A United Kingdom: One Of Africa’s Greatest Romance’s

A United Kingdom is a British biographical romance drama film directed by Amma Asante. The plot follows the real-life story of Sir Seretse Khama (David Oyelowo), and Ruth Williams (Rosamund Pike) Khama, a king to be who defied the world and married a common English women. Their love was met with hate and strife at damn near every turn, but they kept fighting.

I think this film is a triumph, it was sweet, compelling, and also infuriating and a bit sickening at times. Film’s like this highlight how far as a society we have come, but also how much further we have to go.

I found the romance between Oyelowo and Pike to be entirely believable, they had a strong chemistry that carried throughout the film. Both actors gave incredibly good performance with Oyelowo’s maybe taking the cake. The part when he is speaking to his people and trying to convince them why he has brought an English woman to be there Queen and he has tears rolling down his face is nothing short of powerful.

My one complaint of the film would be that it has pacing issues, as is often the case with biographical film, I understand that it has a lot of history to tell as it doesn’t want to leave anything out, but it feels a lot longer than 111 minutes.

Overall, a strong film that you need to watch. The love on display is compelling and proves that if we are ever to overcome hate we must all embrace the love we have for each other.

Pros.

Believable chemistry

David Oyelowo

Rosamund Pike

Powerful and effecting

Cons.

It feels much longer than it actually is

4/5

Reviewed by Luke

Patriots Day: A Sombre Moment In American History

Patriots Day is a true story based crime drama film directed by Peter Berg based on the Boston Marathon Bombing and the ensuing man hunt for the suspects.

I do enjoy a trashy Wahlberg action film, but I have to say I was unprepared for this. I went into this film expecting it to be very loud and to follow Mark Wahlberg’s Tommy Saunders as he beats up various groups of people trying to find out who did it. This is not that. It is a surprisingly sombre affair, wherein Marky Mark actually shows some strong drama chops and makes you feel something.

I am not going to lie to you as the film’s closing credits were rolling I had a fair few tears in my eyes.

I liked the fact that the film seemed to be respectful of the events that happened, it did not try and turn it into a bit of raar raar patriotism, it simply tried to stick to the events as they happened and showed the bravery of those on the ground; it seemed primarily interested in doing right by the victims and that I can respect.

It was interesting to see Alex Wolff playing a straight up evil monster here, as up until this point he hasn’t really branched out into that sort of performance before. I found him to be quite menacing.

Overall, I appreciate the way Berg and others chose to tell this story, it felt impactful and respectful and Wahlberg showed us all that he can act.

Pros.

Mark Wahlberg

Handles the subject matter with respect

It was impactful

Alex Wolff

Cons.

It does feel a little busy and like it is trying to cover too many people’s stories.

4.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Johnny English Strikes Again: Emma Thompson Is The Prime Minster We Never Knew We Needed

Johnny English Strikes Again is a British spy comedy film directed by David Kerr. The plot sees English (Rowan Atkinson), come out of retirement to save the world when all of M17’s current operatives become known to the public therefore rendering them inefficient as spies.

I will give this film some props for feeling more like a continuation of the first film rather than a retread of it, like the second film. I thought bringing back Bough (Ben Miller), was an inspired move as the two have great chemistry together.

The comedy here has the added dimension of having Johnny be at odds with the modern world and not understanding technology, which is funny briefly for the first ten minutes or so. However, once again I don’t find the rather obvious slapstick comedy funny and I find that it pushes the film to be more and more like Mr Bean.

I find the idea of an evil tech CEO as the baddie a touch predictable at this point, it has been done to death and this does nothing new with it. We need to move away from these sort of cliches.

I enjoyed seeing Emma Thompson as the Prime Minster and whenever she was on screen I found myself laughing and enjoying the film that bit more. She is definitely the highlight of the film.

Overall, a step forward after Reborn, but even still it is far too repetitive and clichéd, also the slapstick humour is getting actively worse film on film.

Pros.

Bringing back Bough

Emma Thompson

Johnny Vs. Tech is mildly funny

Cons.

The evil tech CEO is cliché

The slapstick is overused

It doesn’t justify its existence

3/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Croods: Not The Nicolas Cage We Needed, Nor The One We Deserved

The Croods is an animated fantasy family film directed by Kirk DeMicco and Chris Sanders. The plot follows a family as their way of life is threatened and they come to realise that the only way to survive is to adapt. Also it is set during the prehistoric era.

The animation models on this one are bad, there is something a bit too uncanny about them that is off putting, not to mention the fact that Eep (Emma Stone), is designed in quite a sexual way, which as we are never quite sure her age is deeply troubling.

I feel like I have seen this film hundreds of times before, yes maybe not set in cave men times, but a very similar story arc. I understand that Hollywood is a creatively bankrupt place but come on. All of the twists and turns are painfully obvious, and everything is sign posted from the start of the film. Oh the father Grug (Nicolas Cage), doesn’t like change, I wonder what intricate arc they will give him, oh he just learns to embrace change. The growth.

The voice cast are all very eh, I don’t think any of them are really trying. It seems to be a for the money venture through and through, which is upsetting as the idea of a Nicolas Cage fronted animated film was something that really did intrigue me.

Overall, boring, bland and been there done that, the animation is creepy and off putting as well, so give this one a miss.

Pros.

It is watchable

Cons.

There is nothing new about it

The voice cast are wasted

The plot is blindingly obvious

The animation is awful and weirdly sexual

1/5

Reviewed by Luke

Kill Me Three Times: Simon Pegg Makes A Surprisingly Likeable Cold Blooded Killer

Kill Me Three Times is a dark comedy film directed by Kriv Stenders. The plot follows Alice (Alice Braga), a young bartender who is caught cheating on her gangster boyfriend by infamous hitman Charlie Wolfe (Simon Pegg), who is then tasked with killing her. There is also a side story of a couple who is trying to fake one of their deaths to win big on an insurance claim.

Usually, I don’t care for films that have narrative that jump here there and everywhere and that have multiple different narratives happening side by side, but here I think it works well. Each time we are shown the same events we are given that bit more detail which really helps you sink into the world and become immersed.

Simon Pegg plays the likeable though cold villain very well, I have enjoyed seeing Pegg take these villainous turns recently in his career as I think he can have a real maliciousness when used correctly. Here is an example of that despite the comical appearance and bumbling, to a degree, nature he is still incredibly threatening and intimidating.

I found the film to be quite well written. There were no groanable lines and all of the characters felt fully developed and you connected with them, which is pretty much everything you want from a well written script.

Overall, a very amusing and intriguing dark comedy that has surprising depth to it.

Pros.

The separate timelines

Simon Pegg

All of the characters felt real and well developed

The dark sense of humour

Cons.

Maybe a bit too much going on.

4/5

Reviewed by Luke

Scooby Doo And The Cyber Chase: Too Meta?

Scooby Doo And The Cyber Chase is a family mystery film directed by Jim Stenstrum. The plot sees Scooby (Scott Innes), and the Gang be sent into cyberspace to defeat an evil virus. The have to progress through various levels that harken back to their classic monsters, defeating each along the way.

I enjoyed the references to the classic series that are all over this film, to me in the final level when they brought back the various villains from the past it was nothing short of a cheer worthy moment. I also enjoyed the tongue in check metaness of having Scooby and co go into a videogame based on them. As we have covered before in my Scooby Doo reviews I am a sucker for metaness.

However, I think very much like Aliens Invade this film does not really understand what a Scooby Doo adventure is and tires to be something else, differing from the formula drastically; maybe too much. Although, the ending that I have mentioned does fix this issue.

I think for once it is not super obvious who the villain is, which is nice to see from one of these films. I understand that they are primarily for kids, but they are usually so damn obvious.

Overall, though this film does lose sight of what a Scooby Doo film is being maybe too meta, it does bring it full circle in a satisfying fan pleasing kind of way with references to the classic series, and the mystery isn’t obvious which I appreciated.

Pros.

The call backs

The metaness

Not an obvious mystery

Cons.

Maybe too much metaness

It drags and has pacing issues

The levels other than the final one with the classic monsters do nothing for me

3.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Broken Hearts Gallery: A Love Story For The Hoarders

The Broken Hearts Gallery is a romantic comedy film directed by Natalie Krinsky. The plot sees recently dumped Lucy (Geraldine Viswanathan), open up an art exhibit dedicated to all the items that people still have of their exes; post breakup. She hopes by doing this she can get some form of closure from her own breakup as well as help others find the same.

Forget Tenet, forget The New Mutants, this is the film cinemas need to get people to come back. There is something so communal about this film, it is something that we can all relate to, it is so personable that it is hard to not form some sort of attachment to it.

Yes, some of the lines are cringe (they name the film title in the dialogue multiples times), and they feel the need to throw in some hot topics here and there to prove that they’re trendy. However, in spite of these two things I found myself really getting into this film.

The comedy is strong, and it genuinely had me laughing quite a few times, I found Viswanathan to be a really likeable lead and easily the best thing about the film. The romantic chemistry between the leads is strong and believable and will drive you to finish the film to see how things end up.

Overall, this is just a warm feel good film, that is something I needed right now, and I am sure a lot of you reading this do too. It is not going to be the best film you’ll see all year, but it is a fun hour and a half and that is enough.

Pros.

The heart

The humour

Warm and wholesome

Very personable and relatable

Cons.

A few cringe lines throughout

4.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Scooby Doo On Zombie Island: A Taste Of Southern Hospitality

Scooby Doo on Zombie Island is an animated family mystery film directed by Hiroshi Aoyama, Kazumi Fukushima, and Jim Stenstrum. The plot see the Gang reunite after their mysteries have seemingly come to and end and each member has gone their separate ways. They travel to New Orleans to film a Most Haunted esque segment for Daphne’s (Mary Kay Bergman’s) new TV job.

This is the film that really kicked started the new era of direct to video Scooby Doo movies and is remembered by more than a few as the best amongst said films. Personally, I am more of a Witch’s Ghost person, but that is just me being a sucker for the ever-charming Tim Curry.

I enjoyed the meta feel of this film, much like Pirates Ahoy this film talked about the Scooby Doo franchise as a whole during the film in a very telling way, whilst keeping it in universe. I thought the writing in this regard was smart and well done.

I enjoyed the fact that this film feels like effort has been put into it, a sad thing to state I know, by that I mean there were songs created specifically for the movie, and the story felt like the result of careful planning and more crucially, a great deal of thought.

Overall, this is definitely one of the best animated Scooby Doo films, the love it has for the franchise is clear to see and it has many memorable moments.

Pros.

The metaness

The songs

The considered approach to why the gang have to reunite

It feels like it moves the story forward, rather than just being another throw away adventure

Cons.

It has some pacing issues

The reveal is obvious

4/5

Reviewed by Luke

Unpregnant: Dispelling Myths And Taboos, Redefining Female Friendship, The Most Important Film Of 2020

Unpregnant is a comedy drama film directed by Rachel Lee Goldenberg. The plot follows two friends as they drive cross country so one of them can have an abortion. Along the way the two rediscover their friendship and learn what it means to be a young woman in these modern times.

This film deserves all the applause you can give it, the way it handles the topic of abortion is frankly refreshing. It ignores the outdated, old fashioned and quite obviously patriarchal myths and taboos and just shows the truth of the matter, and how it is for young women going through this. It both shows the gravity of the decision, as well as the need to do what is right for yourself and your future.

I enjoyed how the film focused on religion and how much of a hold it can have over one’s life. Veronica (Haley Lu Richardson), is deeply religious and you can see how that societal pressure almost forces her to do something that would ruin her life. I was impressed by how the film was not afraid to show the extremism towards the matter, which is mainly brought about by religious reasons, even going so far as to show pro life people picking up the girls and effectively holding them prisoner so that they would miss their termination appointments.

Overall, I think this is an incredibly important film for a number of reasons, I think it starts conversations that we need to have, and normalises something that a lot of women go through in their life, and shows how an individual breaking away from their norm to protect their future despite communal pressure is always the right thing to do.

Pros.

It is brave, I know that term is overused but it is true here

It starts important conversations

It shows female friendship beautifully

It tears apart myths and lies on the subject

It is not afraid to get crazy

It is moving

5/5

Would give higher if I could

Reviewed by Luke

Love, Guaranteed: A Quest Of Thirst

Love, Guaranteed is a romantic comedy film directed by Mark Stephen Johnson. The plot follows Nick (Damon Wayans Jr), a man who has been on over 1000 dates with the dating website Love, Guaranteed and is still yet to find ‘the one’. Enter Susan (Rachel Leigh Cooke), a lawyer who is in desperate need of a winning case, sparks fly and love blooms.

This film very much gets worse as time goes on, the characters become more and more unlikable and considering the fact that start off as poorly conceived cliches you can imagine how bad they are by the end. The message of the film seems to be oddly inconsistent and change on the fly. At one point the film is pushing that it is wrong to guarantee love, but by the end of the film it is fine to guarantee love because the baddies payed the main characters some money; the film is morally bankrupt.

Wayans Jr tries his best to inject some much-needed charism into this film, because god knows that Cooke is a wet blanket, but the poor script leaves him with little to work with. Everything about this film feels artificial and as though it has been made by comity, that is to say everything feels just a bit too safe and false.

Overall, this is a very by the numbers rom com, you can tell no real thought or effort was put into it. The romantic spark isn’t there and the characters and their dialogue is just awful.

Pros.

Wayans is trying

Cons.

It is on for too long

It feels low effort

The leads have no chemistry

The characters start off as cliches and quickly get worse

0.5/5

Reviewed by Luke