Iron Sky, The Coming Race: Facebook News Got It Right

Iron Sky The Coming Race is a Finnish German Austrian comic science fiction action film directed by Timo Vuorensola. The plot this time around sees the surviving humans now living on the ruined Nazi moon base, however, there existence is threatened by the fact that the base is falling apart. So the daughter of James Washington (Christopher Kirby) and Renate Richter (Julia Dietze), from the first film, Obi (Lara Rossi) must lead a team to find a new element within the hollow Earth to power up a spaceship and save the last of her people.

So yeah as you can guess this film goes fully out there and has a race of lizard people being present throughout human history and saying that the Earth is hollow. I think these new twists added to the mythology of the film and helped this sequel to feel different enough to stand on its own. Furthermore, the ending twist of the Soviets having a base on Mars is inspired and hilarious; if a little predictable.

My issue with this film is that though the new characters introduced therein are good, they just aren’t as good as Washington and Klaus (Gotz Otto), from the first film. In terms of likeable lead characters this film defiantly has a void that isn’t filled by the new cast. Whatsmore by having Renate having a backseat for most of the film I feel almost cheated out of seeing her as the badass leader of the remaining humans, (this happens off-screen).

Overall, this is still good and entertaining and by embracing further wackiness it does justify its existence, but it should have been a direct follow up with a bigger focus on Renate and should have kept James around. A bit of a disappointment.

Pros.

The Red Planet twist at the end

Further embracing the weirdness

Renate’s final scene

Cons.

The new character struggle to be likeable

It just isn’t as good

3.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Iron Sky: They’re Back

Iron Sky is a Finnish German-Austrian comic science fiction action film directed by Timo Vuorensola. The plot reveals that the Nazi’s were not defeated in World War 2 rather they fled to a base on the Moon to plan a counterattack. We follow Renate (Julia Dietze) and Klaus (Gotz Otto), two of the Moon Nazi’s who are tasked with going back to Earth to prepare for an impending invasion.

I really enjoy this film; I have been meaning to watch it for a while and finally did, and I have to say it lived up to what I hoped it would be. The film fully executes the comedic nature of its premise, it is not afraid to get silly with it. The sense of humour of the film is quite zany and dark, but I have to say it kept me very entertained.

Easily the best character in the film is James Washington (Christopher Kirby), the model turned astronaut who unwittingly discovers the Nazi’s hidden fortress. He has a lot of the best lines in the film and made me laugh a lot.

This film does something I thought was impossible, it makes spoof movies good again. The spoof as a genre has had some great success, but in recent years it seemed to be dead after a lot of misfires in the early to mid 2000’s. However, this film and its well-done spoof elements prove there is still some life in the genre yet.

Overall, a wonderfully wacky good time, I whole heartedly recommend.

Pros.

Not afraid to get silly

Fully lives up to the premise

Christopher Kirby

The space battle at the end

Cons.

It becomes a little repetitive towards the end and some of the jokes don’t land.

4.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

TMNT: The Horrors Of CGI

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a science fiction action film directed by Jonathan Liebesman. The film reintroduces us to our favourite sewer dwellers, and gives a fresh take on their origin story, showing them as April O’ Neil’s (Megan Fox), pets that were used for genetic experiments, who escaped during a lab fire and fled underground.

So I had heard bad things about this film, and I have to say it is not as bad as people make it out to be. It is a passable enough endeavour.

My first point of contention with the film is the design of the Turtles themselves, they’re ugly and the CGI doesn’t do them any favours. I am not saying people in monster costumes would be better, but maybe there is something to it. I think the film was very wise to not show them off until a good ways into the film, naturally the tease was better than the revel. However, the CGI Turtles did grow on me over time

Another thing I didn’t like was the relationship between Michelangelo (Noel Fisher) and April. I get that of the mutant brothers Mikey is the fun jokey one, but right from the off he was creepy towards April. A lot of the remakes he made felt a bit off especially considering it is a kids film, I don’t remember this side to the character from the cartoon.

Overall, despite the fact that I have talked about the negatives, the film is quite watchable it has its moments and the characters for the most part are done well.

Pros.

A fresh start

Splinter

The action

Cons.

The humour

The design of the Turtles

Mikey’s creepiness

3/5

Reviewed by Luke

Geostorm: The Government Controls The Weather, No Really

Geostorm is an action film directed by Dean Devlin. The plot sees rogue weather patterns start springing up all over the planet after a space station that is supposed to control the weather goes faulty. A conspiracy is at hand and there is only one man for the job.
So, I put this on the other night because I was looking for some fun mindless action that I could tune out to. There are plenty of films that fit this bill and sometimes, silly action movies can provide some entertainment, look at the success of the Furious series for proof of that, but this is not a good ride, nor is it silly, it is simply boring.

The key issue with this film is despite the premise being ridiculous it takes itself far too seriously. This film tries to be dramatic and serious and fails spectacularly, it needs the fun that it denies itself.

The odd thing is, there are moments of light comedy relief scattered here and there within the film, but because the film has committed to this very serious tone, they just feel out of place.

I am not going to harp on about how dumb this film is because anyone considering watching it already knows. What I will say is watching this has made me miss the days of smart action films, smart blockbuster when things didn’t feel dumbed down.

Overall, this film is bad because it doesn’t embrace the silliness that is innate to the premise.

Pros.

The premise is good

Cons.

They then utterly waste said premise

It is no fun

It is too dumb

The acting is non existent

It is dull.

0.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Children Of Men: The Future Looks Bleak

Children Of Men is a science fiction drama film directed by Alfonso Cuaron. The plot imagines a dystopian world where children have not been born for 18 years and most of the world’s countries have been wiped out. We follow Theo (Clive Owen), a man who finds himself drawn on to a path that sees him protecting the first pregnant woman since the world went to hell.

This film is superb, I have been meaning to watch it for some time and I am glad I did.

The world feels so lived in and real, despite there only being sparse hints as to what happened in it. I would love to see more films and additional material exploring this world. The eerie thing about this film is that it is not a million miles removed from where the world is heading now and that’s frightening.

Clive Owen is a strong leading man, he is often underrated and is rarely talked about in good or even great actor conversations, but he is always consistent and reliable. I buy that his character used to be part of the rebellion, he has the ex-solider vibe down to a tee. Furthermore, it is a treat to see Owen interact with the other veteran actors on screen like Michael Cain and Julianne Moore, with both of these Owen has convincing chemistry.

The best thing about the film is how tense it is, there is not even a single minute to breath and you’re constantly on guard watching it as you never know when things are going to turn. A ‘thrill ride’ might be an overused term, but it applies here.

Overall, a great piece of dystopian fiction.

Pros.

Owen

Reminder of reality

The tension

The action, but also the drama.

Cons.

It has a very pacing issues here and there, though they’re only minor and it is perfect for the most part.

4.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Moonwalkers: Faking The Moon Landing

Moonwalkers is a comedy film directed by Antoine Bardou-Jacquet. The plot follows CIA agent Kidman (Ron Pearlman), as he travels to London to get acclaimed filmmaker Stanley Kubrick to fake the moon landing for the American government. However, rather than meet the actual Kubrick Kidman meets two local losers.

This film was one of the best I have seen recently, it was charming, endearing and the action scenes worked surprisingly well and didn’t ruin the tone of the film.

The drug trip look this film goes for works really well and captures the decade of the 60’s really well. It also compliments nicely the plot of the film that is in and of itself more than a bit ridiculous. I for one really enjoyed the absurdness of this film and I think it made standout.

Kidman is perfectly cast as a vet who doesn’t fit in with the world around him. As are Rupert Grint and Robert Sheehan (the two con artists that Kidman falls in with), who perfectly capture the loveable loser angle. Sheehan really gives it his all and gives a very spacey and far out performance that shows why he is one of the best Irish actors currently working.

Overall, this is a hidden gem and definitely worth your time.

Pros.

Perfectly cast

The plot and the setting reflect each other superbly

Great performances

A fun out there premise

Good action scenes

Cons.

It has a few minor pacing issues

4.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Palm Springs: Your New Favourite Rom-Com

Palm Springs is a comedy romance film directed by Max Barbakow. The plot sees Sarah (Cristin Milioti), become trapped in a time loop at her sister’s wedding, luckily she is not alone. Nyles (Andy Samberg), has been in the same time loop for so long he can no longer remember when it started, and the two of them must figure out what they need to do to move on and escape the loop.

This is a film that you should watch blind, it’s very good, but really don’t read this review until you have seen it because I don’t want to spoil anything for you, beyond the base premise. Okay.

The reason why this film is so great is because of the spot-on chemistry between Samberg and Milioti, very few other rom coms have on screen chemistry quite like this; it is in a word electric. Both give great performances, but probably my favourite of the entire cast is J.K Simmons as Roy a man who always ends up killing Nyles at the end of the day. Simmons was the scene stealer of the film for sure.

Furthermore, this film breaths new life into the played-out time loop sub-genre, using it for something new and exciting. Yes, Happy Death Day had a romance plot line and also a time loop set-up, but that was far more of a horror than anything else.

Overall, this is a lovely film and one I highly recommend you see!

Pros.

Samberg

Milioti

The romance

The new twist on time loops

J.K Simmons

5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Underwater: The Threat Came From Beneath The Waves

Underwater is a science fiction film directed William Eubank. The plot sees an underwater research centre become under attack by a strange unknown type of sea life.

I go back and forth on Kristen Stewart as an actress, sometimes I think she is good and worthy of all the praise she gets; other times I think she struggles with even basic emoting and can’t convince me of anything. However, I will give her praise here, she commands this film, her performance is striking and in some ways very reminiscent of Sigourney Weaver in Alien. This film would be far less good without Stewart in it.

Despite, feeling a little too overly familiar this film managed to keep me engaged throughout. It used the environment and tension to great effect and had a few great sequences that will stuck in my mind long after the film has ended. My one critique in this regard is the way some of these high-tension kinetic scenes are shot. The cinematography of these scenes makes them hard to see; which therefore makes it hard to tell what is going on. An example of my point is midway through the film one of the team is pulled out of their suit, but you don’t realise that you just see a lot of blood, you don’t realise what happened until one of the characters tells you. That is a big problem in my book.

Also T.J Miller is in this and he is every bit as grating as you are imagining. Horror/ dark science fiction films don’t need comedic relief.

Overall, a solid disaster film boosted tremendously by a great performance by Kristen Stewart.

Pros.

Stewart

The tension

Keeping me engaged in a played-out idea

Cons.

The characters outside of Stewart’s lead are one note

It is hard to tell what is going on

3.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Vast Of Night: Visitation

The Vast Of Night drama science fiction film directed by Andrew Patterson. The plot sees two New Mexico kids become tangled up in strange goings on in the sky and a military conspiracy.

I won’t say too much about the plot here as I think you will be best served going into this blind. However, what I will say is that I for the most part loved this film. I went in with high expectations, because I had heard a lot of positive talk about this film beforehand, which the film itself more than lived up to.

This film has heavy Spielberg/ 80s vibes, its fees very much like ET or Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, a comparison could even be drawn to Spielberg’s copycat JJ Abrams’ Super 8. There is a wonder and a true sense of the unknow that I find very hard to be able to describe in words, but once you see the film you will know what I mean.

I must say I watch a lot of horror films, as a lot of you know, so I have become desensitised to scares for the most part, but this film creeped me out. Its not that it shows you anything creepy, but that the stories build an increasingly sinister mystery that unsettles you to think about. It nails the atmosphere better than any other film I have seen recently.

The ending is great, as is The Twilight Zone ascetic which adds a nice bit of flavour.

Overall this is a must see and shows great promise, with a slow first act being the only slight issue.

Pros.

The atmosphere.

The chills.

The mystery.

The characters.

Cons.

It is slow to begin with, too slow.

4.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Small Soldiers: Lets Take On The World

Small Soldiers is a comedy action adventure film directed by Joe Dante. The plot sees toys be created that can come to life, but rather than be like Chucky and kill humans these toys seem pretty content killing one another. However, local kid Alan Abernathy (Gregory Smith), finds himself such in-between the sides and eventually finds himself the protector of the Gorgonites; it is up to him to end the bitter war once and for all.

When I was a lot younger I use to watch this film near constantly, I was unaware at the time that it was made my the same filmmaker who made one of my favourite movies of all time Gremlins, but I decided recently to rewatch it and see if it still held up. I am pleased to say it does.

The plot is laughably nonsensical, but everything is a lot of fun. It encapsulates the magic of playing with toys when you’re a kid, the very real war the toys fight is similar to what would have been going on in your mind when you were playing with your toys when you were a kid; no? Maybe just me.

I think the CGI and the animatronics still look okay, yes, it looks dated, but it still looks convincing enough and it the effects didn’t take me out of the film once.

I think the performances are all pretty flat, a young Kirsten Dunst does her best with a very whacky script thar probably just says ‘scream at the toys’, but this film was never going to be a marvel of acting.

Overall, watching this was a lot of good fun it remined me of being a kid and I still think it holds up in a lot of ways. If you haven’t seen it and are not too discerning, I would say it is a must watch.

Pros.

The dumb fun.

The spectacle.

Reminds you what it is like to play with toys.

It is very wholesome.

Cons.

The acting isn’t great, and the effects look dated.

4/5

Reviewed by Luke