Captain Marvel: Hire Better Writers!

Captain Marvel is a Marvel Comics Superhero film directed by Anne Boden and Ryan Fleck. The plot revolves around air force pilot Carol Danvers (Brie Larson), who loses her memory and gains a new identity as Kree Solider Vers. Once Vers ends up back on Earth her two identities clash together causing the creation of Captain Marvel

A lot has been said about this film, but fear not, I won’t get into that side of it, I will analyse this for what it is, a film, not the political message some people think it is. When I first saw this film, I fell asleep in the cinema, however, that is not an indictment on the film, as I was massively sleep deprived. I rewatched this film recently and found it to be quite an enjoyable experience, it is good as far as dumb fun popcorn film can be.

First things first I thought Larson was serviceable as Danvers, her performance had moments of goodness scattered in there, however I think the writing was criminally weak and lead to her not being all that likeable in her own film. I think if you look at how she was written in Endgame you can see how the writing was to blame as her character is much much better there.

I love what this film does in terms of world building it sets up Krees and Skrulls in the MCU, hopefully leading to a Secret Invasion storyline. What’s more the ending that see the Skrulls turn out to be the good guys, nicely flips the narrative of the film and was genuinely surprising. Moreover, Ben Mendelsohn is fantastic in this film, once again proving that he should be cast in more films, he is a great scene chewing villain and is also hilarious.

I thought a lot of the side characters were underdone and might as well have not been included, Samuel Jackson’s Nick Fury doesn’t need to be in this film as his buddy cop relationship with Carol doesn’t really work and I for one would have liked to see him not be in it and then let his time be used giving Carol more development/ personality. Likewise, Jude Law’s Yon-Rogg is necessary in that he is Carol’s ultimate antagonist, but he to feels underdeveloped.

Overall, I think the crimes of this film are because of the weak writing, I think Brie Larson and Captain Marvel the character can be done well, see Endgame, and hopefully we will see more of that in the future with a new and better writing team. There is potential here. Takeaway for Marvel/Disney hire better writers.

Pros.

The Kree Skrull War.

Brie Larson.

The potential for the future.

Cons.

The underdeveloped characters.

The weak writing.

3/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Mandalorian: A New Hope For Star Wars

The Mandalorian is a space western TV show set in the Star Wars universe created by Jon Favreau. The series follows a Mandalorian known as Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal), who is a bounty hunter and mercenary for hire, one day Din is hired to bring a package to the last remnant of the Empire, but once he learns what the cargo is, a baby, he changes his mind and the rest of the series is Din trying to protect the baby.

First off, my feelings towards Star Wars especially newer Star Wars have been well documented, For the most part I don’t care for it; sure, Rogue One and Solo were okay, but the main instalment films weren’t for me. On the TV side of things, I loved Star Wars The Clone Wars, but I could never get into Rebels, so it was a mixed bag for me. So, I went into this show with relatively low expectations and I am pleased to say I was actually blown away.

This series has real heart and you do end up caring a lot about the characters. The relationship between Mando and the character that the internet has dubbed ‘Baby Yoda’ is not only adorable, but also heart-warming. It is so nice to see it develop over the course of the series. Not only that but this series actually has supporting characters that are not only impactful on the overall story but are also well written. Said characters come in the form of a Resistance shock trooper named Cara Dune (Gina Carano), and a droid called IG-11 (Taika Waititi). Cara starts off as a minor character who grows into a huge part of the team by the end, she is kickass and easily has some of the best action moments on the show, but she also has great chemistry with Mando which I would like to see explored more down the line. IG-11 starts off the series as a villain who is intent on killing ‘Baby Yoda’, but then gets reprogrammed to be a good guy. To that, the moment when IG-11 sacrifices himself so the heroes can get away had me feeling emotions I hadn’t felt since T2.

Overall, despite the poor quality of modern Star Wars there is something special about this show, maybe it is because they have given us characters that you can actually care about, or maybe it’s because it is just so damn cool it’s hard to say, one thing I will say is I can’t wait for season 2 in October.

Pros.

Great characters/dynamics.

Baby Yoda.

Great stakes both in terms of action and emotions.

A fantastic ending.

It made me excited for season 2.

Cons.

None

5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Horse Girl: One Of Netflix’s Worst

Horse Girl is a drama film directed by Jeff Baena. The plot follows Sarah (Alison Brie), a woman whose normal life starts to unravel, and she becomes more and more unhinged; the later parts of the film get into things like alien abduction, cloning and mental health, with a lot of the film being up to your interoperation of events.

When I sat down to watch this on Netflix the description for it made it sound like a horror film, that is what I was expecting and my oh my it is not that. Well it isn’t in a literally sense, but it does show the horrors of mental health and how someone can easily slip into a manic episode and that is a pretty terrifying thing to think about.

That said thinking about this film is more fun than actually watching it. Large sequences of this film are dull and drawn out, most likely in an effort to make you care about the main character which you never actually end up doing. What makes this worse is that a lot of the film’s abstract elements, come across at best as confusing and at worst as a deluded sense of self; as this film seems to think it is far deeper than it actually is. This is an art film in very much the worst way.

Alison Brie gives a good performance, especially with what she has to work with, she makes Sarah both a vulnerable and frightening character at the same time and easily carries a lot of the film’s dramatic scenes. However, everyone else in the film with no exceptions are the most unlikable group of human beings ever assembled. By that I mean none of the characters have any warmth or likeability, maybe that was a conscious choice who knows; Debby Ryan’s character perfectly captures my point.

It is films like this that have given Netflix the reputation that they will make anything, Horse Girl adds yet another weird unpleasant title to Netflix’s already growing stable of bad films. Though I think this film has some good elements and Alison Brie is okay overall it is tripped up by its huge ego, that is clear in near every scene, as this film isn’t deep it’s pretentious.

That is an hour forty-five minutes of my life I am not going to get back.

Pros.

It is neat to think about.

Alison Brie is okay.

Cons.

It is the worst type of Art film.

It’s not deep it just thinks it is.

It’s dull.

You end up hating most, if not all, of the characters.

1/5

Reviewed by Luke

Spider-Man Far From Home: Gone Yet Not Forgotten

Spider-man Far From Home is a Marvel Superhero film directed by John Watts. The plot of this film follows Peter Parker (Tom Holland), and his friends as they go on a European vacation after the world-changing events of Avengers Endgame. In this film Peter considers his place in the world after the death of his hero Tony Stark (Robert Downy Jr) and ponders if it’s time to just be a regular kid and give up being the friendly neighborhood Spider-man.

I have to admit I was one of the few people who wasn’t taken with Spider-man Homecoming or Tom Holland’s portrayal of the character. Maybe it was because I grew up during the Raimi era, but Homecoming did little for me and I believe Peter was better used in the Avengers film he appeared in. However, I liked Holland and his portrayal a hell of a lot more this time around, I truly think he has grown into the character over time.

Holland manages to capture the emotion of the character really well ,excelling in the film’s dramatic moments, him dealing with his grief over the death of Tony is a truly moving thing to see. What’s more, I liked how Holland plays the character in the sections of the film that see Peter just being a regular teenager and whenever it is him and his friends interacting on screen it is a joy to see.

The soundtrack of the film really helps with this, Watts is definitely drawing on 80’s Teenager movies like Ferris Buller’s Day Off and other works of John Hughes and it shows 100% in the soundtrack. It feels like this film could easily have come out in that time period and that really enhances the film for me.

The wider connections to the MCU are fantastic and it is nice to see Peter fight classic Spider-man villains like Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal), and the dynamic the two characters have is electric. The end credits stingers for this film leave the franchise in a really interesting place and I can’t wait to see where they will take the character from here.

My one issue with this film is that they continue to make Spider-man and Peter Parker feel like Iron Man Jr, I understand the father son dynamic between the two is important for Peter’s arc, but to have Tony so involved in his story makes him feel like he has less free agency of his own and is rather Iron Man’s side kick and I don’t like this for the character, hopefully Spider-man 3 goes another way with it.

Overall, a very solid film, a strong step up from a lukewarm first entry, both Watts and Holland feel more in their respective groves this time around. They need to watch out and make sure to not turn Peter Parker into Iron Man Jr, as that was my main cause of concern when watching this film.

Pros.

Watts is better.

Holland is better.

Gyllenhaal is incapable of giving a bad performance.

The end set-up.

Cons.

Iron Man Jr?

4/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Current State Of Doctor Who: Please Someone Put It Out Of It’s Misery!

*Bonus Content

Doctor Who is a British institution it has been so far decades, but what I want to talk about today is how the series has been since it’s 2005 revival, the steady decline. I have watched Doctor Who since I was a kid, I loved Eccleston and Tennant’s Eras, I stuck around during the Smith years, I skipped Capaldi and I came back for Whittaker.

For me what makes Who Who is off world adventures, unique and memorable aliens, and story lines and characters you care about, these I would stay are the staples of good Doctor Who that feature in most iterations of the show. However, New Who seems to have an identity crisis it is so hellbent on being new and different that it is hemorrhaging viewers like it’s going out of style.

Remember what I said a few lines up about what makes good Who? Well let’s look at some of the recent episodes of Doctor Who and see if they stack up. Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor seems to have a fear of going off world as most of the episodes of these newer series are set on Earth, that shouldn’t be a bad thing in and of itself as there are plenty of cool things they could do with it, but oh my they don’t.

Then you have memorable aliens, New Who seems to like to have most of it’s villains be humans, so it can make overt and blatant political points, but to it’s credit when they do have new alien villains they do work well such as in the Nicola Tessla episode. Although something that New Who seems to do, most likely to play on audiences’ nostalgia is bring back classic monsters and I’m sorry but it is just cheap. You can’t have your cake and eat it; they want so badly to be new and fresh and yet they still play up the nostalgia to get people to stick out the new series. What’s more when they do bring these classic monsters back, they ruin them, here’s looking at you Dalek New Year’s Special.

Finally we have characters and storylines that you care about, now I have no issue with Whittaker’s portrayal for the most part, I think she can shine when the writing is good, but the issue here is that it very rarely is and this leads to the new Doctor having a sycophantic personality. Moreover, the companions are fine, but there are too many of them, this stops anyone of them from getting meaningful development outside of tropes and clichés. In terms of storylines, we might have one good storyline such as ‘Fugitive of the Jadoon’, followed by a never-ending wave of trash like ‘Praxeus’. The writing is horrific and often far too on the nose, yes before you say it I know Doctor Who has always been a political show, but it was done in a subtle way, now it has become a weekly lecture about the evils of humanity and how we are terrible and for me that just isn’t fun.

So across my criteria current year Doctor Who is a failure.

I hope the BBC end this before the ratings drop much lower, current Who is already an embarrassment of what it used to be, but surely it can’t get any worse.

I will be back to do a review of the new season when it ends!

Luke

Avatar: A World Beyond Imagination

Avatar is an epic science fiction film directed by James Cameron. The plot of the film revolves around Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a marine who arrives on the planet of ‘Pandora’ to follow in his brothers’ footsteps and join the Avatar Program. Once Sully dives into the native’s culture he realises that they are a wonderful people and that he is on the wrong side of the conflict; he then goes native.

The story of his film is one we have all seen before, solider goes undercover and learns about another group of people and then switches sides, think Dances With Wolves. There is a timeless quality to the narrative. The Na’vi’s world is deep and rich and every inch of it seems rife to explore, it is stunningly designed, and each character design is a marvel to look at; James Cameron truly did something special with this film.

Sam Worthington is serviceable as the lead, but he is in no way memorable. It is a surprise to no one that Worthington has been in nothing of note since about 2010, his time has very much passed. My main issue with his performance is that anyone could play that character, he doesn’t make the character his own. This problem is only made more evident when you compare his performance to some of the heavy hitters in the cast such as Stephen Lang and Sigourney Weaver. Stephen Lang plays the film’s antagonist Colonel Miles Quaritch, a man who wants to wipe the Na’vi out as he sees them as a threat and as standing the way of what he wants.

Lang is easily one of the best things about the film as he is a great menacing villain and one that has something about him. When Cameron brings out the inevitable 4 sequels, that no one has asked for or wants, I would love to see Lang return; with some type of Science Fiction magic obviously.

Overall, I think the strongest thing about this film is its world. It is this world that I want to see more explored not the characters. I hope the sequels reflect that. If Cameron can show us more of this world then I think they could be hits. The thing that stops me from grading this film higher is the fact that the main character is bland and in no way unique.

Pros.

Stephen Lang.

Beautifully Designed Creatures And Characters.

Fantastic World Building.

Cons.

Pacing Issues.

Sam Worthington.

3/5

Reviewed By Luke

Bird Box: You Have To Be Blind To Enjoy This

‘Bird Box’ is a post-apocalyptic thriller film directed by Susanne Bier. The plot follows Malorie (Sandra Bullock), as she tires, to protect her children from strange supernatural entities that have taken over the world, said creatures drive people to madness if they see them. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Josh Malerman.

I remember when this film came out a lot of people were talking about it and it had more than a few moments in the sun. However, upon seeing it now I really don’t see what is so impressive about it, I know the novel came out years ago, but a lot of the film’s elements had been done before and better in other films like ‘A Quiet Place’ and ‘Children Of Men’. These elements are things like creatures that prey on a certain sense in this case sight as well as a family having to survive in this new world.

There is nothing new about this film at all. It is a collection of end of the world clichés and character stereotypes. Not only that, but the film puts a lot of it’s focus on the humans that have not been driven to suicide by the creatures: because they were already mad, they take up the role of the antagonists in the film and the creatures themselves almost become a secondary villain. I think this is an annoying trend that a lot of these type of films do and is also a huge missed opportunity. There are hundreds of films about humans doing horrific things to each other most of them better than this, so why does this film not choose to focus on the one thing that makes it unique it’s monsters.

What’s more, the human characters are boring, really really boring. They are really hard to care about as they just seem like a collection of characters that you have seen before, this film even wastes John Malkovich. The one character that is interesting and feels like you want to get to know her is Sarah Paulson’s Jessica, but she is killed off within the first 10 minutes of the film.

Overall this is an incredibly generic film and in this the year 2020 that just isn’t passable anymore, as we have so much choice that things like this should fail to send a message that we want better, we want characters that actually feel like characters, we want a story that hasn’t been done so many times before, and we want to see the monsters in a form other than wind!

Pros.

Sarah Paulson For The 10 Minutes We Get Her.

Cons.

It’s Been Done Better Before.

It’s Generic.

The Story Is Boring.

We Don’t See The Monsters We Are Just Told About Them.

1/5

Reviewed by Luke

Paul: Close Encounters Of The British Kind

‘Paul’ is a science fiction, road comedy film the plot of the film revolves around two nerds Clive (Nick Frost), and Graeme (Simon Pegg), who after going to Comic-Con decide to go on a UFO road trip across America, while out on the open road they pick up a hitchhiker Paul (Seth Rogen), who happens to be an alien.

‘Paul’ serves both as a science fiction film, but also as a parody of the genre, the comedy of the film a lot of the time comes from making fun of the rules and conventions of the genre it is very much like ‘Shaun of the Dead’ it that regard.

That brings me on to my main point about this film it feels like a Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright film, but it isn’t. I don’t know if when my brain sees Frost and Pegg on-screen together, I immediately think of Edgar Wright’s Cornetto trilogy or if it a result of the film itself.
Like I said before the lampooning humour and, the defying genre conventions is very Wright esque; this film must have at least been a little bit inspired by him.

The humour of the film is very much what you would expect from a Nick Frost Simon Pegg film, so if you like that and think it is funny, you will likely feel the same way about this. I for one think the duo are hilarious and have superb timing and delivery. I think the mixing of the very British in a way humour with the American makes for some interesting and very funny results. Rogen and Kristen Wiig, who is also in this film, add to the comedy make-up of this film; both styles of comedy complement each other quite nicely.

Furthermore, the choice to have genre heavyweight Sigourney Weaver be the film’s big bad is a move that is as crowd-pleasing as it is inspired. Weaver adds not only a sense of class to this film but also science fiction authenticity. She relishes every moment she is on screen and, make each second of that time count.

Overall this film is a love letter to the science fiction genre that has inspired it and, there is no duo better suited to carry out this loving homage than Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.

Pros.
The Humour.
Simon Pegg And Nick Frost.
Sigourney Weaver.
The Blending Of British And American Comedy.
The Supporting Cast.

Cons.
Some Of The Supporting Cast Are Annoying.
The Humour Won’t Be For Everyone.

3.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Golden Compass: The Bear, The Witch And The Compass

‘The Golden Compass’ is a fantasy adventure film based on the best selling ‘His Dark Materials’ series of novels; with this film serving as a loose adaption of the first book. The plot follows Lyra Belacqua, (Dakota Blue Richards), a young girl living in a parallel universe to our own, in her universe children are born with their souls on the outside of their bodies, said souls take the form of an animal these are called daemons. This world is ruled over by a tyrannical group called the Magisterium, who seeks to oppose any free thought and, instead force their will on the people. When children start going missing Lyra ventures to the far north to try and, find out what is going on and, rescue the missing children.

I think that this film is criminally underrated with it being a fantastic fantasy film. The thing that hurt this film upon release was the fact that it decided to not lean into the anti-religious message of the books and, this upset some fans. However, if you can look past that this is a marvellous film; the plot and, the world is rich with lore, with every scene leaving you wanting to know more, but not revealing much- teasing you.

The performances are great as well Nicole Kidman is a fantastic Mrs Coulter having just enough warmth to allow you to let down your guard, while also having just enough malice to be always threatening, this is her and, Richards film. Richards for a firs time outing is a very likeable lead she is very easy to root for and easily relatable.

Daniel Craig, James Bond himself is also in this film as the heroic Lord Asriel Lyra’s Uncle, Craig makes the most of the few short scenes he has and, does leave an impression however, his character does feel as though he could have been fleshed out a bit more. Likewise Craig’s ‘Casino Royale co-star Eva Green portrays the Witch Queen Serafina Pekkala and, much like with Craig does a good job with not much to work with; she is easily the most interesting character in the whole film and, the one you want to learn more about.

To conclude this is a fantastic fantasy film it sets up a world which seems rife for exploring, but sadly it wasn’t meant to be as the film never became a franchise, ‘His Dark Materials’ has recently been adapted into a TV series. However, despite having some good moments the series can never live up to the film. ‘The Golden Compass’ truly was something special it could have been the next ‘Lord Of The Rings’, but alas we will never know.

4/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Knight Before Christmas: The Knight We Deserve!

‘The Knight Before Christmas’ is a Christmas comedy film the plot follows Sir Cole, (Josh Whitehouse), a 14th-century knight who arrives in modern times to fulfill his life’s quest, what that is he doesn’t know. In present-day Cole meets Brooke, (Vanessa Hudgens), a woman who has given up on the chance of ever finding her happily ever after, she takes him in after accidentally hitting him with her car and, sparks fly.

I had heard nothing good about Netflix’s holiday rom-coms and, after seeing ‘Let it Snow’, which was awful, I was expecting the worst. However, I was pleasantly surprised by ‘The Knight Before Christmas’, it was sweet and, lovable, and yes it might not reinvent the wheel or, be something that hasn’t been done 100 times before, but it leaves you with a pure smile on your face at the end of the film, and that is more than I can say for a lot of other films.

The plot is the standard ‘fish out of water’ story line, all the beats are there, the ending is Cole having to choose between returning to his own time, or staying in 2019 with Brooke; there are quite a few good laughs thrown in across the runtime that make the characters warm and, it makes you as the audience care about them. By the end of the film, you want Cole and Brooke to get together. There are moments that are laughably ridiculous, like a scene where Cole saves a young girl from falling into a frozen lake; these scenes are good goofy fun though and, help to sell this as a larger than life popcorn movie: because ultimately this film knows what it is, it is very aware of it and, it revels in it.

It is nice to see Vanessa Hudgens back on- screen the last thing I think I saw her in was ‘Spring Breakers’, in that regard this is a return to form. She plays the sweet innocent characters, basically the Disney esque characters really well and, she is fantastic here.
After watching this film, I can see why Netflix spent a lot of money to sign her to a multi-picture deal, she is a very good audience surrogate and, it is almost impossible not to root for her.
Whitehouse has some good moments and, he is believable as a 14th-century knight in 2019 however, he is greatly upstaged by his female co-star but, both do a great job anyway.

I hope very much like the ‘A Christmas Prince’ films, that ‘The Knight Before Christmas’ can become a yearly Netflix Christmas tradition, this film is far better than it has any right to be, and I would say it is a Christmas must-watch. Turn your brain off, settle down on the sofa with a nice cup of something warm and, enjoy this festive treat!

4.5/5

Reviewed by Luke