Journey 2: The Kind Of Stepdad That Takes You Half Way Around The World To Bond With You

Journey 2, The Mysterious Island is a science fiction adventure film directed by Brad Peyton. The plot continues the adventure of Sean Anderson (Peter Hutcherson), as he now goes to another mystical land. First it was the centre of the Earth with his Uncle (played by a sourly missed Brenden Fraser), and now it is a mysterious island in the middle of the pacific with his stepfather (Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson).

This film is a lot of fun there is not much more to it than that. Is it the best film you will ever see? No. However, it is an extremely enjoyable way to spend an hour and a half, and surely that is what matters?

This film as a whole like many others is made by the Rock’s easy-going charm. The Rock is one of the easiest actors to watch on screen and moreover he also has great chemistry with near anyone you put him on screen with, as proved here: Michael Cain and The Rock were the buddy duo you never knew you needed.

I enjoyed the adventure as a whole as well, I thought it was interesting to see this world realised and I thought the special effects were good enough to a point where I did not feel like I was being taken out of the movie.

Overall, it’s a fun film with a lot of charm and heart and some neat visuals, you can do a lot worse than this one.

Pros.

The Rock

The charm

The visuals

The adventure

Cons.

Parts do feel a little bit familiar and more originality could have been used.

4.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

White Lie: The Personal And The Private

White Lie is a Canadian drama film directed by Yonah Lewis and Calvin Thomas. The plot follows Katie (Kacey Rohl), a university student who fakes a cancer diagnosis for attention and financial gain and then gets caught up in her lie.

This is one of the tensest films I have seen in a long time, the idea of the lie being found out has you on the edge of your throughout, as more and more people get closer to the truth you are left with this dread that borders on excitement as to when the game will be found out.

The performances are strong all round, Rohl makes the character of Katie sympathetic even though she is without question a bad person. The film lives in an area of nuance, as it does not make a moral judgement about its characters rather allowing instead for the audience to make up their own minds about Katie.

I enjoy how this film plays with what we see and what we know in a digital setting. This film is very tech savvy and it makes the most of its contemporary means available to it, by analysing the media environment and how we exist within it, the idea of the public and the private, the real self and the artificial.

Overall, a very interesting film that poses a lot of nuanced ideas and allows us to form our own mind, we are torn.

Pros.

The tension

Rohl
It makes the most of its digital times setting

It does not make moral judgments about its subject

Cons.

A few light pacing issues

4.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Hope Gap: The Secret To An Unhappy Marriage Is Flipping The Breakfast Table

Hope Gap is a drama film directed by William Nicholson. The plot follows a couple who have been married for going on 30 years, however, one day it ends abruptly after Edward (Bill Nighy), finds someone else: this leaves Grace (Annette Benning), at an end as she has to try and figure out who she is without her husband.

So this film was very ordinary, and I mean that as both a positive and a negative. As a negative, nothing really happens it is just a film about a divorce there is no dramatic flair that can be seen in similar films like Marriage Story.

However, as a positive it feels deeply personable and relatable. I and many others have been in this situation before or known someone who has been in that situation; many of us are children of divorce and separation. In that way this film caught a nerve, at least for me, as it reminded me of my own life.

Bill Nighy is always a delight to see on screen, and he is balanced perfectly with Annette Benning. The two have great chemistry on screen and even in the smallest scenes can generate a well of emotion and resonance. The performances from the two of them were tip top. However, Josh O’ Conner as Jamie (the son), was less convincing. I think if anything Nighy and Benning do a lot with a little in terms of their performance whereas O’ Connor is overacting like his is on a soap opera and he lacks any kind of reserved passion or subtlety.

Overall, definitely not one for everyone but it is worth a watch I took away some resonance from it, some emotion, even a remembrance and maybe you will too.

Pros.

Nighy

Benning

It feels very ordinary and as is very relatable

Cons.

Not much happens

Josh O’ Conner overacts

2.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Are We Done Yet: This Film Deserved Best Picture

Are We Done Yet is a family comedy film directed by Steve Carr. The plot follows on from the events of Are We There Yet and sees the Persons family move out on the city and into the countryside. Everything seems to be going well for Nick (Ice Cube), and his family, except for the fact that their new house is falling apart, and Nick seems to be losing control of his life.

I don’t know how these films do it. On the surface they appear to just be Ice Cube comedy vehicles, but underneath this veneer they are so much more. These films have so much heart they make Pixar films look cold, both of these films have brought a tear to my eye and have touched me on an emotional level; it is very impressive.

The relationship between Nick and Chuck (John C. McGinley), starts off like the comedic antagonistic relationship you have seen in so many other comedy films (family and otherwise), it appears as though Chuck is going to steal Nick’s life, but then it becomes so much more than that. The bonding scene between Nick and Chuck, wear Chuck talks about this life is devastating and played havoc with my emotions far more than the last 20 dramas I’ve seen.

The film is not always hilarious, not every joke is a laugh riot, but it is consistently charming, and it keeps a smile on your face throughout.

Pros.

It is heart warming

It genuine has a masterful understanding of human emotion

Ice Cube and McGinley are both terrific

It has many funny moments

It is far more charming than you would expect.

Cons.

A few jokes miss, but I am not going to mark it down for that

5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Doomsday: North Of The Wall Is An Angry Scotsman

Doomsday is a science fiction action film directed by Neil Marshall. The plot imagines a future United Kingdom that has been ravaged by a deadly virus, as a result of this Scotland (the disease’s epicenter) has been sealed off to the rest of the world and left for dead.

Ignoring how close to our own reality some parts of this film are, this was quite a fun time. I enjoyed the Mad Max aesthetic and thought that the world itself was begging to be explored further, I was left wanting to know more about what happened during the films time jump.

I thought it was nice to see a bad ass female action hero in the lead, Eden Sinclair (Rhona Mitra), is very much in the same vein as other early 2000s feminist icons like Selene (Kate Beckinsale), from the Underworld films and Alice (Mila Jovovich), from the Resident Evil films. Eden has a great on- screen presence boosted by great physicality in the performance from Mitra, she is a very believable action hero. However, her character doesn’t have much in the way of a personality which I find to be my only real issue with the real.

The ending is edgy enough to feel satisfactory and leaves the door open for a sequel, should we want to return.

Overall, a fun time if a little troubling due to our current circumstance.

Pros.

Mitra

The premise

The world and the world building

Malcolm McDowell is always a welcome presence

Cons.

Eden might be cool, but she has no personality

4/5

Reviewed by Luke

Horizon Line: Running Out Of Fuel

Horizon Line is a thriller film directed by Mikael Marcimain. The plot follows a young will they wont they couple Jackson (Alexander Dreymon) and Sara (Alison Williams), as they become trapped on a plane out at sea after the pilot has a heart attack. Though Sara has rough knowledge of how to fly the plane, the ever-depleting fuel tank and lack of anywhere to land is turning into a nightmare scenario.

I have been waiting for months to see this film, due to the pandemic release dates being shuffled around and I have only just now got a chance to see it. I have to say for the most part it was quite disappointing.

I don’t know if it is because I went in with too high expectations, but most of this film just felt samey. It felt for the most part like yet another generic thriller that we have all seen hundreds of times before.

The acting as well was also very ordinary. This would have been Williams’ film to shine, but she does nothing: most of the film illudes to her character having some emotional baggage or more to her, but no she is just as dull as she appears. I don’t know whether it is Williams’ performance or whether it is the writing, but her character has no charm or personality whatsoever, which makes it hard to root for her and takes tension out of the film.

The only saving grace, was the sequence after they get out of the plane. It was an interesting twist to present us with the character safety to only then moments later take it away. However after this well-done piece of misdirection we then get the tease of a shark attack that never materialises, which I suppose could be put down to the filmmakers trying to subvert our expectations, but really it just felt disappointing again.

Also the sheer convenience of the ending reeks of bad writing.

Pros.

Some of the twists work

Cons.

Other twists don’t work

Williams’ is incredibly bland

It feels familiar yet also inferior

The tension dissipates when you realise that you don’t care about the characters at all

1/5

Reviewed by Luke

Doom: The Rock As You Have Never Seen Him Before

Doom is a science fiction action film directed by Andrzej Bartkowiak, serving as a live action adaptation of the classic video game series of the same name. The plot sees a group of soldiers sent on a rescue mission to mars, however once they arrive they are forced to do battle with genetically engineered monsters.

So, this film is used as the poster child for bad video game to film adaptations, however, after watching it I can see a rough sort of charm to it and I don’t think this film is as bad as it has been made out to be by any means. I remember watching this film when I was young, my parents put it on one Halloween night, and before rewatching it for this review that was my only exposure to the film.

I easily think the best sequence in the film is the first person shoot out rampage towards the end of the film. Not only does it look somewhat like the games, which is nice as a point of homage, but also it is just cool to see first person action Hardcore Henry proved my point without a shadow of a doubt and it remains the case here.

Moreover, the performances from Karl Urban, The Rock and Rosamund Pike are all quite good, will any of them win awards for their roles? No they won’t. Though they are good enough to get you lost in the world of the film and its characters.

Overall, maybe I have a soft spot for this film because I am a fan of the games, but I do think that it is a lot of dumb fun and action movie cheese which makes it enjoyable. It is the best video game adaptation no it is not, but it is a good time.

Pros.

The first-person sequence

The acting though not great is good for a video game movie

The world

The creatures themselves

Cons.

None of it made sense

The effects are laughably bad

It is not really related to the games in anyway

3/5

Reviewed by Luke

His House: Stranger In A Strange Land

His House is a horror film directed by Remi Weekes. The film revolves around a pair of South Sudanese refugees, Rial (Wunmi Mosaku) and Bol (Supe Dirisu), who flee their home for a supposed ‘better’ life in England. However, once they settle into their new lives they soon come to realise that you can’t run from your demons, they just follow you.

This has been in my Netflix que, for quite some time and honestly I am angry with myself for not watching it sooner. It is one of the freshest horror films I have seen in a while and I think it is a must watch.

Firstly, the horror is multi layered, yes you have the supernatural threat, but you also have all this threat coming in from the outside world; the locals are not welcoming to the pair and the whole asylum system seems rigged against them. Unlike something like Get Out wherein you had these layer of horror that were obvious and on the nose, here it feels far more refined and subtle and less slapping you in the face.

The scares are all very well done, I would say that this film is genuinely scary and that is coming from someone who is no stranger to the genre and who likes to think he does not scary easily. I enjoyed again the focus on African folk magic and mythology, it is nice to see a more diverse horror focus and less of the same Christen angles and demons that over populate the genre.

Overall, a real gem make sure you check it out!

Pros.

The multi layered horror

The performances

The focus on African mythology

The scares

The ending

Cons.

None

5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Wallace And Gromit Curse Of The Were Rabbit: Howling At The Moon

Wallace And Gromit Curse Of The Were Rabbit is a British stop motion animation film directed by Nick Park and Steve Box. The plot sees the duo set up a business catching and rehousing rabbits in their local area, protecting everyone’s green. However, one day during a failed science experiment Wallace (Peter Sallis), turns himself into a horrible man rabbit hybrid.

I remember watching this when I was a kid in the cinema, I must have gone at least 3 or 4 times to see it during its run; there is something about this film that places higher in my mind than the over Wallace and Gromit fare and even over other Aardman animations. What I think this something is, is the sense of British horror that is on display here ever so subtly. Throughout the film there are several references and homages to classic British horror films and moments, which a genre die hard like me can see and appreciate; I enjoy the tip of the hat.

I also enjoy the romance between Lady Tottington (Helena Bonham Carter), and Wallace. I thought it was nice and quite wholesome to see this love story play out on screen even if it does lead nowhere. It made me smile.

Overall, my favourite Wallace and Gromit film simply for the references to British horror, a great concept well executed.

Pros.

The horror and the references to horror

Wallace and Lady Tottington

The premise

It is well paced

Cons.

The villain feels familiar and uninspired

4/5

Reviewed by Luke

Clue: The Studio Executive Killed Him With A Lack Of Imagination

Clue is a black comedy mystery film directed by Jonathan Lynn, based on the board game of the same name. The plot sees a group of people gather together in a house under mysterious circumstances, once together people start to die one by one, and the surviving members of the party must figure out who the murder is.

So, I am quite the Tim Curry fan, as such I have heard talk of this film and it has been on my watchlist for quite some time. Upon watching it, I find it to be a mixed bag, but I find Curry as enjoyable as ever.

The idea of bringing the concept of a board game into a cinematic medium was always going to be a hard task to accomplish, but this film does give it a try. Sadly, it never manages to nail a tone or approach, sometime it borders on something like the Movie films in terms of silly parody, but then a moment later it will be taking the premise a bit too seriously for that to apply.

The cast are all serviceable, no one is bad, but no one (other than Curry) is good either. Curry has his manic energy especially towards the end of the film when he really lets loose where he is able to shine and effectively steal the film and the limelight. I would say the film would be far lesser without Curry’s involvement.

Overall, trying to adapt a board game into a film was always going to result in failure so I can’t say I am surprised. However, Curry is great.

Pros.

Tim Curry

A few good gags

Cons.

It ages poorly

The tone is inconsistent

Not all the jokes land

2/5

Reviewed by Luke