Sucker Punch: Rape As A Plot Device

Sucker Punch is an action adventure film directed by Zack Snyder. The plot follows young woman Babydoll (Emily Browning), who finds herself accused of a crime she didn’t commit by her abusive stepfather. She is committed to an institution and escapes into a world of fantasy, where she fights Nazis and does various other stuff.

I will hand it to Snyder this was ambitious. The imagination on display, however sick and twisted it might be, is staggering. Sadly it doesn’t save this from being a disturbing mess of a film.

The various fantasises that Babydoll and co go to feel oddly random, there is not much rhyme or reason as to why these are their fantasises, which comes across as poor set up stemming from bad writing.

Secondly, this film is a teen action adventure so why is there a constant, and I mean from the off, rape threat throughout? This isn’t an interpretation this is what the film uses to drive its narrative, there are several scenes where it is implied without question and a few more where it is conveyed in a more subtle way. I am not going to lie to you this is deeply off putting and feels exploitative, it is hard to finish.

I feel like in Snyder’s head this was going to be a big empowering female epic, but it goes right the other way and feels creepy and icky to watch.

The only pro I will give it is that Oscar Issac is more menacing in this than I think he has ever been before; he gives one hell of a performance.

Pros

Oscar Issac

The imagination

Cons.

Using rape as a plot device

It feels exploitative

It makes no sense

It is depressing in the extreme

1/5

Reviewed by Luke

Postman Pat The Movie: Do The Kids Love Simon Cowell?

Postman Pat The Movie is an animated family film directed by Mike Disa. The plot sees everyone’s favourite postman enter a singing competition to win his wife a trip to Italy.

So, I haven’t watched the show since I was about 3 years old, but the other night I was looking through Prime and I found this; the nostalgia hooked me I sat and watched the whole hour and a half.

First off, the animation is hellish. I can’t decide whether it looks to real or too cartoony, but it looks cheap whichever verdict is reached. I don’t remember the show looking like this when I watched it.

The performances are solid enough, the cast is a whose who of British actors and familiar voices. Stephen Mangan does a good job as Pat; he has the right amount of wholesomeness for the family demographic whilst also having a few good jokes for the adults watching.

This is the second kids film this year that I have watched that has a Simon Cowell type character, this one couldn’t seem to get him so Robin Atkin Downes plays the part of Simon Cowbell, but it is basically the same character. Did I miss the memo? Do kids really like Simon Cowell or something I don’t get it. It is an alarming trend, please let me know if you know.

Overall, a very passable watch, very much a one and done sort of film.

Pros.

Mangan

Familiar voices

A few jokes for the adults

Cons.

The animation is awful

Do kids really like Simon Cowell?

It is very average

2.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Mother: A Lot Of Pretentious Allegory

Mother is a horror thriller film directed by Darren Aronofsky. The plot tells the story of a couple whose happy tranquil retreat is ruined by the arrival of unexpected, unwanted guests.

So this one is going to be a controversial for sure, even now years after it has come it is still polarising people, you either love it or you hate it. I find myself torn.

There is a lot of debate as to whether this is even a horror film, but I think it is. I also think the later in the film sequences where all hell breaks loose, which are arguably the horror scenes are strong and work well. The scenes when the followers descend to the house and fight to get a glimpse of the new baby are downright menacing and claustrophobic.

On the flip side, I hate the narrative of this film in so many ways. Firstly it has no story or plot just random events and allegory, it is one of those films where the director wants you to put it together yourself; in other words an excuse for poor writing. Moreover, the clear Bible reading (that everything that happens in the film is reflective of the Bible and the events therein), are so incredibly obvious that it basically beats you in the face with it. Yet in has to be pretentious and act like that is not true and that it has multiple meanings.

Jennifer Lawrence does an admirable job and I will applaud her for steeping outside of her comfort zone.

Overall, divisive to the core you will have strong feelings about it, for me I thought the narrative was weak and obvious, but the practical execution and the acting was spot on.

Pros

The acting

The ending

Some genuinely quite tense scenes

Cons.

The stupidly pretentious narrative

Having no form of story

3/5

Reviewed by Luke

Monsters University: The Tamest College Ever

Monsters University is an animated family film directed by Dan Scanlon. The plot follows Mike (Billy Crystal), and Sully (John Goodman), in their university (or college), years serving as a prequel to Monsters Inc.

This film is needless, there is no way of getting around that: it did not need to be made. However, despite this it adds a few nice character arc wrinkles to the beloved duo that are worth talking about. It shows how when Sully and Mike met they were adversarial, Sully coasted by on his father’s name and didn’t bother to try and Mike is trying very hard to be something that he is not. It is interesting to see their motivations and behaviour here and then to rewatch the first film, it gives it some new flavour.

The trademark Pixar heart is present, in a much-reduced capacity from the original film though. You do empathises with Mike as you can see how hard he wants to be a scarier despite not being scary, it is heart breaking and the big emotional moment at the end of the film when he finally gets to step over the line onto the factory floor is a cheer worthy moment and feels earned.

Overall, this film is needless there is no getting around that, but it adds to the motivations and characterization of various people from the first film adding a new context which is nice and crucially beneficial.

Pros.

The character work

The Pixar heart

Adds rewatch value to the original

Cons.

It is needless

It has pacing issues and often feels like it is filling time

Life After Beth: Whats Love Without A Bit Of Cannibalism?

Life After Beth is a horror comedy romance film directed by Jeff Baena. The plot follows Zach (Dane DeHaan), a young man who has just lost his girlfriend Beth (Aubrey Plaza), however, before Zach can spiral into grief he is reunited with his girlfriend: something is different, however. Beth is now a zombie.

So for many years this has been amongst my favourite romantic comedies, it is so wholesome and has so much to say. When first reunited Zach is so glad to have his girlfriend back, but as time goes on he starts to see it as more of a curse, it begs the question would you want more time with your dead loved one if they weren’t really the same person you knew anymore and were instead something darker.

Plaza is perfectly cast and Baena seems to know how to get the best out of her as the duo would team up years later for The Little Hours, she is great in that too. She is tragically hilarious and her and Zach are a cute horror couple. DeHaan is doing his usually brooding routine, but it fits the film, so it works.

Overall, the definition of a hidden gem, not many people know about this delight of a film if you’re one of them right your wrong. It also has a truly comedic awkward cameo from Anna Kendrick, what is not to like. Check it out!

Pros.

The romance

The horror elements and implied zombie apocalypse

The awkward comedy

The commentary

Cons.

It has a very pacing issues and some sections are weaker than others

3.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

300: A Scottish Greek

300 is a historical action film directed by Zack Snyder, based on the Frank Miller comic series of the same name. The film retells the story of the Spartans last stand at the battle of Thermopylae, when 300 (the real numbers vary), Spartan soldiers held out against an overwhelming horde of Persian invaders: fighting to the last man to give the rest of Greece time to prepare.

This film is epic, I know that a cringey word, but there is no other way to describe it. I remember watching it a lot as a youth and watching it again now I am still in awe of how cool it is. The scope, the scale everything about it is intense.

Say what you like about Zack Snyder, but no one, and I mean no one, does sweaty, slow motion, ultra-violence quite like him, each one of the battle scenes is a sight to behold. The gore, which is in abundance of course, feels well used. It makes a point, but never crosses the line to where it feels gratuitous or done for shock value.

Gerard Butler plays a surprisingly Scottish version of King Leonidas, the legendary Spartan king; clearly he is borrowing from the Sean Connery school of acting. Though I joke, Butler is a man of very specific acting talents and he seems almost crafted for his role. He plays Leonidas with a regal air that is carefully covering a personality of sheer unrelenting brutality.

Overall, this film highlights the best of Butler and Snyder showing off both of their talents, creating a truly engrossing experience.

Pros.

Gerard Butler

Zack Snyder

The scope and feel of it

The battle scenes

It is captivating

Cons.

It is not historically accurate

4.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Hercules: Does James Woods Age Well?

Hercules is an animated film directed by Ron Clements and John Musker. The plot is a retelling of the Greek Myth of Hercules, though it combines a lot of different stories together, so it is not beat for beat. We see a young Hercules (Tate Donovan), be ripped from his parent’s arms and raised as a mortal. After he finds out about his supernatural heritage he sets out to become the biggest hero in the world and regain his place amongst the Gods.

I remember watching this in school as a treat on the final day of term, I remember enjoying it. My how times change.

So I have a laundry list, to borrow the phrase, of problems with this film. Firstly narratively it is a mess. There is two defined acts and then a third one that just feels like a bunch of stuff cobbled together, the result of this is a film that has a sizeable amount of the bloat.

The gospel soundtrack is one of the better aspects about the film, it adds an extra element that is hard to describe and enhances it completely. However, a lot of the normal songs ,(mainly the ones sung by Hercules himself), lack any charm or catchiness, this creates a noticeable dip in the soundtrack. Furthermore, the voice actor for Hercules doesn’t give the role any passion or character, Hercules feels like the blandest most stereotypical hero, in his own film and that is the fatal flaw.

The supporting cast are also a mixed on the one hand you have James Wood and Danny DeVito, both of whom are excellent, on the other hands you have the rest who are again so bland and devoid of personality that they just fade into the background.

Overall, this film showed me that rose-tinted glasses are a real thing, it is very meh and feels both too busy and also empty at the same time, it is perplexing.

Pros.

The gospel soundtrack

Woods and DeVito

Cons.

Hercules is boring and bland

It tries to hard to cover everything

The non-gospel songs are bad

The supporting cast are a very mixed bag

2/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel: Find Yourself An Indian Lover

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is a comedy drama film directed by John Madden. The plot follows an eclectic group of pensioners as they go to India to retire. They each go for their own reasons and they each find India touch their lives in one way or another.

This film features almost all of the famous older British faces that audiences would be familiar with, you have Bill Nighy, Judie Dench, Maggie Smith and more; it really is like a who’s who of elderly British talent. It is a very wholesome watch as it feels like you know these people, they’re almost like your grandparents, so it is nice to see them falling in love and having fun.

I found this film to be far better than the other older romance films like Finding Your Feet, that would follow it, in many ways these sort of films are a genre all their own and maybe one day I will write about it in more detail. With that said you can imagine what the story is like, it is all fairly predicatable.

My issue with this film is the pacing. There were parts of it I really enjoyed, I thought they were snappy and done well, however, there were also bits that dragged; to an almost painfully extent. These issues are not just in one part of the film that I can point to, they’re throughout. It could greatly benefit from a tighter edit.

Overall, a very safe comforting film that is boosted with standout performances from Dev Patel, Maggie Smith and Bill Nighy, if it had been condensed down a bit more it could have been something special.

Pros.

The performances

Comforting to watch

Very wholesome

Cons.

Predictable

Parts of it badly drag on.

3/5

Reviewed by Luke

Magicians: Peep Show, But With Magic

Magicians is a comedy film directed by Andrew O’ Connor. The plot sees a pair of former magicians who used to be partners face off against each other in a magic competition in a chance to return to the big time.

So, I bought this because it claimed to have some involvement of one of the Peep Show writers and because Peep Show is such a terrific series, one of the best ever made, I picked it up. Was I disappointed? Yes and no, it is by no means as good or as funny as Peep Show, but at the same time the Mitchell, Webb dynamic is as strong as ever and it is very watchable.

To follow up, the reason why this film is elevated beyond mediocrity for me is the back and forth begrudging friendship between Harry (David Mitchell) and Karl (Robert Webb). Mitchell and Web are one of the best comedy double acts in the history of comedy and that is proven clearly here, though they receive some ample support from some other funny people.

The humour for me was on the weaker side, some jokes worked some didn’t. Comedy is subjective of course, but I found myself smiling more than laughing with this film which doesn’t mean its bad, but it also doesn’t mean it’s good. Disappointing.

Pros.

Mitchell and Webb

The supporting cast

It is very watchable

Cons.

Disappointing for long-time fans

The humour is hit and miss

3/5

Reviewed by Luke

Action Point: See A Doctor Johnny, We Are Worried

Action Point is a comedy film directed by Tim Kirby. We follow retired fairground owner D.C (Johnny Knoxville), as he is looking after his granddaughter for the afternoon, whilst doing so he is telling her the tale of the theme park he used to own, the titular Action Point.

Good on Knoxville for still being able to get roles post Jackass, but at this point he needs to stop. He is basically just playing a toned-down version of the same character in all of these lame comedy films that make Adam Sandler’s weaker efforts look like comedy masterpieces.

There is only so many times you can watch someone get hurt, in varied and different ways, before it starts to get stale and boy does it get stale in this film. Outside of the very basic slapstick comedy, there is nothing else here, no other forms of comedy, no heart, just a man who is a bit too old hurting himself to make us all laugh; it is kind of tragic.

Even turning my brain off and trying to enjoy this film purely as dumb fun I struggle. It is so repetitive and unfunny that it quickly becomes boring. That is crucially the thing that dooms this film.

Overall, stale and dull and a relic of a bygone age.

Pros.

Knoxville is trying his best and still has some charm

Cons.

It is repetitive

It is unfunny

I don’t want to watch Knoxville get hurt anymore

There is no real plot and the characters are paper thin, and that is being kind

1.5/5

Reviewed by Luke