Sweet Girl: Netflix Has Given Up Trying To Make Good Films

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A father daughter duo, played by Jason Mamoa and Isabela Merced, decide to take on big pharma after they raise the price of a lifesaving drug which leads to the death of the family matriarch.

All of Netflix’s action thrillers are the same. Bland confused and poorly written: it almost feels at this point like they are allowing a machine to write these films using a very basic formula for inspiration. Needless to say it is holding these films back.

I didn’t really feel any sort of emotional connection to the characters, though I did feel the film going out of its way to try and make me care. If anything I would say we don’t get enough time with the happy family unit to grow attached to it before it gets ripped apart.

As a thriller or ‘statement film’ this film has nothing new to say. The message of ‘geez isn’t big pharma bad’ has been one that is often spouted and less often used in an interesting and crucially fresh way. The whole conflict of the film feels played out before it has even begun.

Mamoa is playing the same character he always does, and Merced adds nothing and is simply along for the ride.

Overall, this is so by the numbers it becomes irritating.

Pros.

It is watchable

The opening is mildly interesting

Cons.

The acting isn’t very good

The story feels incredibly generic

It has nothing to say

It is boring

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The Wedding Guest: Nobody Needs That Many Cars

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

We see a mysterious man, Dev Patel, arrive at a wedding for an unknown aim. That aim turns out to be to kidnap the bride and to bring her to his benefactor.

I will applaud this film for giving Patel and action leading role, he really nails it. Patel is easily the best thing about this film and he actually plays a professional killer quite well, I don’t understand why up to the point of this film’s release he hadn’t been cast in more leading man action type roles before, certainly after this he has proven he should be cast more for that type of role.

With that aside my praise for this film runs out. That is not to say it is a bad film, it isn’t, but it is deeply generic. Honestly bar the setting this film has been done so many times before. There is nothing fresh about the story at all, instead it is all too familiar even having the kidnapper turn out to not be a villain and for him and the victim to end up getting together.

Every step of the way you know where this film is going, and it is about as surprising as seeing the sun rise every day. I do think with a better script this could have been really something, Patel is a good actor, but he is only as good as the material he is given to work with.

Overall, a generic action thriller that wastes Patel’s talents.

Pros

Patel

It is watchable

Cons

It is generic

It is incredibly obvious

It is far too familiar

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The Liability/ The Hitman’s Apprentice: Driving A Murderer

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A young man, Josh O’ Connell, unwittingly becomes the assistant/driver to a hitman, Tim Roth, after angering his gangster step father, Peter Mullan.

In many ways this film is typical of the British crime genre, that is not a compliment. The biggest issue with this film is that it is deeply generic, it is not a bad film per say, it is just one that you have seen many times before dressed up in different skins. The plot unfolds in a way that you would expect it to, and it wraps up just the same, there are no surprises throughout you can accurately guess what will happen and when.

Moreover, I did not find Josh O’ Connell’s lead to be particularly likeable or even interesting. In many ways this film would be far more entertaining if Roth’s hitman had killed him and then the film followed him and his daily activities instead. As of right now I am struggling to see why everyone rates O’ Connell so highly as a performer, he is okay in some roles and perhaps miscast in others; maybe I am just missing that one outstanding performance.

I thought Tim Roth’s hitman was easily the best thing about this film, sadly he is mostly wasted and given a back seat to O’ Connell’s milk toast lead.

Overall, deeply generic.

Pros.

It is watchable

Tim Roth

Cons.

It is generic

It is predictable

The ending is weak

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Don’t Breathe 2: Possibly The Worst Parents Ever

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The Blind Man, Stephen Lang, has found and adopted a daughter, Madelyn Grace however, her past catches up to her and it might spell doom for all.

As many reviews have pointed out this film does make the Blind Man the sympathetic lead character, now is this in good taste considering he is a monster in the first film? Probably not. However, this film achieves this task by having the villains of this film be incredibly evil, they are the daughter’s former parents who have been abducting people to try and steal their organs and now they want to harvest their own daughter. This realistically was the only way the film could have him be the lead who the audience is supposed to root for, the lesser of two evils.

The whole film basically acts as a redemption arc for the character with him taking a beating at nearly every turn and losing those close to him. The Blind Man even supposedly, until the third film, gives his life to save the girl as a final act of atonement, does this make up for keeping a woman prisoner and breeding her against her will? Not by a long shot. The character is in no way likeable, but he is pitiable and maybe that was the way he was always supposed to be.

This is a hard film to watch for a lot of reasons, chief among them is the fact that this film is bleak and oppressive at nearly every turn. If I had to describe this film in a few words it would be manically depressing. Nearly every horrible thing that could happen does and the film often lingers on these scenes for far too long. For example there is a scene where the Blind Man’s dog dies and he finds the corpse, now rather than have the scene end there it goes on and shows the man sticking his hand into the dead dogs innards to try and find a bullet. Needless. There are countless other scenes like this in the film that almost feel put in for shock value.

Overall, not an enjoyable film to watch by any means, however if you like the first film or bleak depressing fare than you might find something to enjoy here.

Pros

Lang

It is watchable

The tension

Cons.

It is depressing

A fair few scenes are needlessly unpleasant

A lack of a likeable lead

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Don’t Breath: You’ll Never Look At A Turkey Baster The Same Again

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A group of troubled youths break into the home of a blind man, Stephen Lang, expecting an easy pay day; what they get however is far more than they could have ever bargained for.

The issue with this film, and others like it, is that it suffers from a lack of likeable characters. There is no tension to a situation when both the ‘hero’ and the ‘villain’ are both bad people as you don’t really like either, so you don’t care who wins. Yes Jane Levy’s Rocky is as close to a good character as you get in this film, but even then she is hardly a character you root for.

I think the mid-film twist works wonders to recontextualise the situation, changing the robbers from the bad guys to the victims, and having the Blind Man be the real villain of the piece. What’s more this is the film that really made me take notice of Stephen Lang as an actor, he is terrific here this is his film, and he sells both the threat and the action hard.

Moreover, the most impressive feat of this film is that it manages to maintain its tension consistently throughout, with their being close to no lulls throughout. This is a strong asset of the film as it keeps you engaged and pardon the cliché, on the edge of your seat.

Overall, Stephen Lang is terrific, and the tension is well maintained. The issues come from a lack of any clear likeable lead which takes away from the impact of events.

Pros.

Stephen Lang

The tension

The mid-film twist

Cons.

No likeable characters

The ending is ridiculous in a bad way

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Rise Of The Footsoldier: The Worst Parts Of Britain

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

We learn the story of Carlton Leach’s rise to power in the Essex underworld.

The issue with this film along with many others like it is that it glorifies these loathsome and frankly evil human beings. These films try and make us relate or even root for the protagonist, as they rise to power, and though in some cases rooting for a bad guy can be fun with the real world implications of this film it just seems wrong.

Furthermore, unlike something like Vendetta that I reviewed recently, this film does not have a charming, if slightly goofy, performance from Danny Dyer to make it slightly more enjoyable. No most of the performers here are just trotting out the same collection of macho man, tough guy cliches and weak gangland tropes.

I found numerous scenes in this film hard to watch and thought that the film has a bad habit of overly indulging in grim and needless subject matter. I understand what sort of film this is, and yet this film often does go that bit too far, especially with how it treats and frames female characters that honestly not only feels needless but also feels quite exploitative.

Overall, watchable yet you will need a shower after it is over.

Pros.

It is watchable

The split choice ending/mystery is interesting

Cons.

It is overly grim

The way it treats women

It glorifies bad people

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Dirty Harry: A Troubled Classic

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Unorthodox inspector Harry Callahan, Clint Eastwood, tries to catch a sniper that is roaming the streets of San Francisco gunning down innocent people.

I have had this on my watch list for some time and now that I have I can see why people think it is a noir classic. All the elements of the film come together in such a way to really give this film a classic noir feel, the cinematography, the editing, even the colour choices are all very evocative.

Eastwood is strong in the role and has a number of memorable moments and catchphrases. I think his is the only performance that stands out of the film, and your feeling towards him are mixed. He can be both the cheer worthy hero and also the detestable villain, I’m talking about when he punches the jumper.

There are several lines that age poorly, and that would be offensive when viewed by today’s standards. I tried my best to ignore them whilst watching, but they did put me off it as it was fairly recurrent. Before you counter that by saying oh those were the times, racism has never been okay.

Overall, a slick film that looks a little more dirty when viewed in today’s framing.

Pros.

Clint Eastwood

A very memorable moments

It is slick

Cons.

The racism

The condoning of police torture

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6 Days: A Police Negotiator, The Most Thankless Job You Can Have

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

This is based on the true story of the 1980 London Iranian embassy siege. Where the SAS gather to storm and the negotiators try and avoid a bloodbath.

This was a surprisingly good thriller. Netflix based on a true story thriller films have a reputation for being terrible, but this was actually good.

The film managed to maintain a sense of tension consistently throughout, as the events keep you on the razors edge: not knowing what is going to happen. This is masterfully conducted by Mark Strong who plays police negotiator Max Vernon. Strong easily captures a wide variety of emotions and conveys them with a facial expression when best effecting the scene.

However, I find where this film trips itself up is with the rest of the cast. Jamie Bell and Abbie Cornish are both talented performers in there own rights, but unlike Strong they are given very little to do here, especially with Cornish, and it becomes a clear waste of talent as the film progresses.

Overall, surprisingly watchable and tense with a good performance from Strong. However, the usual Netflix problems, poor side characters with famous faces, drags this film down and makes it less than it could have been.

Pros.

Strong

The tension

The ending

Cons.

They waste the rest of the cast

It has pacing issues

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71: Surviving The Troubles

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

This film follows Gary Hook, Jack O’Connell, a young soldier who becomes separated from his unit and finds himself having to survive the night in Northern Ireland during the Troubles.

I enjoyed this film a fair bit, it kept me entertained throughout. I thought the film did a good job of maintaining its tension and it never allowed you to feel safe, or to feel like the character was safe, which also adds to the realism of the film.

In many respects this is quite a hard film to watch, there are a number of scenes that are very visceral and graphic and that will leave and impression on you afterwards. The sudden and random death of Hook’s fellow soldier early in the film being one of them, in many ways it perfectly manages to capture the murky and unpredictable nature of that part of Irish history.

Moreover, Sean Harris as the morally dubious covert intelligence officer Captain Browning is a revelation. Harris always shines through whatever he appears in and adds an uncertain edge to proceedings. I would say he comfortably out acts O’Connell here, with the latter’s rough boy charm sometimes clashing with the character he is trying to portray. For example when Hook is taking his younger brother out for the day he becomes very angry at the doorman for no explained reason, this doesn’t work when later in the film he is portrayed as the ordered and controlled soldier who would never lose his temper in a yobish sort of way. It becomes a clashing personality over the film.

Overall, a good film though more character work was needed with the construction of the lead, a fixed personality was needed rather than one that jumps around.

Pros.

Harris

The tension

Not knowing what was going to happen next

Cons.

O’ Connell

A few plot threads that are unanswered and also go nowhere

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The Visit: The Grandparents Aren’t All Right

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Two children who have never met their grandparents before are send to go and stay with them for a week, however, once they get their they start noticing their Grandparents behaving strangely- this quickly escalates.

In my mind this is Shyamalan’s best film, easily. Yes, there will be many out there that will make a case for Signs or The Sixth Sense, but I truly believe this is the man at his finest. Every aspect of the film works in perfect harmony, with the film feeling like something other than the twist is being built to. This is a common issue with Shyamalan’s work as often the films feel built around the twist and as such can’t function without it, which is bad writing, however, here the events of the film could work without the twist and the twist itself feels like it only enhances the strangeness further.

I enjoyed the tension and the slowly growing unease throughout. I thought the film showed great promise when it made seemingly every day activities that anyone would do with their elderly relatives feel some how off-kilter, this is of course ramped up as the film continues but never ends up feeling over the top.

The performances are mostly good. With Child actors one never goes in expecting much, but I thought both leads were passable. The one thing I will say is Ed Oxenbould does have moments where he becomes annoying, such as the rapping scenes or when he has to call out a female singers name instead of swearing, though there is some unintentional comedy in there to.

Overall, probably my favourite Shyamalan film.

Pros.

The twist

The tension in the seemingly ordinary

The ending

A few solid jokes

Cons.

The rapping is annoying

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