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

If you enjoyed this review, then please head over to my Patreon to support me, I offer personalized shoutouts, one on one Q and As, the ability for you to pick what I review next and full access to my Patreon exclusive game reviews. Check it out!

https://www.patreon.com/AnotherMillennialReviewer

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

If you enjoyed this review, then please head over to my Patreon to support me, I offer personalized shoutouts, one on one Q and As and the ability for you to tell me what to review next. Check it out!

https://www.patreon.com/AnotherMillennialReviewer

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

https://www.patreon.com/AnotherMillennialReviewer

Together Together: A Film Not Afraid To Laugh At Woody Allen

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

I enjoyed this film a lot, it was a nice surprise. I thought this film was very sweet, I enjoyed both characters and thought it was nice that the film did not force them into a romance but rather had them remain friends- it was refreshing. Moreover, I thought this film was very progressive and I liked what it did with gender roles, having the man really want to have a child and the woman being less so and wanting different things; it was nice to see.

I thought this film felt like the quirky comedies of Woody Allen, which is funny as the film finds time to mock him, another brilliant moment. I thought the film wasn’t hilarious but was instead charming and very warm: it made me smile a lot.

I think this may be Ed Helms best role to date, and he totally changed the way I view him as a performer.

Overall, this may be a film that you might be sleeping on, don’t, this was one of the best surprises I have had all year check it out.

Pros.

Helms

The gender roles

Keeping the leads friends

The charm

Cons.

It wasn’t hilarious

Things Heard And Seen: If The Sky Is Orange Don’t Get On Your Boat

1/5

Written by Luke Barnes

I had high hopes for this film from the Netflix preview, sadly it did not live up to them at all. The biggest issue with this film is that it is a cliché wrapped in a stereotype, there is nothing new or innovative about it. You have seen this film before time and time again and can guess what is going to happen before it happens as it is so formulaic.

Firstly I will say my only pro for the film, it is not out and out bad, it is watchable if you don’t mind being bored. However, that is where the pros end. The acting across the board is very average, deeply so, not one of the actors gives anything even barely resembling a good performance: the only one that could be argued for being on the better side, F. Murray Abraham, is side-lined and then killed off- as this film can’t allow anything other than average.

Moreover the horror/thriller aspects of this film are also incredibly weak, the supernatural aspect feels half baked, and the human horror feels done before, and done better at that. I was so unfazed by the spectacles on display in this film that I almost immediately forget about it after I finished watching it.

Overall, this is yet another film to add to Netflix’s ever growing catalogue of beige.

Pros.

F. Murray Abraham is trying his best

It is watchable

Cons.

It is dull, repetitive, and has been done better before

Most of the actors clearly aren’t trying

The ending is insanely predictable

The supernatural stuff goes nowhere and is poorly explained

https://www.patreon.com/AnotherMillennialReviewer

The Secret Life Of Pets 2: Animal Abuse

The Secret Life Of Pets 2

2/5

Written by Luke Barnes

This film was so dull and uninspired that I almost turned it off. I have at length in the past said that I prefer bad films to boring ones, because even if the film is bad sometimes it is still fun to watch; boring films are never fun to watch.

I thought this film would be better than the first one for the simple fact that it didn’t have alleged abuser Louise C. K in it anymore, and though that is true, Patton Oswald still can’t make the film any better. The voice cast in this film really struggles to connect, Kevin Hart and Tiffany Haddish are playing animal versions of themselves, and everyone else just feels like they are there for a quick pay day.

The film feels like it is trying to have an emotional impact, yet it fails badly. This film felt like it was just repeating the same emotional beats as other films yet done in a worse way that felt less impactful and ultimately was forgotten about quicker.

I thought the biggest sin of this film was the fact that it had so many sub plots and side stories that it quickly became confused and muddled, made worse by the fact that a lot of these were dull to the point of tedium.

Overall, mildly better than the first film but still a far cry from a good, animated film.

Pros

Slightly more entertaining

Still mercifully short

Cons.

Boring

Predictable

Muddled

Meet The Blacks: Lazy

Meet The Blacks

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

This film did have some funny moments, despite what you may have heard. Though I would not say it was a laugh a minute, I also wouldn’t say that this film is as bad as it has been described; it made me laugh a few times and was an entertaining enough way to spend an evening.

The Purge parody I didn’t really understand? If there was a reason for doing it the film did not explain it. In terms of parody it was again okay, it was not as bad as the worst moments of the Movie films, nor was it as good as the better moments from the Movie films, it was all very average.

There isn’t a huge amount to say about this film as it is just deeply average. The performances weren’t great but then you never imagined they were going to be, it feels like a bunch of performers getting together and just goofing around and getting paid for it, which sadly doesn’t make the film fun or funny in the long run.

Overall, incredibly average, you can do much better than this film, but you can also do much worse.

Pros.

It is very watchable

A few funny jokes

Cons.

Most of the jokes don’t land

The parody seems a little pointless

It is very generic

https://www.patreon.com/AnotherMillennialReviewer

London Has Fallen: The Only Person Who Can Save Britain Is An American, Apparently

London Has Fallen

2/5

Written by Luke Barnes

I wanted a trashy action film and by god this film delivered. Now I am not saying this film is good by any means, it is dumb, and more than a little racist, but as a film to turn your mind off to you could do worse.

The main issue with this film is its rather obvious xenophobia, the film seems to have a distain for anyone who is not American, even showing the British people who help the lead as being subservient as no one can be as good as an American soldier. Moreover, there are a good few lines in here that are straight up racist which makes this film a little uncomfortable to watch.

Butler is serviceable enough in the lead, but his accent keeps slipping and it is annoying and jarring: one minute he will have an American accent next it will be back to his native Scottish- pick one and stick with it, it worked for Connery.

I thought this film was fun in a dumb, turn your brain off and watch people explode sort of way. I was entertained and I thought the films action scenes were well done feeling very real.

Overall, mindless entertainment lacking anything more, with racist moments and accent slips that make finishing the film hard.

Pros.

The action

The dumb spectacle

Cons.

Butler’s accent

The racism

The ending

https://www.patreon.com/AnotherMillennialReviewer

In The Earth: Prophecies Of Doom For The Future Of The Pandemic

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

I’ve been looking forward to the new Ben Wheatley, lockdown, horror film for some time and now that it is here I am mixed. There are strong points to the film like the performances and the wider mythology set up, however that is underpinned by an extreme sense of pretentiousness and an ending that doesn’t make a lick of sense.

I easily think the best thing about this film is the performance from Reese Shearsmith who plays unhinged with an air of charm and homeliness so well that it is frightening whenever he is on screen the film really comes alive. The main duo are also very serviceable, but never really match Shearsmith.

Moreover, I enjoyed the focus on creating a new British myth, derived from older tales and a shared idea of the creepiness that can be found in wooded areas across the world. I thought the monster, if you can call it that, was interesting and I thought it was a wise decision to never show it and leave even its existence shrouded in mystery and ambiguity.

Where the film starts to fall apart is in it’s third act. At this point the film stops making sense and things just happen and we the audience are just supposed to go along with it and accept them; including but not limited to the film’s abrupt end that leaves more questions than answers. Moreover, it is also in this part of the film were the quasi-religious and certainly overly pretentious dialogue reaches a fever pitch and starts to become irritating.

Overall, the sensibilities of Kill List are there, but they have been perverted by art house ego.

If you enjoyed this review, then please head over to my Patreon to support me, I offer personalized shoutouts, one on one Q and As and the ability for you to tell me what to review next. Check it out

https://www.patreon.com/AnotherMillennialReviewer

Stoaway: You Too Would Prefer The Cold Embrace Of Space To A Viewing Of This Film

Stowaway

1/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Netflix and generic science fiction are starting to become one in the same. All of Netflix’s science fiction output looks the same, blues and blacks with a heavy shadow over everything, they have the same plotlines and ask the same questions and they all have a shared sense of smugness wherein they view themselves as deeper and more poignant then they actually are.

I don’t know if I have just become jaded but I long for the days when films used to surprise me and used to take risks and do something shocking- now it is all just the same. I could accurately predict the events of this film from the first ten minutes of it, I could even work out who would make the ultimate sacrifice in the end, it was all blindingly obvious.

On that note, the worst performance in this film comes from Anna Kendrick- easily. NASA and various other space agencies train people for how to deal with situations in space and they wouldn’t send someone up who would, at first chance, immediately go against all that and do what they personally thought was right. The characters lofty sense of moral superiority is woefully short sighted as by her own actions she is condemning the lives of those around her, and even with the price her character pays, it doesn’t change the fact instead it just pushes her own virtue further; in a frankly insufferable way.

Overall, I think I will be more picky when selecting to watch Netflix originals in the future

Pros.

Toni Collette and Daniel Day Kim are trying

Cons.

Anna Kendrick

It feels samey

It is predicatable

The story makes no sense and is riddled with plot holes, that get deeper the more you think about them.

If you enjoyed this review, then please head over to my Patreon to support me, I offer personalized shoutouts, one on one Q and As and the ability for you to tell me what to review next. Check it out

https://www.patreon.com/AnotherMillennialReviewer