Justice League Dark: The Mystical Side Of DC

Justice League Dark is an animated science fantasy superhero film. The plot revolves around a team of DC Superheroes, the more mystical ones, who have to investigate a pattern of strange behavior that has turned fatal. The Justice League themselves can’t understand the problem, so it is down to Batman (Jason O’Mara), and his strange collection of allies to save the day.

*Justice League Dark is one of my favourite DC comics, I have read many runs of the team over the years, so when I heard about this project, I knew I had to check it out. I was disappointed, this was an incredibly average film, nothing more, nothing less.

I will admit it was nice to see the team of Constantine (Matt Ryan), Zatanna (Camilla Luddington), and Deadman (Nicholas Turturro), get together; furthermore, it was nice to see Matt Ryan return to play Constantine, he is fairly synonymous with the character to me. However, my issue was the overall story just felt flat. The best issues of the comic have strong horror elements, but I didn’t get that here, other than the shades and a few other things it was mainly without horror.

What’s more though I liked Constantine I felt that a lot of the other characters were short-changed so that he could have more screen time. An example of this would be Swamp Thing (Roger Cross), who has been a major part of the team before in the comics, here only gets a few lines. Worst of all after he gets defeated, he just goes away and we don’t see him again, which feels like a big unresolved plot thread.

As I said before, this film is everything I would expect from a Justice League Dark film, a group of the more mystical DC heroes fighting against a supernatural opponent, but that isn’t enough to sustain my interest across the film’s runtime, I wanted more. More depth to the characters, more scope to the narrative, I don’t know exactly what but, something that felt better than bog standard.

Overall, this film fell short my expectations, it didn’t wow me in anyway, in fact it annoyed me a lot of the time. I wish they had put more time and energy into the characters and the story overall, if they had this might have been something special.

Pros.

Matt Ryan.

It is nice to see all of the characters team up.

A solid foundation.

Cons.

Other than Constantine and Zatanna very weak characters.

How they handled Swamp Thing.

2.5/5

Reviewed by 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

The Do-over: Sandler At His Most Unlikeable?

The Do-Over is a buddy action comedy film directed by Kevin Barnett. The plot follows Max (Adam Sandler), a man who has recently found out that he has cancer, he then, very fortunately, finds out that there is a drug that can cure cancer on a recently dead doctors I-Pad, he then fakes his and friend’s death, because why not, and then takes over the life of the dead doctor and his friend as a means to find out the cure.

Does that plot sound confusing to you? It should do. I tried my hardest to sum it up for you all in the clearest way I could, but it was hard. It doesn’t help that every word that comes out of Sandler’s characters mouth seems to be a lie, which makes understanding what is going on quite hard.

Netflix era Sandler is near-universally hated, I personally don’t think his Netflix work is as bad as some people say it is, but it does have some woeful moments and bad Sandler performances. The Do-Over is one of those performances, Sandler’s character Max is loathsome, Sandler takes some of his less likeable qualities from his other movies and turns them up to 11 here. If I didn’t know better, I would say he must have thought he was playing the villain. Every single bad thing a person can do Sandler’s Max does and then some; all the while we are supposed to cheer for him.

You know it is a bad state of affairs when Sandler’s Co-Star David Spade vastly upstages him. Spade plays Charlie, Max’s childhood friend who ends up taking over the life of the deceased doctor I mentioned before. Spade himself is a terrible actor and has given many many bad performances, but here he is charming and likeable; more so than Sandler. In a lot of these films that Sandler does he likes to include his real-life friends, they are usually there to support Sandler and take an easy paycheck, they aren’t supposed to upstage him crucially, however, Spade does.

Can I say before I wrap this review up, that this film much like Let’s Be Cops that I reviewed recently features Natasha Leggero, here playing Charlie’s Wife Nikki. Leggero is a hugely talented comedic actress and I am tired of seeing her only getting bit parts in films, she deserves parts that reflect her talents. She is one of the highlights of the film.

Overall this film is not offensively bad, which is my personal measure for Sandler quality, there are a few good jokes here and there and Spade and Leggero are good. My issue with this film that stops me from scoring it higher is the fact Sandler is just so damn unlikeable in it.

Pros.

Spade Is Actually Good.

Leggero Is Great For The Short Amount Of Time She Is On Screen.

There Are Some Laughs.

Cons.

The Plot Makes No Sense At All.

Sandler Is Deeply Unlikeable And Almost Unwatchable.

3/5

Reviewed By Luke

Dragged Across Concrete: A Pulp Fiction Novel Done In 159 Minutes

Dragged Across Concrete is a Neo-noir action thriller film, directed by S. Craig Zahler. The plot revolves around two cops, Brett (Mel Gibson), and Anthony (Vince Vaughn), who are suspended after an excessive force incident. However, for various reasons both men need to make money, so they decide to rob a group of criminals that have robbed a bank.

Craig Zahler is a very strange filmmaker to talk about as his films have a very specific style to them, if you have ever seen any of them you will know what I am talking about, said style can be incredibly polarising. I enjoyed his debut effort Bone Tomahawk but thought that his follow-up Brawl In Cell Block 99 went a little too far for my tastes and veered into vile and uncomfortable viewing. This film, however, seems to hit a sweet spot, it has moments of extreme violence, but these aren’t excessive rather instead well used.

One of my favourite bits from this film is one of those violent moments. Jenifer Carpenter plays Kelly a recent mother who is having separation anxiety as she has to be away from her baby and go back to work, can I just say here that even though her role is under 10 minutes I think this is one of the best performances of Carpenter’s career, once she is back at work she gets caught up in the bank robbery and killed. What makes this worth talking about is the fact that this is incredibly shocking as she is a recognisable actress, and had a big part in Cell Block 99, we don’t expect her to die so suddenly yet she does. This moment actually made me gasp out loud, I am being serious.

The antagonist of the film is also terrific from the moment we are introduced to Lorentz Vogelmann (Thomas Kretschmann), he is menacing. Furthermore, the choice to have him be in a mask for most of the film really adds to the sense of terror. He is the first ‘bad guy’ in a long time that has actually captured my interest.

Gibson and Vaughn are both solid leads and have a good repour, you can easily buy that these two men have been partners for some time. Moreover, the character motivations for the two are well written as well, Vaughn’s Anthony wants to propose to his girlfriend, he dies as he listens to a voicemail of her rejecting him this perfectly captures that gritty sense of reality that this film is going for. Brett, on the other hand, wants to provide a better life for his family, which in a sense he does, and this provides the film it’s happy ending.

Overall, this film feels as though S. Craig Zahler has brought a pulpy crime novel to the big screen in the best way. Usually, these sorts of films, especially with a run-time as long as this (159 minutes) start to lose my attention, but this one kept me hooked right the way through to the end. A modern masterpiece in noir cinema. A Must Watch!

Pros.

It Is Genuinely Shocking.

It Is Everything A Pulpy Crime Film Should Be.

It Is Gorey But Doesn’t Over Do It.

Great Leads.

A Career Best For Jennifer Carpenter.

Cons.

None.

5/5

Reviewed By Luke

The Witcher: A New Fantasy King Rises

The Witcher is a fantasy drama series based on the novels by Andrzej Sapkowski. The plot of the series revolves around Geralt of Rivia (Henry Cavill), a Witcher, a mutant who hunts monsters. Over the course of the series we see Geralt try to escape destiny and his responsibility towards Princess Cirilla (Freya Allan), a child whose fate is tied to Geralt’s through the law of surprise. The series builds to these two characters meeting.

I have to say before I get into this review, I am a huge Witcher fan, I love the games and the books. So, I had been eagerly awaiting this series for quite some time. This series does play homage to both of these, that have come before, taking elements from both. I would say it probably leans more towards the books in terms of faithfulness.

When I first saw him on screen, I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about Cavill as Geralt, but he did grow on me overtime. I think Cavill did a good job as the character and I can’t wait to see where he takes the character in the next season. I think he especially did a good job with the voice; he sounds just like the voice actor from the game; if you close your eyes and listen you will see what I mean.

The breakout star of the series for me is Anya Chalotra as Yennefer, who did a great job. Yennefer is the love of Geralt’s life, and their relationship is a huge part of the series. I think the writing of her character was quite weak in the first few episodes, but when she becomes a full-fledged Mage in about episode 2 or 3, she becomes far more engaging.

The world of this show is fantastic it is deep and rich, it is easily one of the best fantasy worlds ever brought to the small screen. The story is told in 3 separate sequences that all take place outside of one another. Geralt has one, Ciri has one and Yennefer has one, they all come together in episode 6, but before that it can be a bit confusing to figure out what is happening and when; on second watch it all makes a lot more sense.

Overall, this is one of Netflix’s best new shows and can easily fill the void left behind by things like Game Of Thrones. If you’re a fan of the games or the books or just fantasy in general, you will love this series and it is definitely one to watch!

Ps. The fight sequences are a thing of beauty.

Pros.

A Solid Lead.

A Rich Developed World.

Multi Layered Characters.

A Loving Homage.

Anya Chalotra Is The Breakout Star.

Cons.

The Out Of Sequence Story Telling Can Be Confusing.

4.5/5

Reviewed By Luke

The Raid: An Action Movie Masterpiece

‘The Raid’ is an Indonesian Action Film, written edited and directed by Gareth Evans. The plot follows a highly trained group of police officers who try and infiltrate a tower block owned and controlled by a ruthless drug lord. Amongst these officers we have Rama (Iko Uwais), who is our main character, Rama has gone to the tower block to try and convince his brother Andi (Donny Alamsyah), to come home.

‘The Raid’ is a beautiful film for a lot of reasons, but for me the main one would be the fight choreography. The fight choreography on display here is some of the best I have ever seen. The fights look brutal and real, you can feel the pain and exhaustion coursing through the performances. There is a hallway fight sequence that is better than anything I have ever seen before, said sequence sees Rama take on a large group of gangsters and with sheer force of will takes them all out; this isn’t like fake looking action movies like ‘the Transporter’ where the enemies attack one at a time, no here it is much more hardcore and realistic.

It makes sense now after seeing this why the ‘John Wick’ series hired the actors from ‘The Raid’ for the third film in that series, because they are incredibly impressive. The Wick series is the only other current Western action film that I would say is on par with this film in terms of its fight sequences.

The plot of ‘The Raid’ is also wonderfully complex as nothing is how it appears to be. Other than main character Rama, who is our moral compass throughout the film, the other characters flirt between the side of good and the side of bad, giving the film an excellent sense of moral ambiguity. This is shown through Rama’s brother Andi who saves Rama’s life, but decides to stay behind at the end and take over the tower block and be the next gang leader.

Overall, I think this is a must watch for everyone not just die-hard action fans, it is so beautifully done that is marvellous to behold. ‘The Raid’ has become prolific within action cinema and has gone on to influence a lot of films in the genre and I believe for a good reason: this film is fantastic and deserves to be seen!

Pros.

The Acting.

The Fight Choreography.

Maintaining The Balance Between Brutal But Not Overly So.

The Moral Ambiguity.

Making Character You Care About.

Cons.

None

5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Mr Right: A New Type Of Killer Clown

‘Mr Right’ is a romantic comedy, action film. The plot follows Martha (Anna Kendrick), a recently single women who meets Francis (Sam Rockwell), a man who seems perfect for her, until she finds out that he is a hitman. From there the story goes down the lines of Francis’s old partner wants to get him back in the game, a gang hires Francis, but then tries to kill him; as Francis has a rule of killing those that hire him after a shift in his morals, as well as the will they wont they romance of Martha and Francis.

I have to say this film was far more enjoyable than I thought it would be, this is mainly due to the fact that Rockwell is a terrific and naturally charming lead. There is a real heart to this film that prevails all the killing and the shooting and at the end of the film you are glad to see the pair end up together.

The action scenes of the film are mostly fun there are some good moments that have strong choreography, but the rest are just either Rockwell or Kendrick shooting someone which after a while gets boring.

I’m not saying Anna Kendrick can’t act but, she is playing the same character she always plays the loveable goofy oddball. The opening act of this film that sees her crying in a closest and being drunk rambling about her ex could be from any of her films. That is not to say she isn’t good in this film she is fine, but it would be interesting to see her play a different type of character.

The humour of the film I found to be a mixed bag, at times it made me smile and elevated the scene it was used in, other times it made me groan and felt like bad cringe. I would say that a lot of Rockwell’s comedy lands as he has very good delivery and timing and seems to know when to play it straight and when to crack a joke. The same can’t be said for everyone else, however.

Finally, it is nice to see Anson Mount in something, it has been too long, and he always gives a good performance even if he is only on scene for a matter of minutes.

Overall, this film is on the better side of average this is owed wholly to Rockwell. He elevates this film past the mediocrity that it could easily have fallen into. Kendrick is serviceable and the romance is sweet, it’s good but, you won’t remember it.

Pros.

Rockwell.

Some Of The Action Sequences.

The Humour.

Cons.

The Humour.

Kendrick Is Playing The Same Character As Always.

3/5

Reviewed by Luke

True Romance:A Story Of Love and Crime

‘True Romance’ is a romantic crime film, written by Quentin Tarantino and directed by Tony Scott. The plot follows an ex call-girl called Alabama (Patricia Arquette), and her husband Clarence (Christian Slater), as they go on the run from the mob after Clarence accidentally steals a large amount of cocaine from Alabama’s ex pimp.

This film feels very Tarantino esque despite only being written by him, all the hallmarks by which we would come to know his work are all present here; much like all of his pictures this film is glorious. Yes, my thoughts on current Tarantino have been noted in previous reviews, I don’t think he has made a film that was of the same caliber as his early works since ‘Django Unchained’ back in 2012; I think he is on the decline as a director.

The tone of the film again is familiar to Tarantino fans as it has moments of extreme darkness and moments of levity, it has moments of gritty realism and moments of fantasy oddness. One such odd detail which also happens to be one of my favourite bits of the film is how Clarence has Elvis (Val Kilmer) as an imaginary friend; a lot of these wacky details add to the film’s manic sensibilities.

That said the film also pulls off slow meaningful moments well, there are a lot of scenes between Alabama and Clarence that have genuine warmth and emotion to them. The relationship between the two grows throughout the runtime of the film in a real and organic way; you can feel the love they have for each other.

The performances in this film are also excellent, Slater and Arquette do a great job as the leads, but the supporting cast also give great turns. The late James Gandolfini is terrific as a mob hitman called Virgil, though his character isn’t in it a huge amount he shines with what he has. There is a brutal fight scene between his character and Alabama and the monologue that Gandolfini delivers before and during it can only be described as chilling.

Christopher Walken is also instantly memorable as Don Vincenzo Coccotti. Though Walken’s character only has a scene he brings such a presence to the screen such as sense of gravitas that he is immediately captivating.

Overall, this film is phenomenal it a testament to Tarantino as a screen writer as it is a film that features a lot of characters, but each one feels unique and special.

Pros.

Tarantino Magic.

Great Leads In Slater And Arquette.

Gandolfini Is A Scene Stealer.

So Is Walken.

Cons.

A Little Slow At Times.

4.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Johnny English: Bean Meets Bond

‘Johnny English’ is a spy action comedy film, the plot revolves around a bumbling super-spy Johnny English, (Rowan Atkinson), as he tries to stop the nefarious plot of a french mastermind Pascal Sauvage, (John Malkovich), and retrieve the crown jewels.

The reason why ‘Johnny English’ works so well is because it is such an excellent spoof of the British national treasure, James Bond, this parody works in every respect. It makes a joke out of everything the gadgets, the girls and of course the spy himself all of which bring genuinely good laughs. This film is one of the funniest I’ve seen in a long time and, it has a lot of moments that don’t simply make you smile but, rather they make you laugh out loud.

A lot of this is due to Rowan Atkinson his comedic delivery is always on point and, he plays someone playing at being a suave charismatic spy well. There is also a vulnerability to English that Atkinson captures extremely well we know that he knows he’s a rubbish spy deep down, but that he is trying his best and, that is what makes him so loveable. He is the underdog hero that we all want to see succeed.

The actual events of the film are all entertaining to watch they expertly capture the wacky over the top plots that some of the later Bond films, before Craig, suffered from; this is shown as Suave’s evil plan is to turn all of Britain into a huge prison. There is also some decent tension built across the film as there are moments where it looks like it’s all over for English and, we can’t help but feel sad at these times.

The one element of the parody that ‘Johnny English’ doesn’t do so well is its spoof of the Bond girl trope. Natalie Imbruglia plays Lorna Campbell an Interpol agent; who gets roped into Johnny’s manic craziness. Until writing this review I genuinely didn’t know what the character was called. Rather than be given something to do, or maybe even reject English, which would be a great spoof of how Bond always gets the girl, Campbell instead follows the same characterisation of a lot of the past Bond girls given the paper-thin development of also being a spy while actually just being a romantic interest destined to end up on Johnny’s arm.

Despite this dated depiction, this film is still an incredibly entertaining spy spoof film and, a must-watch. Perfect for over the holidays viewing.

4.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Jumanji, The Next Level: Level Up!

‘Jumanji: The Next Level’ is a fantasy adventure comedy film and, sequel to the 2017 film ‘Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle; also serving as the fourth film in the franchise. The plot follows on from the last entry, the core group have drifted apart and, Spencer, (Alex Wolff), decides to go back into Jumanji once again, to try and recapture the Bravestone feeling; the others discover this and, then go into to rescue him. The twist this time around is that Spencer’s uncle Eddie, (Danny Devito), and his former business partner Milo, (Danny Glover), get sucked into the game too.

Director Jake Kasdan achieves something very special with ‘The Next Level’ a sequel that is far better than the films in the series before it. In almost every aspect this film succeeds the previous film, in terms of comedy, in terms of character development, in terms of world-building; all-round ‘The Next Level’ is a treat.

This time around Bravestone, (Dwayne Johnson), is the in-game avatar of Danny Devito’s Eddie, and Moose Finbar, (Kevin Hart), is the avatar of Danny Glover’s Milo. Both actors do a great impression of their older counterparts: but it is Kevin Hart that really shines in this style of comedy, his impression of Danny Glover is hilarious and he easily has the best jokes of the film.

The rest of the in-game avatars are also a welcome return, Professor Oberon, (Jack Black), played by Ser’ Darius Blain’s Fridge this time around is equally as hilarious as he was in the first film; it is nice to see Jack Black back in a big-budget film. Ruby Roundhouse, (Karen Gillian), and Seaplane, (Joe Jonas), are featured and, they do have some great moments but, they are very much pushed to the sidelines and, underused. Awkwafina is also in this film for all of 15 minutes, so she is not really given any time to shine.

The world of Jumanji is nicely explored this time around, we get to see some new locations that helped to set this film apart from the previous entry this is also done by their being new rules brought in which allow characters to do a variety of different things, including switching bodies. The one issue with all of this is that ‘The Next Level’ feels less like a videogame adaption/homage, which is one of the things that makes the first film so good.

Overall ‘The Next Level’ is a step up from ‘Welcome To The Jungle’ which was already a great film. Devito, Black, Hart and Johnson are all on terrific form here and, make this one of the best films of the year. The romantic development between Spencer and, Martha, (Morgan Turner) is also incredibly endearing and, the end stinger is definitely one to stick around for. I can’t wait for the next film in this fantastic franchise.

5/5

Reviewed by Luke