better, more inventive horror films, like Hereditary, arrive. I think in many ways this film is better for being a sequel, as the scope is far larger, yes, it is still confined to one family but, at the same time, the new setting, of a trailer park, allows for far more grizzly potential than the house setting of the first film. The overall mythology of the Strangers themselves is kept maddingly vague; beyond the “Why not” mantra. The 3 Strangers are all suitable menacing, with Doll Face and The Man in the Mask being particularly threatening. The weak point of the film comes from the family Cindy, Mike, Kinsey and Luke, (Christina Hendricks, Martin Henderson, Bailee Madison and Lewis Pullman, respectively) being so bland. Hendricks who is the films big star is barely in it, with Henderson and Pullman being so bland and generic that you forget who they are after a while. However, the saving grace comes from Bailee Madison. Madison’s Kinsey is the only real, compelling character who is given motivations and is somewhat developed; and, I would be very interested to see a third Strangers film focusing on her. My final two notes about the film are one: the score is fantastic, with the 80’s song choices helping to give this film some identity and cement it as a homage to the Craven era slasher. With the other being that the ending is left open enough to set up a third film, depending on how well this one does, and that is a prospect I quite welcome. Overall there is some genuinely good scares here and a strong amount of tension, defiantly a step up from the first film but, it’s still only slightly above average.

2/5

Reviewed by Luke.