The First Purge

The First Purge is the latest film in the Purge series; set as a prequel to the previous 3 films; explaining how the day came to be. The main plot revolves around a group of Station Island residence and their struggles throughout Purge night. To phrase it very simply it’s more of the same. The story itself doesn’t really add anything new to the mix, except showing us the scientist behind the Purge. Said scientist, May Updale to be specific, is played by Marisa Tomei in a few brief scenes. The greatest positive for this film is it’s cast. Y’Lan Noel who plays the main protagonist Dimitri is fantastic and incredibly believable; with his Die Hard esque action sequence in the films third act being a true highlight of the film. Another great performance comes from Rotimi Paul as Skeletor, another truly memorable villain to add to the series pantheon. However, aside from these two instantly memorable characters, the rest are a mixture of bland, cliched and underused. The cast feels bloated, and as a result, most of the characters are left shallow and unexplored. In terms of the horror this film does have some great moments, being both incredibly tense and very unexpected, however, these moments are few and far between. Out of the series so far this is probably the least scary. This instalment also suffers from a tonal disconnect, with the film fluctuating between elements of horror and comedy, with the result being a film that has an identity crisis; this is a familiar problem to the series.  Another thing that’s worth noting is this film is very heavy handed on the social commentary; in my opinion, losing all subtly. Social commentary has been a good thing for the series in previous instalments, as it has allowed the series to explore some interesting ideas; however, this film is the step too far. This film does have many positive elements about it but is in my opinion representative of a decline in the series, with a parallel being drawn between it and the later Saw films. To conclude whilst this is a weaker instalment in the series, The First Purge is still enjoyable, it is still able to supply you with to get your horror fix. As such I would recommend it to any genre or series fans.

3/5

Reviewed by Luke

Adrift

Adrift tells the true story of the disastrous voyage of Tami Oldham, (Shailene Woodley) and Richard Sharp, (Sam Claflin).  The main plot is split into two narrative threats, the first is the story of how they met all the way up to the disaster itself. The second is everything thereafter. With the former plot thread always being an annoyance. The survival element is arguably the film’s strongest, being helped by a phenomenal performance from Woodley; who really sells the hopelessness of the situation. Claflin, on the other hand, is strongest in the pre-disaster storyline, with him barely being used thereafter. However, his lack of real usage is all to set up a third act plot twist. This the films greatest flaw.  The romance and the survival plots feel like they are building towards something, the twist ruins all of that. All the setup is dashed, all the audience investment is washed away. It is the kind of twist that makes you say, “wait, what”, and not in a good way. It does strike an emotional blow, but at a cost to the film itself. The film outstays it’s welcome during the pre-disaster plotline. However, the post-disaster storyline is tense and keeps you guessing as to whether they are going to die or be saved. Due to the fantastic character work, you care deeply about the outcome; that is why the third act bait and switch is so disappointing. On a more positive note, the cinematography is stunning with the views of the ocean and the waves being in equal measure both beautiful and terrifying.

To conclude the film has moments of greatness, however, the end twist seems determined to spit on all those positives and serves to cheapen the overall experience.

3/5

Reviewed by Luke

Sicario 2 Soldado

Sicario 2 Soldado, follows the efforts of Matt Graver, (Josh Brolin) and Alejandro, (Benicio del Toro) in their war with the Mexican Cartels. The plot focuses on Washington’s renewed effort to wipe out the Cartels, as such, they bring in Graver and Alejandro. What follows is 122 minutes of pure adrenaline and suspense, which never relents, it starts off with 2 suicide bombings and it carries on from there. As such the tone of the film is jet black, with all the characters being wrapped in shades of grey. For anyone worried that the acting wouldn’t be as strong because Emily Blunt didn’t return, fear not! Brolin’s Graves is menacing and chews up every piece of scenery he gets. Furthermore, del Toro’s Alejandro is fantastic, with him being paired with a cartel bosses daughter for most of the film. Said Cartel boss’s daughter is played to perfection by Isabela Moner, as we see her go on an emotional journey after her kidnapping. The surrogate parent angle, that del Toro’s character is given is oddly enthralling throughout. However, the acting is let down by Elijah Rodriguez’s character of Miguel. Said character is terrible as he only manages to have one facial expression for the entire film, which when compared him to Moner, the other child actor of the film; you see how flawed his performance is. Sicario 2 wastes minutes by cutting away from the main plot to focus on Miguel’s side story, which is boring. Overall the film feels very timely, with current events being what they are, and I truly believe that this adds an extra dimension to the film. Moreover, this film carries on the impressive action sequences of the first film, with each sequence being captured with ruthless efficiency, showing all the horrid splendour. On that note, this film’s gore is used to show how gritty the cartel world is and how in it youth and innocence are lost. Finally, the score for the film is also incredibly well used, being memorable and really wrenching up the suspense. Overall this is an amazing action thriller, and it is one anyone can enjoy. To conclude this may be one of the best sequels of 2018.

4/5

Reviewed by Luke

Tag

Spoilers ahead

Tag follows a group of friends who have been playing the game for most of their lives, strangely enough, it is also based on a true story.  By and large, this film is a by the numbers comedy film, not being great, but not being bad either. Tag has quite a lot of unforeseen surprises in it, that I can guarantee you won’t see coming. Such as some well-choreographed action scenes, that give the film an over the top air, to an end twist that packs a strong emotional blow. The biggest problem this film has is that it doesn’t seem to know what it wants to be, as the three previously mentioned elements do work individually, but not as a larger film. Furthermore, there are several characters and subplots that feel tacked on, to pad out the film’s runtime. An example of this would be the love triangle between, Chilli, (Jake Johnson) Callahan, (Jon Hamm) and Cheryl Deakins, (Rashida Jones). Said love triangle really goes nowhere and doesn’t add much to any of the characters involved. The same could be said for Jerry’s alcoholism, and incredibly obsessive nature when it comes to tag, these plot threads are written in but are never explored in any depth. Overall, the plot is, (with the before mentioned twist being the exception), very familiar, and lacks any kind of uniqueness. The end twist of Hoagie, (Ed Helms), having cancer is quite powerful. Yes, it has been done before, but I feel it is used here to add some much-needed perspective to each of the characters, showing them how Tag isn’t as important as they think it is. The humour for me fell flat. That said, Jake Johnson, Hannibal Buress and Isla Fisher, have the best lines with the latter by far being the funniest character. Jon Hamm and Jeremy Renner, (Jerry), felt strangely miscast as they didn’t act as though they were in a comedy film instead taking it all a little too seriously; with that being especially true in Renner’s case. To add to a previous point, this film feels like it has an identity crisis, as there are times when it’s a zany over the top comedy, and then there are moments where it tries to have character drama, and I don’t believe the two are balanced well. Something else I want to draw attention to is Ed Helm’s performance. As far as leading characters go Helms’ Hoagie is one of the least memorable of recent memory, the other characters, (yes even Hamm and Renner), have something that makes them memorable, but not Helms; he is just playing the same character you’ve seen in 50 other Ed Helms’ films. To conclude there are good elements about this film, the end twist is well used and striking, and the action scene choreography is oddly well done, but overall Tag is a film that seems to be not quite sure what it is, with it trying to put in as many different elements as it can; and as a result, it loses focus.

1.5/5

Reviewed by Luke.

Ocean’s 8

Spoiler ahead!

Ocean’s 8 is the latest film in the series which follows Debbie Ocean, (Sandra Bullock), Danny’s Ocean’s sister. Ocean’s 8 does fall short of Soderbergh’s trilogy, this is most noticeably shown when you look at the films’ screenplays. Soderbergh’s previous films had very intricate heist sequences with everything fitting together elegantly, whereas 8 is a series of events that don’t make sense that come together in a way that leaves you saying, “wait what?”.  Furthermore, there are twists that are laughably stupid such as, Anne Hathaway’s Daphne Kluger joining the team. What could have been good character development is instead boiled down to her joining the team because she’s lonely. That is indicative of the fact that the film is poorly written.  The characters outside of Debbie are not given much in the way of motivation, feeling one dimensional and shallow. This is best shown through 9 ball, (Rihanna), with it serving to highlight her lack of acting ability and makes her character feel out of place.  However, there are also positives.  All the cast give good performances, with each actress adding an air of believability to their characters, making them likeable. The two best performances are from Anne Hathaway and a surprisingly funny third act turn by James Corden. Hathaway has all the funniest lines. Whereas Corden excels because he isn’t playing his usual over the top character, instead he plays it mostly straight, to a humour degree.

To conclude if you can ignore the numerous plot holes this is a good film; it is dumb fun and a thrilling ride to boot. Overall this is a good start to a possible new series.

3/5

Hereditary

Hereditary focuses on the after-effects of a death in the family, in this case, the Grandmother; portraying themes of family and life after death. Toni Collette who stars as Annie gives a powerhouse performance here. With Annie also having incredibly nuanced dialogue that makes you question whether the supernatural happenings are real, or if it is simply her deeply broken mind. Another fantastic performance is by Alex Wolff who is a scene stealer, managing to capture a true and unrelenting sense of fear and helplessness. The cinematography is gorgeous, with every shot looking almost handcrafted, one such example is the dollhouse scenes with the cut between the zoom on the dollhouse, and then the corresponding scene in the actual house, working to great effect. What’s more the minimalised sound design really helps to build a sense of tension and unease, as the audience is straining to hear any sound to figure out where the scare is coming from. Hereditary is the tensest film you will watch this year, with a lot of truly harrowing scenes and unexpected twists; keeping you near perpetually on the edge of your seat. The film does use the odd jump scare here and there, but in general it gets its scares from the unexpected events and even from dialogue. The final 20 minutes are truly the scariest part of the film because the other acts of the film so excellently set them up. Hereditary is a master class in storytelling with each shot revealing something regarding the film’s many mysteries. My only negative is some of the plot points in the films first act feel a little heavy-handed and unrealistic, clearly written in to foreshadow and set up later events.
Overall, this is a must-see for horror fans.
4.5/5

Jurassic World 2

Jurassic World 2 is the latest film in the Jurassic Park Universe; following on months after the events of the 2015 film. The Question that I will hopefully answer with my review is, does the world need a Jurassic Park film every few years, or should the franchise be made extinct? The main plot of the film follows Owen Grady, (Chris Pratt) and Claire Dearing, (Bryce Dallas Howard) as they try and save the dinosaurs on Isla Nublar, from a potentially species destroying volcano. The film does try and have an intelligent conversation about whether they should try and protect the dinosaurs or let the volcano wipe them out: thereby restoring the natural order of things. This conversation is shown during a Senate hearing and is the only appearance of Jeff Goldblum’s Dr Ian Malcom, despite the marketing suggesting that he had a bigger presence. Conversely to this intelligent pretence, the other 95% of the film is frustratingly dumb. In term of the screenplay, characters make decisions that make no sense, such as during a chase scene where the Indo-Raptor, (the film’s new hybrid dinosaur), is chasing a little girl down a corridor. During this sequence instead of chasing the girl into her room, which is what you would expect, the Indo-Raptor instead decides to climb up on to the roof and howl at the moon, and you are left thinking, “What? Why has it done that?”. Only being made odder when the Indo-Rex then lowers itself off the roof and unlock the girl’s bedroom window, with its ability to this never being established. This is not the only plot point that is just glossed over, the third act twist revolves around said little girl, Masie, (Isabella Sermon), having been a product of the technology that brought the dinosaurs back from the dead, but again no mention is given to this. What’s more, the film often sets up its own rules only to break them moments later for no reason, with the whole thing reeking of bad writing. Said, poor writing is also shown in the dialogue which is at best inoffensive, but at worst downright awful; with a few of my favourite examples being something like, “They’re alive just like me”, and “Welcome to Jurassic World. Moreover, the film tries to have emotional stakes, such as Owen and Blue’s relationship, Blue being the Raptor he raised, but it fails at even that. In addition, the film’s villains are needless and weakly written, with one just being a guy who likes to rip out dinosaur’s teeth, for no explained reason, and the other being Rafe Spall’s Eli Mills, who does his terrible actions for the money alone. However, it isn’t all bad news as there are some pros as well, such as Owen and Claire’s relationship which is believable, and the two have great chemistry. Also, the new characters of Franklin Webb, (Justice Smith) and Dr. Zia Rodriguez, (Daniella Pineda), are both likeable and welcome additions to the cast, they also have great banter together which makes them very easy to watch. Additionally, though the film doesn’t do its horror inspired scenes well, as mentioned before, it does deserve some praise for trying something new: because a lot of this film is just painfully by the number. Finally, the visual effects on the dinosaurs are all fantastic, as you would expect, with there being no noticeably bad CGI. To conclude, this film does do a few things right, but these are severely outweighed by everything else. Being boring and a real slog to get through at times, and perhaps worst of all, the film does nothing to make its spectacle of dinosaurs fighting interesting, leaving you with one lacklustre confrontation after another. Let’s hope this franchise goes extinct!
1.5/5
Reviewed by Luke

My Friend Dahmer

My Friend Dahmer focuses on the young life of the infamous American serial killer, focusing on his high school years, up until the time of his first murder. This is a genius creative decision as it creates incredible amounts of tension, all without showing a single murder. Furthermore, this early focus allows for an in-depth character study, seeking to find out the motivation for his crimes. In that regard, there are themes of isolation, sexuality and family; all of which are well-formed. In terms of the genre, the script conveys the film as a coming of age tale thereby bucking the trend of the standard biopic. Presenting a film about the teenage experience which also features a soon to be serial killer. What’s more, the script doesn’t present Dahmer as evil, there are even times when you even feel something akin to sympathy for him. The performance of Ross Lynch as Dahmer is fantastic because he plays as both unpredictable, and also truly unsettling. Dahmer’s parent Joyce and Lionel, (Anne Heche and Dallas Roberts), in particular, are outstanding as they truly paint a picture of the dysfunctional family life. Roberts portrays Lionel as a man who is worried for and desperately trying to connect with his son. The film sublimely dissects the mind of Dahmer, creating an experience that feels unlike anything else; allowing you to see his rawest form. Everyone knows how the story ends, but the script and the performances are good enough to still make every minute enthralling. The only issue is that the film is overly long with a lull in the second act. To conclude the film is an excellent and truly gripping character study of a broken, twisted mind.
3.5/5
Reviewed by Luke.

I feel Pretty

I feel pretty follows Renee Bennett, (Amy Schumer), who after an accident at Soul Cycle, suddenly believes she is the beautiful person she always wanted to be. The film promotes a strong message about body confidence which is always timely and relevant. Despite this neither the premise nor the message is not original, in any way, having been done many times before. However, where this film iterates on the idea is by having Renee be the only one who can see this beautiful person she thinks she is, with everybody else, only seeing the same Women from the start of the film. My main issue with the film is that it relies on stereotypes about women, which reeks of bad writing. Whatsmore Amy Schumer’s performance has no charm coming across as vain, and just quite annoying. This truly is a detriment as you don’t root for her, but rather against her a lot of the time. Using Renee as the idea of every woman is offensive because; she is not nuanced or layered, but rather two dimensional. The high point of the film is its humour and its heart, with it being affecting especially at the end. The film is saved, however, by its wider supporting cast, whether it is Renee’s friends, Vivian and Jane, (Aidy Bryant and Busy Philipps) or Michelle Williams’ character of Avery LeClaire. Vivian and Jane are most better representations of the idea of the every woman, as they just want to be happy and don’t care what other people think, and unlike Renee, you root for them. Williams’ LeClaire is unlike the other confident people and has a true sense of vulnerability, this comes from her need to please her Grandmother. Through Williams’ performance, we see the most well-rounded character in the film. Conversely, the film also uses a lot of needless characters such as Grant LeClaire, (Tom Hopper), who aren’t really characters, but rather just plot devices. To conclude this isn’t the worst comedy to see, it does try and put forward a nice message, but it is hurt by a bad performance from Schumer and a lack to take more daring creative risks. Go and see it for Williams’ performance alone.

2/5
Reviewed by Luke

Solo: A Star Wars Story

Spoilers.

Solo: A Star Wars Story focuses on the early life of Han Solo. The events of the greater Star Wars Universe are not the focus here, with the story itself being far more self-contained. For me Alden Ehrenreich is a believable Han Solo, bringing the right amount of charisma to the role. However, he is greatly outshined by his on-screen peers, Woody Harrelson,(Tobias Beckett), Emilia Clarke, (Qi’ra) and of course Donald Glover, (Lando). Beckett is a father figure to Han throughout the film, and the two have a believable emotional bond. Conversely, the relationship between Han and Chewbacca, (Joonas Suotamo), is lacking with scenes such as the life debt being left out, and the relationship, on the whole, being sidelined for the Han Qi’ra romance. Qi’ra is perhaps the best character as she is incredibly three-dimensional. Qi’ra is a very capable character as shown during third act fight scene with a sword; which is the action high point of the film. The best thing about the writing for Qi’ra’s character is that she is not written as merely Han’s love interest, but instead as a very cunning character whose allegiance you can never be sure of. Furthermore, the end of the film sets up her connections to Darth Maul, which as far as twists go is very welcome and satisfying. Overall the shortcomings of the film are as follows, firstly the film relies far too heavily on nostalgia, with the constant use of Han’s dice becoming unbearable towards the end of the film. This is also reflected in the diegetic dialogue where character will say things that equate to, “remember that?”. Moreover, there is also the use of incredibly on the nose foreshadowing to hint at future events, such as when Qi’ra says something to the extent of, “Chewie needs you and I have a feeling you will need him to”. Furthermore, and this may the films greatest crime, there is no real villain, sure Paul Bettany’s Vos is menacing when he is on screen, but that equates to two scenes if that, with the film lacking real danger as a result. A final complaint is that Donald Glovers’ Lando is underused, he is the scene stealer of the film and seems to be punished for that fact by being given precious little to do. On the whole Solo is a lot better than I was expecting it to be, I believe that both hardcore fans and more passive viewers can find something to like here. I would recommend you see it.
3.5/5
Reviewed by Luke