Curse Of Chucky: Stop Beating A Dead Horse!

Curse Of Chucky is a horror film directed by Don Mancini. It is yet another sequel in the Child’s Play series, this time around Chucky (Brad Dourif), stalks a family from his past killing them one by one seemingly because he wants to take care of a few lose ends from his past.

For the most part this is just yet another copy and paste Chucky movie, the family start out unaware of the doll, the kids befriends the doll, people start dying, more people become aware of the doll, the show down, the end. They are play out pretty much the same, with the exception of Seed and Bride, and this is no different. It is dull and predictable.

What makes this film especially bad is Chucky himself. He tries to be menacing a lot more in this film, they don’t really give him a lot of jokes or one liners and he is trying to be scary. The reason this is dumb, is because the premise and Chucky himself are inherently silly, so they don’t work when presented otherwise. Annabelle in those movies was never presented as a silly kind of campy character, Chucky on the other hand was, that is the problem.

My other issue with Chucky in this film is the way he looks. For the first half of the film, Chucky looks awful, the actual doll is horrible to look at and looks nothing like classic Chucky. When I first put the film on and saw him looking like that I am not going to lie to you I was tempted to turn it off, however midway through the situation is rectified and the whole thing just feels pointless; the same can be said of the film generally.

Overall, yet another trashy horror movie sequel.

Pros.

I enjoyed seeing the Bride at the end

The flashback scenes were interesting

Cons.

The way the doll looked for the first 45 minutes

The fact they try and make Chucky Scary

I have seen this film before so many times, even though this was my first viewing

It was deeply dumb and poorly thought through.

1/5

Reviewed by Luke

Get Duked: DJ Beatroot Takes On The British Aristocracy

Get Ducked is a British black comedy film directed by Ninian Doff. The plot follows a group of boys as they’re doing their Duke of Edinburgh award in the Scottish highlands, the twist of course is that they’re being chased by someone who is dressed as the real Duke Of Edinburgh who seems intent on hunting them down and killing them all.

So, as a comedy film I feel mixed about this. One the one hand some of the jokes feel quite cringe, especially all the Rap based jokes, they didn’t do anything for me. However, as I always say humour is subjective. On the other hand there were a few good jokes that did make me laugh out loud, I enjoyed the Alice Lowe cameo, and the rabbit poo induced battle at the end.

Where this film shines is as a rather extreme take on social commentary. The classist message of the film is clear from the off, the film does not mince words in this regard and is very straight forward and direct about it. A Duke (Eddie Izzard) hunting down a group of working-class Scottish boys calling them vermin, is very in your face.

Usual I don’t like overt political messages, but I found the speech at the end about how these boys can never hope to have the good life and no matter how hard they work the system will always be against them, to be quite moving and poignant and work on multiple levels.

Overall, a hidden gem that you need to see. A cult classic in the making.

Pros.

The message

The horror and the tension

Alice Lowe

The comedy that worked

Cons.

The comedy that didn’t work.

4.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Emperor’s New Groove: A Hidden Gem Of Disney

The Emperors New Groove is an animated family film directed by Mark Dindal. The plot sees Emperor Kuzco (David Spade), be turned into a llama in order for villains to try and usurp this throne. The mighty Emperor must team up with a village peasant (John Goodman), in order to reclaim his birth right.

So despite this film coming out long after the golden years of Disney Animation, I think that this is one of the best Disney films possibly ever, but certainly of the early 2000’s.

The comedy and the charm are what really make this for me. I am a big David Spade fan and usually find him quite amusing, but I enjoyed how this film’s humour played off his personality as was often quite self-deprecating. I thought the choices of narration that breaks the fourth wall was also quite an inspired idea, one that makes the whole film feel more engaging.

I enjoyed the very distinct feel of this film and how because of the unique colour pallet and style it felt different from all the other Disney animated films. A film having a strong personality is always a good thing.

The supporting voice cast also do a good job, with Goodman and veteran Patrick Warburton being the standouts. There characters both feels very well realised, which makes them far more compelling.

Overall, an often-overlooked Disney gem.

Pros.

The unique feel and style

David Spade for the most part

The voice cast as a whole

The comedy

It is very watchable

Cons.

Spade does get a bit annoying at times

5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Peninsula: The Ruins Of A Good Idea

Peninsula is a South Korean Horror film directed by Sang-ho Yeon which serves as a sequel to Train To Busan. The plot this time around see a group of people sent back into South Korea in an effort to retrieve a truck full of money, however once they arrive they realise that zombies aren’t the only thing they need to worry about.

This film is not a horror film, that is a miscategorisation, there is nothing scary about this film even slightly; this is an action film. Gone are the tense claustrophobic moments of the first film, in are car chases and shooting your way through hordes of the undead, and unsurprisingly this takes all of the tension out of the film

This is only made worse by the fact that this film also tries to add jokes into the mix here and there, thankfully sparingly. Which again serve to ruin any kind of tension and drastically change the tone of the film.

Despite this, the film is still worth a watch the world of these films is interesting and this builds on that and adds new wrinkles. Furthermore the action elements aren’t bad, they were just not what I was expecting from a horror film, there are a few good action moments scattered throughout, a few of these reminded me of The Raid, though not nearly so well done.

Overall, a failure of a horror film, but a surprisingly watchable action film. Go in with low expectations and knowing the true genre and there is something to like about this film.

Pros.

Some cool action moments

More world building

Cons.

It is not scary

The action and the awful comedy take away any sense of tension

The CGI is noticeably worse

2.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Noelle: Disney Plus Gets A Big Steaming Lump Of Coal

Noelle is a family friendly Christmas movie directed by Marc Lawrence. The film follows Noelle (Anna Kendrick), who must leave the North Pole and venture out into our world to try and find her brother Nick (Bill Hader), who has fled after a freak out about becoming the new Santa Claus.

This is wholesome enough Christmas fare, it won’t be a new favourite by any means, but it is nice turn your brain off and watch junk food.

The writing is fairly weak, all the twists and turns are telegraphed a mile out, the big reveal that maybe it should be Noelle who becomes the new Santa Claus is blindingly obvious from half an hour into the film. The idea that we should have a female Santa Claus also doesn’t feel novel anymore, as I am sure it has been done before.

The humour is okay, there are no laughs to be had, but a few moments that will make you smile. I found the biggest issue with this film in that department was the repetition of jokes, the joke that every kid wanted an iPad for Christmas wasn’t funny to begin with and got progressively less so as it was overused. Repeating the joke doesn’t make it funny. Also the fact that kids want an iPad for Christmas feels like product placement that is about ten years out of date; you could be forgiven for not realising that this film came out in 2019.

The best thing about this film is Kendrick. Her performance is very warm and wholesome, and that vibe is contagious and spreads to the rest of the film.

Overall, a fun single use Christmas film that has many issues that you will forget about as soon as it is over.

Pros.

Anna Kendrick

The general wholesomeness

Cons

The humour

The obvious twists

The weird out of date product placement

2/5

Reviewed by Luke

Widows: Elizabeth Debicki Out Acts Every Single Person In This Film

Widows is a crime thriller film directed by Steve McQueen. The plot follows a group of women who find out posthumously that their husbands were highly successful thieves, however now with their husbands gone local mobsters are seeking to collect their debts and its up to the widows to pay.

I thought this film was good and well done to a point. I enjoyed seeing the women have to carry out a heist with little experience, it was interesting to see them progress and become stronger together. I thought 2 of the lead actresses gave good performances and that one was underused and maybe even miscast.

Viola Davis was a strong anchor for the film and played the no nonsense with an emotional vulnerability type very well, Michelle Rodriguez was fine, but was certainly the weakest member of the cast, she had very little to do and the film wasted her for the most part. Finally you have Elizabeth Debicki, who for me was the strongest member of the ensemble, her storyline was harrowing and Debicki conveyed that well.

The supporting cast also helped boost this film up, with a lot of the wider talent adding nicely to the central three characters and fleshing out the world as whole. In this regard Daniel Kaluuya was terrific, being a very menacing side villain.

My issue with the film came when it revealed that Davis’s characters husband was still alive. This is a second act twist that I find undermines a lot of the film and takes away from the character motivations. Is the twist shocking? Yes, but does it do anything more than that, no not really.

Overall, a potentially strong crime film that is let down by a miscast and underused Rodriguez and a silly twist that adds very little to the narrative beyond a cheap shock.

Pros.

Debicki

Davis

Kaluuya

The tension and the transformative journey

Cons.

Rodriguez

The twist

3.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

The War With Grandpa: It Is Not A War It Is A Slaughter

The War With Grandpa is a family comedy film directed by Tim Hill. The plot sees a boy (Oakes Fegley) and his grandfather (Robert De Niro), go to war over a bedroom, when the grandfather moves in with the family.

The premise of this film is lame, and the tame nature of it stops it from ever doing anything truly memorable as far as the war is concerned. I get that this is a family film, but it feels scared to say word like hell, really? It is the tamest film I have seen in a long while.

The war feels fairly one sided in terms of hearts and minds, as the kid is a brat from the get-go and has no redeeming qualities. The performance by Fegley is woeful and is easily crushed by De Niro, even though this is clearly a paycheck role for him.

De Niro manages to capture quite a lot of good sentimentality and actually hit me in the feels by the end of the film, this is much better than something like Dirty Grandpa as it is far more dignified for him and he gives a fairly good performance. I enjoyed all the nods to De Niro’s gangster films that are peppered in throughout I thought they really added something.

I can’t talk about this film without talking about Uma Thurman. She is the star of this film, even if she only has about twenty minutes of screen time. She is both unintentionally hilarious, and just a joy to watch. When she is on screen hamming up her performance it is always good for a laugh. She was easily my favourite character.

Overall, too tame to be enjoyed by some, schlock for the most part and clearly a paycheck for De Niro, but it does have its moments and Walken and Thurman steal the show.

Pros.

Uma Thurman

Some genuine emotion

Christopher Walken

Cons.

Too tame, the war doesn’t feel exciting

The kid is an unlikable brat, you don’t feel torn between the two for a second

3/5

Reviewed by Luke

Scooby Doo And The Samurai Sword: The Curse Of The Stereotype

Scooby Doo and The Samurai Sword is an animated family film directed by Christopher Berkeley. The plot sees the gang head to Japan so that Daphne (Grey Griffin), can attend a martial arts competition. Of course once they get there a vicious old samurai spirit wreaks havoc.

A few Scooby Doo reviews ago I was praising the fact that they started having the monsters and the supernatural elements turn out to be true, but now it is getting to a point where than is becoming a crutch; they have gone too far the other way. There are now officially dragons in the Scooby Doo canon.

That aside this is just a very bog-standard affair, there is nothing hugely good or bad about it, it is just what you would expect for slightly over an hour.

I am sad to report that this goes the same way as Monster of Mexico with its over reliance of tired stereotypes. Most of the Japanese characters in this film are caricatures, that you have seen before. This to me reeks of lazy writing. Furthermore, this film goes a step further and as well as Japanese stereotypes brings in other nationalities to also reduce to their most base form.

Overall, the poor/lazy writing brings this one down for me. It could otherwise have got a very middling score, but now gets a lower score.

2/5

Reviewed by Luke

Phineas And Ferb The Movie, Candace Against The Universe: Ashley Tisdale’s Finest Performance

Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Candace Against The Universe is an animated family film directed by Bob Bowen. The plot sees Candace (Ashley Tisdale), get abducted by aliens whilst trying to bust her brothers, naturally Phineas (Vincent Martella) and Ferb (David Errigo Jr.), mount a rescue mission. However, once they find her, they find that she is no prisoner and has finally found people who appreciate her. Or has she.

I assume this film is the end the series, I don’t know as I haven’t kept up with the series for over 5 years, but if this was a conclusion to it then it works well to end things. If this is a just a film that will lead into the next series ignore this point. It did have an air of finality to it.

The humour of this film reminded me of more adult fare like Family Guy, which is either a pro or a con depending on how you view that show. The humour for the most part left me cold, but it did manage to get a laugh out of me a few times.

I enjoyed seeing things work out for Candance for once, it was nice to see her side of things as I felt it carried a nice duality to the series.

Overall, a nice flipped perspective that showed the series can still hit the highs it used to.

Pros.

The flipped perspective

I enjoyed the finality to it

It made me laugh a few times

Cons.

More often than not the humour left me cold

It wasn’t as strong as a lot of the classic episodes

3/5

Reviewed by Luke

Lucy In The Sky: The Reason Why Noah Hawley’s Star Trek Film Is ‘On Hold’

Lucy In The Sky is a drama film directed by Noah Hawley. The plot follows Lucy Cola (Natalie Portman), an astronaut who has a great deal of trouble returning to normal life on earth.

This film is the definition of the word pretentious; Hawley thinks that by using some cool transitions and fancy cuts that he can disguise the fact that he has a stinker of a film on his hands. I found the smugness or more aptly the self-importance of this film to be incredibly off-putting. I like Hawley’s TV projects, but yeah this bad, put your Star Trek film on indefinite hold kind of bad.

Portman is okay, she is clearly trying a lot with her performance, but her character come off right from the start of the film as loathsome. The film goes out of its way to try and make her sympathetic, but she just not. By the end of the film you want her to go to prison, she deserves it.

The worst crime of this film is how long it feels, yes it is on for just over two hours which is already quite long, but it feels double that. A lot of the section just feel needless drawn out as though they’re trying to kill time.

Overall, this may be the worst film of Natalie Portman’s career

Pros.

The artsy transitions are cool for five minutes

Cons.

It is boring

The lead is incredibly unlikable

It is smug and in your face with it

It has severe pacing issues

0.5/5

Reviewed by Luke