Annihilation

Annihilation is a science fiction horror film by Alex Garland; the man behind Ex Machina. Annihilation follows a team of scientists led by Lena, (Natalie Portman) as they explore the shimmer: an area of land that has been overrun by a strange alien sphere. The script I found to be quite a mixed bag, with Tessa Thompson’s Josie, Jennifer Jason Leigh’s Dr Ventress and the before mentioned Lena being the only memorable characters. With Josie, in particular, being instantly likeable and relatable, also being well developed. However, this strong character development doesn’t reach all the cast members as most are underdeveloped: this is shown by Gina Rodriguez’s Anya. Anya is never really developed as a character, which then makes certain actions committed by her later in the film come across a little unbelievable. Natalie Portman gives a satisfyingly strong performance as Lena: as we see her become driven to find out what happened to her husband; played marvellously by Oscar Isaac. The film is visually stunning throughout, from the costume design to the creatures that inhabit the sphere: including a nightmare-inducing mutant bear. Said bear and the other creature that live inside the sphere are all very well designed; with them all being both beautiful and unique. My only real issue came from the ending, which was a little too ambiguous for my taste; with the plot twists at the end not really adding much outside of making it a bit more confusing. Furthermore, the ending doesn’t come across as satisfying more as a bit pretentious; as though the film is trying to remind you one last time just how clever it is. Other than that though this is a very strong science fiction film; I got notes throughout the film of other similar films, such as 2016’s Arrival to name but one. There is more than enough here to get genre fans very on board with this film. One closing note I would like to bring up is that cinematography is exquisite: with one shot from the inside of a crocodiles mouth being my favourite of the film. Overall, I would recommend this film, though perhaps not to casual science fiction fans. It’s just a shame about the needlessly pretentious ending.
3/5
Reviewed by Luke

The Shape of Water

The Shape of Water is a dark fantasy romance film, by legendary film veteran Guillermo del Toro. To vastly simplify this is a very strange film but in the best way possible. The uniqueness and overall sense of originality set it apart not only from most other films; but from a lot of del Toro’s other works. The score for this film is excellent exquisitely capturing the 1960’s time period and creating the feeling that you are really in it. I found myself completely immersed in this film and that says a lot about the overall quality of the experience. The cinematography by Dan Laustsen is exceptional, with a lot of beautiful shots, in particular, a low angle shot during the gunfight scene later in the film. The film is built around the relationship between Sally Hawkin’s character of Elisa Esposito, and the man-fish God-like being, simply known as the Amphibian man. As silly as this central premise sounds, it truly is the heart and soul of the film and works surprisingly well. Even the sex scene between the two characters doesn’t come off as just being there for the shock value, but instead as tender and in a way even romantic. The director’s passion for monsters shines through every scene of the film, thus making the romance not only believable but also in a very strange way relatable. The script written by del Toro and Vanessa Taylor, is outstanding, with each character being fully flushed out and developed into a true whole. Unlike a lot of other films, no characters here feel wasted or underdeveloped. With a prime example of this being the mainly comedic support character of Zelda Delilah Fuller, played by Octavia Spencer, her character is developed and has an interesting backstory. The film like a lot of del Toro’s other works deals with a lot of heavy themes, in this particular case homophobia. Like a true master del Toro shows these themes through his character of Giles played by Richard Jenkins; who we see being the victim of homophobia. Though the scene is only brief, you still get a strong emotional response, and it helps to add context to the time period. Sally Hawkins performance is inspired despite being mute, (except for one fantastic musical number), her character is still wonderfully complex. Hawkins manages to convey nearly every emotion in this film in a sincere and believable way and her performance is a master class. Whats more del Toro features a subplot about the 1960’s space race, which manages to be both a wonderful capturing of the cold war rhetoric of the time, whilst also adding another level of depth to the narrative. Whilst lesser directors might let all these themes and subplots distract from the main narrative, del Toro weaves them together so that each subplot and theme, compliments the main story in a spectacular way. Also, Michael Shannon’s performance as Colonel Richard Strickland manages to be menacing and unpredictable, with his character most likely being a comment on the unhappiness of the idyllic suburban American dream. To conclude this film is a love letter to the weird and the strange, and celebrates everything about it, managing to create real emotions and stakes as well as being funny and charming. This is a must-see for everyone, especially fans of del Toro, I can’t recommend it enough. This is now my number one pick for best picture, it really does deserve to win.

5/5
Reviewed by Luke.

Star wars episode 8

SPOILERS

Its taken me a long time to mull over all my feelings about this movie, to be able to properly review it. There is good points and bad points about this film, and there is a very clear reason why this is the most divisive Star Wars movie yet. First off the good points, all of the characters set up in Episode 7 So Finn, Rey, Poe, Hux and Kylo ,( John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Oscar Isaac, Domhnall Gleeson and Adam Driver), are all developed in satisfying ways; with Rey’s journey to one of the most powerful Jedi’s, continuing to feel believable if a little rushed. Now the new characters are more of a mixed bag, Rose what can I say about her that hasn’t already been said, whilst I’m not in the legions of fans who really don’t like her I’m some where in the middle. Whilst her romance with Finn seems completely unbelievable , because its seems improbable that after less than a day that she has feelings for him, and feels more like an attempt to inject stakes into a tense battle scene. Her character does however work in the base reason I believe that she is included, and that is to capture this idea of the hope and purity the Rebellion represents. This is used to set up that moment at the end with the boy and the broom to show that hope is still alive, which Juxtaposes the idea of hope being fleeting which is explored throughout the movie. Now lets talk about the big talking point of the film, the deaths. There are 3 high profile deaths though on is off screen so don’t be surprised if she comes back in episode 9. Personally I liked what the film was doing of having Snoke ( Andy Serkis ), being this near omnipotent villain and a real clear and present danger to the heroes. So I felt his death was under whelming and hard to believe because he could use force powers that had barely even been seen before but he couldn’t notice Kylo’s trick. However I do feel like this development in Kylo Ren’s character and the end to his divided nature, will show by the end of episode 9 a great character arc, only strengthened by Adam Driver’s performance. Next up Captain Phasma (Gwendoline Christie), she was under used in episode 7 and after fan outcry was promised to have more to do in the next entry, and I have to say arguably she had less to do this time around. Whether she had a more meaty part and it got cut down in editing, or was just not needed from a story point of view, she is still wasted in the long run. Finally and perhaps most impactful is the death of Luke Skywalker and yes we all knew that the deaths of the original trilogy stars were coming, but I thought that Leia would die in this one and Luke the next, there was even a moment they could have tastefully killed her off, but instead they used it as a huge character reveal/ moment for her. This moment resulted in more people in my screening laughing then there probably should have. Luke Skywalkers death on the whole is at least handled quite well with the appropriate stakes and level of mystery. The most harmful negative of this film comes through its inconsistent tone. With the film itself being quite serious in tone ,(not unlike The Empire Strikes back), however with the overuse of humour the tension in some of these serious scenes is completely lost. This is further shown through the casino planet side plot which feels inconsistent with the other subplots and themes, and ultimately feels like its not far removed from the prequels.

It is with all that being considered and weighted up, that I have to say to sum up this film in a word, it would be average not good or bad.

3/5

reviewed by Luke