Brightburn: Evil Superman’s Origin Story

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

This film is basically what if Superman was evil, it knows this and it does it perfectly. I find this film often miscategorised some say it is a horror film, it is not, rather it is an action film with horror sequences thrown in; or perhaps an action horror if you like.

I enjoyed how they built the evil over the course of the film, the child doesn’t start vaporising people from the get-go, we see him go on some what of a rushed character journey towards evil; with his mum foolishly thinking he can be tempted back the other way. I thought once this film got to the part where he was fully evil and fully using his powers to annihilate people it really started to shine.

However, my favourite moment of this film comes at the end. After the final battle we are treated to a post credits scene, as what is a superhero film without one these days, during which we see the fact that there is in fact an entire evil Justice League of other characters, which simply begs for a sequel- hopefully this film gets one.

Furthermore, Elizabeth Banks really shines in this film: she is by far the standout performance. I liked how we saw her character breakdown more and more over the course of the film as she started to realise that the boy she has raised from infancy was in fact evil, it was a fascinating transition and one Banks sold well on the acting front.

Overall, a very strong film that deserves a sequel.

Pros.

Banks

The ending

The post credits scene

The alien unleashed

Cons.

A slow first act

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The Last Black Man In San Franciso: Squatter’s Rights

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

I had heard a lot about The Last Black Man In San Francisco from the festival circuit several years ago, but for one reason or another I never watched it; anyway recently I bought it on DVD and corrected that mistake.

I am very mixed on this film. I did not like the style or a lot of its more arty moments: personally I thought they cut away a bit too much from the real human heart and struggle of the film. By the end of the film the style and the artsy cutaways had almost become a barrier between you and the characters.

I think both the leads were simply terrific, with perhaps Johnathan Majors just stealing the top spot. I thought they both created these very deep and layered characters who were fun to explore and get to know over the course of the film’s runtime. Moreover, I thought the emotional journey they went on during the film was nothing short of beautiful and I would have liked further character exploration.

The ending left me cold. I understand why it happened from a storytelling point of view, but I feel like the execution of the scene could have been done better thereby giving it more of an impact on the viewer.

Overall, great performances struggle against tone and pace and eventually cancel each other out.

Pros

The acting

The emotion

Cons.

The style and the artsy elements

The ending

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The Father: Olivia Colman Deserved Her Second Oscar

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

I applaud the inventiveness of this film, what could easily have been a very linear experience is turned on its head. Personally, I thought the choice to show everything from Anthony, played by Anthony Hopkin’s, point of view was sheer genius; as the character suffers from Alzheimer’s the events of the film are out of order, muddled and actors switch out as the character can’t remember what they look like anymore- it is brilliant.

I thought Hopkin’s gave one of his best performances to date, running the gambit from charming to mean and unlikeable and then heart breakingly vulnerable- all within an hour and a half. Would I say it is Oscar worthy? No, in a regular year, Yes with what he was up against, it was a very good performance.

The same praise can be heaped on Olivia Colman who plays Anthony’s struggling daughter who has to take him in and help him out whilst he is in-between carers. Colman is stellar and her constant state of near tears but still maintaining a smile speaks to everyone who has ever found themselves in a similar situation; in my opinion hers was the better of the two performances and she should have won the Oscar.

The one slight negative, and this was always going to be the case you knew going in, is that this film is manically depressing, though not as much as you might expect, so be prepared with something happy to watch to follow this film up with.

Overall, a gem and one of the best films of last year.

Pros.

Colman

Hopkins

The point of view focus

The emotional wringer

Cons.

It is deeply depressing

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Captain Phillips: A Continuation Of Tom Hank’s Love Affair With The Sea

2/5

Written by Luke Barnes

There was no need for this film to be over two hours, none, it feels indulgent.

However, that is not the only issue, another thing that bothered me was how action man like the lead was. We are led to believe that this character was a calm, level headed, all American hero, but I for one find it hard to believe. There is something about this film that just doesn’t ring true to me, with it likely not being as historically accurate as it claims.

Hanks plays Hanks which is a good or bad thing depending on how you feel about him as an actor. The character is the virtuous hero and doesn’t get any more character development than that. I would have preferred it if we had also had more of Phillip’s family time spent away from the ship so we can get the measure of him as a human, rather than a national figurehead.

I thought the action scenes, if they can be called that maybe survival scenes would be better, were well shot and felt suitably tense. The end sequence when Phillips is separated from his crew and things don’t look good had me on the edge of my seat, sadly this was after an hour of lulling me to sleep; so it was less effective.

Overall, you have seen this before.

Pros.

The suspense

The ending

Cons.

The pacing is brutal

Phillips doesn’t feel like a person but rather a patriotic metaphor

It drags

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French Exit: Giving A Man Several Thousand Euros For An Orange

French Exit

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

This film feels like a Wes Anderson film, yet less heart-warming and more pretentious. The characters we are supposed to root for, are almost by design unlikeable and as such when the film takes dramatic turns you feel very little about it.

The kitschy nature of the humour will work or not work based on your sense of humour. It is in this area that I find the Anderson comparison is the most apt, however, what works for Anderson does not work here. The whole film is a rather humourless affair.

Moreover, though I thought the leads were both good, they didn’t really have arcs, rather they went through the emotions for about two hours and then the film ended. Which is only really entertaining for about the first few minutes. It is because of this and the fact that the characters are so detached and unlikeable that the ending falls flat and doesn’t manage to connect either.

Finally, I found this film to be bafflingly obtuse- again most likely by design. There were lines of dialogue or even whole scenes that seemed to suggest one thing and then a moment later something would come along to defy it and throw everything back up in the air once again.

Overall, perhaps this film did not appeal to my comedic sensibilities, though I suspect it will be too pretentious for most to enjoy regardless.

Pros.

The first half hour is entertaining enough

It is watchable

Cons.

It is incredibly pretentious

It isn’t funny

You don’t care about the characters

The ending has no weight

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Hop: So It Has Come To This

Hop

1.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

So my search for wholesome films to watch has brought me to this, my desperation is showing. I had heard nothing but bad things about this film, and yet I thought how bad can it be? Well, buckle up.

Firstly this film made me pine for the cookie cutter safe family films of Disney, where even the word ‘crud’ is probably a bit too strong. This should be a red flag to you, and it is not said without merit. This film is icky in a very odd way, especially when you consider who this film is aimed at. There are lines in this film where our animated main character refers to himself as sexy and also states in no uncertain terms his desire to bed the human leads sister- creepy and weird.

Moreover, the film can’t seem to decide on its own mythology, it makes up various things about the wider Easter Bunny mythos on the fly and changes them throughout the film in a similar manor, as you would assume this creates a number of issues and problems for the plot.

Furthermore, far be it for me to tell you the reader what is and isn’t a good message for your kids, or just kids generally, but I don’t think this film isn’t the way to go. Whereas other films might have a message of believing in yourself or being nice to outsiders, this film seems to live with the lessons of spite. The human lead played by James Marsden, the only real pro of the film, is a man child who achieves character growth by the end of the film by spiting his father- really?

Overall, this is poor and more than a little icky, the only positives are Marsden and the fact that it is often unintentionally hilarious for all the wrong reasons.

Pros.

Marsden

It is unintentionally funny

Cons.

The weird sexual stuff

The message

The logic of the film and the wider story

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Evil Everywhere: A Well Put Together Colour Pallet To Mask An Otherwise Average Film

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

I enjoyed the idea of an evil that kills in alphabetical order, the compulsive part of my brain enjoys the structure and the order to it. Furthermore, I enjoyed the pallet and the aesthetic of this film and I thought from a stylistic standpoint it was very striking, and vivid.

The actual plot of the film is fine, it has its moments, but it is mostly by the numbers. The same can be said of the acting, very average. There were a few moments that I found genuinely hilarious and that made me laugh out loud- though I doubt they were meant to.

The film has deep pacing issues, dragging out the first two acts to a point where they become boring and then skipping through most of the third to get to the end, which is sad as this is where the film finally starts to show off more of its potential.

Overall, the reason this film has got above average half marks is because it made me laugh, albeit it unintentionally.

Pros.

The humour

The style

The alphabetical killing

Cons.

The pacing

The acting

Very average

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Rare Beasts: A Takedown Of The Romantic Comedy?

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

This film was hectic, all over the place and oddly enthralling, there was something about this clear art piece that stopped you from being able to look away, even if you couldn’t tell what was going on.

Before, making further comments about the film I want to state and acknowledge for the record my place of male privilege. I think for me one of the biggest issues with this film is the fact that it too comes from a place of privilege, the tale of the character featured herein is not one that everyone can relate to, but rather one of a financially comfortable, professional. There is a huge degree of middle class privilege to this film that I think renders it out of touch before it even gets going.

Moreover, there are also a lot of first time director issues with this film too, such as audio issues and camera choices that not only prove distracting, but also make the film hard to follow. Whilst watching this I had to activity try and make sense out of some of the scenes that just didn’t, and also strain to hear important dialogue that is obscured over odd sound choices.

In terms of performances I think Billie Piper is strong I think is manages to capture a sense of manic energy that propels the film forward whilst also tapping into a deep well of pain and self-hate to pass comment on it. I thought the film as a whole felt very real and raw which was refreshing even if it was tinged with an unrealistic world view.

The humour for me was hit or miss, there were a few times I found myself laughing, but on the whole I was mostly unmoved by the humour of the film. Though as I often say humour is subjective.

Overall, an interesting conversation starter, but one that feels more and more hollow the further you look beneath the surface.

Pros.

Piper

The premise and the comment on rom-coms

A few funny jokes

Cons.

Clear middle class privilege

Odd framing and music choices

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Riders Of Justice: An Odd Sense Of Humour

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

This one really won’t be to a lot of people’s taste. This film is quite hard to categorise, it is not one specific genre, it has elements of action and drama, whilst also maintaining a pitch black sense of humour throughout: the elements work for the most part and only on a few occasions did I find them to be clashing.

This film goes to some very dark places that not everyone might be comfortable with, personally I found myself laughing a few times, when I probably shouldn’t have been, but this film spoke to my sense of humour.

The cast are all good and there is not a weak link amongst them. Mads Mikkelsen is as always great, he anchors this film, and his character is beautifully complicated, always surprising you and challenging your perceptions of him.

The main problem I found with this film, besides the occasionally jarring tone, was the pacing. This film is incredibly slow, there are big chunks of time where just nothing meaningful happens and you are left near tediously bored asking, nay begging for something to happen. The ending, however, goes the other way, and gives us action and spectacle, but seems to rush through it, not allowing us to savour the sequence.

Overall, your enjoyment of this film will be determined by your sense of humour and how long it takes you to get bored.

Pros.

The humour

Mikkelsen

Cons.

An acquired taste

The pacing issues

The uneven tone

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Army Of The Dead: A Zombie Tiger, Now I Really Have Seen Everything

2/5

Written by Luke Barnes

This film was billed as the restoration of the zombie genre bringing it back to popularity- it is not that. Really, this is more of the same zombie killing action that you have seen done to death over the last ten years across all forms of media. Yes, there are some funny moments and some good knowingly cringe moments like playing the Cranberries song Zombie at the end, but even still it can’t make up for the fact that you have seen it all before.

The cast of characters are mostly forgettable, the only two who inspired any real interest were Lily and Martin and yet, they got killed before they had any real chance to grow into interesting characters- the same can be said for the rest. Not everyone needed to die to make this film feel dramatic.

I thought Bautista was fine as the lead, serviceable but not in any way memorable. Moreover, I found his daughter character to be extremely annoying and poorly written: she’s angry at her dad so she will willingly put her own life at risk to spite him, when the zombies are gearing up for an attack she runs outside, it is bafflingly dumb.

Additionally, I didn’t like the reveal that the zombie queen was pregnant when she died, I thought it was needless and in bad taste: more so when they cut her stomach open and pulled out her dead zombie baby. It left a bad taste in my mouth that is still taste as I am writing this review.

Finally, the runtime of this film makes it a slog. There is no reason this film needs to be over two hours, none, and yet it is.

The action and the cinematography are for the most part well done and visually pleasing, however I found that a lot of the concepts were not fully realised: there is a zombie tiger who other than killing off one character does very, very little and which could have been so much more.

Overall, the zombie genre is played out.

Pros.

The action

The cinematography

Cons.

The dead zombie baby

The runtime and staggering pacing issues

It is repetitive

None of the characters are allowed to be interesting

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