Jungle Cruise: The New Pirates Of The Caribbean?

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Based on the Disney Park ride, Jungle Cruise sees an adventure, Emily Blunt, and her well-meaning brother, Jack Whitehall set off into the heart of the jungle to find a mythical treasure.

If I had to describe this film in a few words it would be dumb fun. Really it is neither hugely good, nor hugely bad, it is just dumb watchable entertainment that passes a few hours.

Certainly this film is trying to be the next Pirates of The Caribbean, you can feel it throughout, and though the film has similar vibes to POTC it lacks the compelling edge. The story for the most part is very throwaway action fare; a group of people head out looking for a mythical treasure and get into high jinks along the way- nothing new.

However, the cast do manage to elevate it somewhat. Rather surprisingly Dwayne Johnson is not on top form here and though he is passable enough in the lead role, he is increasingly out done at nearly every turn by Blunt. Blunt really is the star of this film and her presence helps it immensely. Originally, when I heard that Jack Whitehall had been cast in this I was expecting a disaster, as though he is hilarious he is not a proven actor by any means, however, this film entirely convinced me that he can hold his weight with the big guys and made me feel a lot more confident about his Clifford film.

I won’t go into the villain issue here but suffice it to say it is bad. There are two villains, one of which is entirely needless, and the other is Jessie Plemons who looks like he is having fun, but the film doesn’t know what to do with him.

Overall, a fine film to watch once.

Pros.

Blunt

Whitehall

The world

Cons.

Johnson is off form

The villains

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Limbo: The Struggle To Start Over

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Limbo tells the offbeat story of a refugee’s experience in rural Scotland.

I think this film needs to be seen. It should be mandatory viewing for just about everyone, as it shows the horrors that refugees have to go through once they arrive in the country: everything from the uncertainty of their asylum status to visits from the police to be deported back to the country they fled. It is heart-breaking and moving.

However, I don’t want this review to make the film sound too dower and serious, there are also a number of light hearted moments that provide some much needed respite and allow us to feel a sense of hope for proceedings again. I thought the ending of finally having Omar, Amir El-Masry, play his oud again was a wonderful choice as it highlights this enduring sense of optimism that maybe everything can be okay.

I think this film is incredibly timely and will open your eyes to something you may perhaps have never thought about before. I think it’s message is needed, now more than ever.

The performances across the board were all terrific with every single member of the cast having their own time to shine and individual moments that really help to make each character standout and be memorable.

Overall, I can’t recommend this film enough and though it might not always be the easiest of watches it is very needed.

Pros.

The message

The performances

The ending

The powerful emotion

Cons.

It is bleak at times, truly bleak

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Halloween 4: Michael The Cult Icon

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Michael Myers is back, and this time he is after his infant niece.

This was a mixed bag. I think you can definitely feel the absence of Carpenter in a lot of ways, and the film plays as trying to recapture or even imitate both the man himself and the first Halloween which he directed. I understand trying to return to the series roots after the third film underperformed, but making this film feel so heavily ‘inspired’ by Carpenter’s style ends up making it feel like a pale imitation.

That said I do think this film has some promise. I thought the more supernatural take on Myers, with him being evil incarnate was interesting and I am curious to see where they will take it. Moreover, I enjoyed the return of Donald Pleasant’s Dr Loomis, I think Pleasant brings an air of class to the film and really helps to bring the acting up to a believable degree.

I thought the film struggled to find new things for Michael Myers to do, yes he gets a few new kills but nothing to truly make this film feel any different from any of the others. Nightmare On Elm Street had massively different kills and wild lore things happening between instalments, even Friday The 13 at least had Jason in different costumes. Furthermore, I am not quite sure how I feel about the end twist of having Jamie continue on the ‘family business’. Though it was a shocking reveal, I question whether it was just a desperate attempt to keep the franchise fresh.

Overall, there is still some good stuff here, but it is a shadow of its former self.

Pros.

The theme is still great

The supernatural take on Myers

The return of Dr Loomis

Cons.

Nothing new

Carpenter’s absence is noticeable

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Zola: The Twitter Film

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Based on the infamous twitter thread, Zola tells the story of a road trip gone wrong, highlighting how easy it is for people to end up in dangerous situations.

I had no expectations for this film going in, I didn’t really keep up with the thread when it was viral, though I was aware of the story itself.

I found the film to be on the better side of average but nothing to write home about.

On the positive side I thought the film managed to perfectly nail the tension and produced several scenes that were captivating as they feel so unexpected and threatening. You could feel the danger these women would have been in, and honesty it is both terrifying and heart-breaking.

Moreover, Colman Domingo was magnificent as X, the pimp who runs the girls through the later stages of the story. Why the character works so well and why Domingo’s performance is so good is because it is unpredictable, one minute he is cool calm and collect and the next he is knocking someone through a wall, the character works as they are seemingly very spontaneous and that is reflected in the performance. Furthermore, the character represents the moral ambiguity of our tale as we don’t know who to trust or believe, none of these characters are morally good and each do good and bad things throughout the film complicating them further.

Switching gears, what didn’t work for me at all was the dialogue. I understand that the way the main two characters speak is based on the real life tweets, you even get the tweet sound here and there, but I would have preferred it if they could have written it as actual dialogue for the film rather than just inserting tweets. Not only is it hard to understand but it quickly becomes annoying and grating as you watch.

Overall, it has its moments, but the dialogue really brings it down.

Pros

Solid tension

An interesting premise

Domingo

Cons.

The dialogue

The performances from everyone other than Domingo

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Jolt: Missing A Spark

2/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Kate Beckinsale’s Lindy is a woman with an explosive temper and a keen set of skills. As she re-enters society after years kept hidden away she falls in love, then her new beau is killed. You know what happens next.

Never has an actor needed to reinvent themselves more than Kate Beckinsale. Beckinsale has been on the forefront of the action genre for longer than I have been alive, but if her recent output is anything to go by the spark is gone.

As you might imagine from the premise Jolt is a very by the numbers film, it is passable action, but it is neither good nor bad just deeply average. What this film has going against it is a deeply generic plot that has been done so many times over the years in films and tv shows that you can’t help but role your eyes when you see it done yet again here.

Moreover, the cast aren’t bringing anything to the roles to make them or the film memorable. Yes, Beckinsale is a capable enough lead, but her character is forgotten the moment the film is turned off, and Jai Courtney………. Has no one told the makers of this film that Jai Courtney had his moment and blew it? The moment I saw him show up I immediately knew the film was going to be bad. If ever there was an omen to suggest a film is going to be bad, it is the casting of Courtney.

Again the action is fine, but it is nothing new.

Overall, you have seen this film before.

Pros.

It is passable

Everything is fine

Cons.

It is generic and played out

Courtney

The pacing

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Halloween 2: You Just Can’t Kill Michael Myers

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Michael Myers can’t be killed and now he is back at it, tracking Laurie Strode down to her hospital room with a mind to finish what he started.

Though not as good as the original, as few horror sequels are, there is still some electricity here. The moment we are treated to John Carpenter’s wonderful score we are send straight back into that world, as goosepimples are returned to our arms.

I really enjoy the slow dread and paranoia that comes from these early Halloween films, as we see just how frightened of Michael Myers all the characters are, and we get to see that grow as they begin to realise the supernatural qualities he has and how he cant be killed- at least not for very long.

There is a beautiful simplicity to Halloween that other slasher just cant beat. At the end of the day the premise is simple the killer is coming to claim his victims, and no matter what changes or happens that will always be true.

Furthermore this film not only proves without a doubt that Jamie Lee Curtis is not only the heart and soul of the Halloween franchise, as if there was any doubt of that, but also that she is the definitive Scream Queen. Curtis brings so much to the role of Laurie here as we begin to see the trauma coursing through her character as she is not quite in battle hardened mode yet, but she still gives Michael one hell of an opponent.

Overall, a strong sequel that sets the bedrock for the franchise.

Pros.

The slow dread

Michael

Laurie

The theme song/ wider score

Cons.

It is not quite as tight as the original film in terms of pacing

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Old: Live Your Life In An Afternoon

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A group of people find themselves on a mysterious beach where they age rapidly and seem incapable of leaving.

Other reviews of this film have been very mixed, and mine will only add to that.

The premise for this film is very interesting the concept of rapidly aging is fairly unique from a cinema standpoint and it does hold up throughout the film. The film does a lot of interesting things with aging its characters, we see many deaths and a birth, though the less said about that the better.

However, where things fall apart for me is with the big twist. As with every Shyamalan film there is a twist here, however I think it ends up disrupting and ultimately ruining the film. I won’t spoil what it is here, but I will say this, it is underwhelming and what you want to be happening isn’t….. It is far more mundane and generic than that. My issue with the ending of this film is that it is overly simplistic, it is too neat. The film ends with a surprising amount of it’s questions answered with little left to think about, what’s more the aging beach is seemingly forgotten about and no answers for it are given. In short it both gives you too many answers and too few.

The performances across the board are good, if sometimes a little eclectic and eccentric. I think that Rufus Sewell is by far the standout of the film as his characters slow descent into mental illness is both saddening and terrifying, and he does manage to feel quite threatening towards the end of the film. I also thought that Alex Wolff was strong as the families young child stuck in the body of a twenty year old, he brings a lot to the character.

Overall, a fascinating hook is pulled off course by a weak twist/ ending.
Pros.

The premise

The questions

The performance

The tension

Cons.

The ending

The twist

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Fear Street Part 3: The Worst Irish Accents Ever

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The survivors of Sarah Fier’s murderous rampage are transported back in time to see her origin and the truth behind the curse.

There is a twist. A really obvious and blatant one from the start of the film. I won’t spoil it here but suffice it to say that it will hit you in the face several times before it is finally revealed.

Moreover, the Irish accents that our cast are doing in these flash back scenes are particularly bad. They use a lot of the same cast from the previous films to flesh out the residents of Sarah’s township in this one and not a one of them can do an Irish accent, to a point where it becomes laughably bad.

However, therein lies the charm. This film much like the others is dumb fun. There is poor writing and silly moments that are supposed to be scary a plenty, but again it only adds to the charm.

I thought the final showdown was fairly well done it managed some scary moments and it gave everyone what they didn’t know they wanted…… A showdown between all the undead killers for some reason. I did think this final sequence could have been bloodier, but I suppose it is intended for a younger age group.

I thought the flashback storyline with Sarah Fier was interesting as it gave us a good look into the paranoia of witch hunting and provided the most chilling scene of the series with the church mass death sequence.

Overall, a slightly disappointing ending to the series, but still dumb fun.

Pros.

The church sequence

The killer battle royal

The dumb fun

Cons.

The accents

The ending is somewhat disappointing

The twist is super obvious

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Gunpowder Milkshake: In Search Of A Soul

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A hitwoman finds herself the target of a number of underworld characters after she botches one of her hits and finds herself in the company of her victim’s child.

I am mixed on this. One the one hand I thought the concept and the action to be good. I enjoyed the world this film sets up; I thought The Firm and the Librarians were both interesting groups rife for further exploration. In addition I thought the action choreography was spot on, and many of the scenes feel very real: making the bone crunching all the more impactful.

However, the characters themselves for the most part were entirely devoid of any kind of personality or charm and were instead defined by their role in the narrative. The previous mentioned Librarians don’t really have any kind of personality beyond their job and a previous connection to one of the other characters. Moreover, Karen Gillan’s lead literally barely speaks at all and has no charm or personality either, she remains a mystery throughout though in this case that is a bad thing.

The feminist aspects which this film displays front and centre and that will no doubt annoy some, as many are looking to be offended these days, are clear and present throughout. Whilst many of the things this film is saying on that front are good, the issue comes from the fact that these characters are almost not written as people rather as tools to make certain points, this surely undermines the cause and provides a flaw in the film’s presentation.

I didn’t think the child acting was very good, but I won’t belabour that point as it is low hanging fruit.

Overall, it has potential, but some real character work is needed if this film does indeed return for a sequel.

Pros.

The world

The action

The message

Cons.

The characters are devoid of personality

It feels a little bit too familiar at times

The child acting

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Pig: Food Is The True Window To The Soul, One Of Nicolas Cage’s Best

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A former chef goes on a quest to reclaim his truffle pig after it is kidnapped.

Pig is not the film you’re expecting. The trailer played on John Wick vibes and tried to turn it into something it is not, this is not an action thriller film, really quite far from it. This is a soulful reflection on life, love and loss, told often through the facial emotions of the actors rather than through dialogue.

This film almost certainly won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, it is not always a pleasant viewing experience there are moments of extreme grief and trauma throughout that might adversely effect those watching, but they need to be there as it is in these moments that we see the film’s true soul.

Nicolas Cage proves his vulnerability and versatility here in this role as he manages to change between intimidating, cold and detached and passionate breakdown all within the space of a few seconds, this really is one of Cage’s finest performances and proves his strength as a performer. Likewise Alex Wolff is also terrific I believed his emotional damage and his strained relationship with his father and thought his whole performance dripped with nuance.

Overall, this could have very easily have been silly, but it isn’t it is deep and soulful and perhaps one of Cage’s best. Be careful how you view this film before you see it, as the trailers are deeply misleading. Well worth the watch.

Pros.

Cage

Wolff

The emotion

The bond between man and pig

Cons.

A little depressing at times

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