Daddy’s Home 2: Mel Gibson As His Arsehole Self

Daddy’s Home 2 is a comedy film directed by Sean Anders. The plot this time around focuses on Brad (Will Ferrell) and Dusty’s (Mark Wahlberg) dads. As both grandfathers come into town to spend Christmas with their families, but can they all get along?

I want to preface this review by saying that I think Mel Gibson is an awful human being, the comments he made to Winona Ryder (which if you don’t know, I advise you to look them up), are nothing short of sickening. I personally don’t think he should still be getting work. That said I tried to ignore my feelings about him whilst writing this review.

The one thing I will give this film credit for, because this film is hot trash, is the fact that they made Mel Gibson’s character an asshole. It is done in an almost knowing way to real life, and it is implied that because he is such a terrible person that he screwed up Dusty, showing where being an asshole gets you.

The main reason I dislike this film, just like I disliked the previous film is the comedy. It is a mixture of too safe family friendly fluff that isn’t funny, painfully repetitive slapstick that boils down to oh look Brad has hurt himself again and mean-spirited hurtful jokes. Said jokes make even the nastiest most cynical Adam Sandler joke look happy and well intentioned, they make fun of things that just seem needless and in poor taste why?

The dynamic between the actors is fine, weaker than the last film and a world away from The Nice Guys, but it really isn’t enough to sit through this.

Overall, don’t touch this with a ten-foot pole avoid at all costs.

Pros.

They make Mel Gibson’s character an arsehole

Cons.

It is worse than the first film

The jokes aren’t funny

It either feels too safe or in poor taste

The chemistry between the leads is basically non-existent at this point

It doesn’t justify its own existence

0/5

Reviewed by Luke

Chill Out Scooby Doo: Casual, Seemingly Random, International Abduction

Chill Out Scooby Doo is an animated family mystery film directed by Joe Sichta. The plot sees the Mystery Gang’s holiday in Paris hijacked when Shaggy (Casey Kasem), and Scooby (Frank Welker), get kidnapped and taken to the Himalayas to act as bait for someone looking to trap the abdominal snowman.

So, I will admit I love the yeti/abdominal snowman so yes I might view this film a bit more favourably that I otherwise would have, though I have tried to control my bias of course for the purposes of this review.

This film feels like a return to the old ways of Scooby Doo, there is just one monster, there are no attempts to be meta (though in moderation those are a good thing), and there are no needless cameos. It is just the gang hunting a monster and then demasking it at the end.

Hell, I’ve reviewed quite a lot of these at this point and I have to officially say I have gone full circle. I started off apricating the Scooby Doo formula, then I grew sick of it and now after seeing how badly a lot of the Scooby Doo films turn out that don’t stick to the classic structure I am back to apricating it once again.

An issue I had with this film is the side story stuff. The High Lama felt crammed in to pad out the runtime, if done well this could have been like an extended version of one of the classic episodes, but no they had to stuff more in. Furthermore, as has been a recurring complaint, the Tibetan characters are little more than stereotypes and character cliches, which just feels irritating and lazy.

Overall, it has strong parts and weak parts, at its best it is a return to the classic formula and its worst it is still using the same old stereotypes and can be consider a bit offensive.

Pros.

The yeti

A return to the classic form

An interesting and not obvious mystery

Cons.

The stereotypes

The side story and characters

3/5

Reviewed by Luke

Hosts: An Easy Way To Ruin A Christmas Dinner

Hosts is a horror film directed by Adam Leader and Richard Oakes. The plot sees a sinister race of being possess people in an effort to take over the world. We follow two such possessed people who are invited round to their neighbour’s house to have Christmas dinner with murderous consequences.

This may be the best horror film that I have seen all year, as soon as you finish this review immediately watch it, it is that good. The reasons for this extreme compliment are as follows.

It is utterly engrossing; I couldn’t look away while I was watching it. I had to know what was going to happen next. In the beginning you have no idea what is going on, but as the film goes on more and more little details are revealed and then it all becomes clear. I would recommend a second watch with this one as you get a lot more out of it the second time.

The acting is superb the entire cast are terrific, but the two leads steal the show. Neal Ward as Jack perfectly captures a sadistic edge with such menace that it is a little unnerving. Moreover, Samantha Loxley is haunting and nothing short of demonic. The quiet family dinner scene that quickly turns into a bloodbath is propelled into being so much more by her performance.

I enjoyed the fact that this film builds an atmosphere rather than have cheap jump scares that everyone can see coming from a mile off. I thought the film’s scares were done well and used effectively to great result.

Overall, maybe the best horror film of 2020 don’t sleep on this one.

Pros.

The violence is brutal but effective

The ending

The performances

The atmosphere and the scares

Very hard to look away from

Cons.

None.

5/5

Would give higher if I could

Reviewed by Luke

Ride Along: The Angriest Man In The World

Ride Along is a buddy cop, comedy film directed by Tim Story. The plot follows Ben (Kevin Hart), an avid gamer who dreams of becoming a police officer and making his fiancé proud. One day said fiancé tasks Ben with winning her brother’s approval, so they can wed. The issue is that her detective brother James (Ice Cube), doesn’t think Ben is good enough for his sister. In an effort to see what Ben is made of James invites him on a ride along.

So, I have recently been going through the filmography of Kevin Hart, this is the third movie of his I have seen to date. Sadly unlike Night School and Get Hard, this one isn’t very good.

The issue with this film doesn’t lie with Hart however, he is mostly funny throughout. It is his on-screen foil that I find weakens this film. The buddy cop formula works when both characters are very different and are at odds with each other but are forced to work together, and though that is the case here it just doesn’t work.

Yes, James is the antiphrasis of Ben, but other than that he doesn’t feel like a character. The only emotion Ben seems to feel for the whole film is anger, I get that is the bit, but even still it makes the character feel very one note and cliché. He is the brother in law cliché, as well as the overprotective brother cliché to a tee and not much beyond that. Even when he is supposed to be happy, he comes across as angry- though maybe that is the result of Ice Cube’s lack of acting ability.

Overall, good for a few laughs, but the dynamic just doesn’t work.

Pros.

Hart

The videogame stuff

A few laughs to be had

Cons.

Most of the jokes don’t land

The buddy cop dynamic doesn’t work

Ice Cube feels miscast

2.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Enola Holmes: When In Doubt Dress As A Yard-worker

Enola Holmes is a mystery film directed by Harry Bradbeer; it is based on the book series of the same name written by Nancy Springer. The plot focuses on the youngest of the three Holmes siblings Enola (Millie Bobby Brown). Enola’s world is turned upside down when her mother disappears suddenly, as such Enola ventures out into the world to find her, becoming tangled up in a conspiracy to kill a young lord.

Before, I had watched this film I thought Millie Bobby Brown was a one trick pony, I thought she was good in Stranger Things and serviceable enough in Godzilla, but she hadn’t convinced me of her acting ability. Now after watching this film I can say she is incredibly talented, and is destined for big things, my change of heart is the result of her performance here.

I found her performance and her character to be the perfect encapsulation of female empowerment. She is self-determined and driven, she is always in control of her own fate, she is a badass, but crucially she evolves over time. If you look at something like the recent Mulan (review on site), that fails as an act of empowerment as she starts off great and becomes superhuman, this does not reflect reality. Whereas Enola in this film trains, she constantly strives to better herself and that can be seen throughout the film, she is rootable and believable as a result.

I found Henry Cavil to be a bit bland as Sherlock, they could have given him more to do, as is he is basically just a Victorian version of Geralt from The Witcher. That said his interactions with Sam Claflin’s Mycroft are perfect and the two play off each other well and are always a pleasure to watch.

Overall, a terrific start to a series and proof that Millie Bobby Brown is more than just the girl from Stranger Things.

Pros.

Female empowerment done right

Millie Bobby Brown

Sherlock and Mycroft

The mystery

Cons.

Some of the feminist talking points are a little on the nose

The romance is quite weak

4/5

Reviewed by Luke

Scooby Doo In Where’s My Mummy?: A More Adapt Question Would Be Where Is The Villain?

Scooby Doo In Where’s My Mummy directed by Joe Sichta. The plot follows the Mystery Gang as they head to Egypt to meet up with Velma (Mindy Cohen), who has been restoring the Sphinx, however as they arrive they realise that something is a foot and they find themselves in the centre of a century’s old supernatural mystery.

I have to say this might be the only Scooby Doo film that didn’t have a clear-cut monster, or a guy in a suit. Yeah they have a generic villain, but they are side-lined and ignored so much that you forget the film even has a villain. In the end when you have the big reveal scene you are left confused with only a vague remembrance of who the baddie even is.

Though I am impressed they didn’t go the generic route and have the monster be a mummy, I feel like the film as a whole might have been better served if they had gone that route, rather than have this confusing conspiracy angle that really doesn’t come together.

The only real positive I can give this film is that it does not make the Egyptian characters stereotypes, they feel like actually characters. This is hollow praise as this should just be standard, but some of these Scooby Doo films do like to throw out cultural stereotypes here and there.

Overall, a very confusing, bland mess.

Pros.

They didn’t go for the obvious

Cons.

The obvious might have been better than what we got

The villain is forgotten about and ignored

It is dull

It is not fun to watch

1/5

Reviewed by Luke

Happy Halloween, Scooby Doo: Bang Bang Bang, The Dumbing Down Of Today’s Youth

Happy Halloween, Scooby Doo is an animated family mystery film directed by Maxwell Atoms. The plot sees the Gang’s Halloween become interrupted by evil mutant pumpkins. Can they solve the mystery and salvage the night.

This film is not a Scooby Doo film, there should not be explosions and battle scenes in a Scooby Doo film, maybe Atoms wanted to make a different animated film, but they gave him this instead. Either way it does not understand what Scooby Doo is at all and it shows at every turn.

The mindless action lacks all the plot and story of previous Scooby Doo films that gave us memorable character moments that last the test of time. I knew something was up when they put in Scarecrow (the Batman villain), in for no real reason at all. I know Scooby Doo (Frank Welker), has teamed up with Batman in the past but this just feels random and done for no purely for fan baiting. I also disliked immensely how the film felt the need to reference as many Justice League characters as they could- Warner Brother you really need to get better with this in film product placement.

Likewise, the pandering to Bill Nye is obvious as hell. He was mildly in the popular culture a few years ago, but because executives don’t understand what kids like and are always out of date, he is all over this film and it is painfully cringe whenever he is on-screen. It feels like one of those bad Simpson’s episode when they centre the story around a trendy celebrity for a slight boost in relevance.

Overall, a badly thought out film that doesn’t seem to understand what a Scooby Doo film is, what the kids want, or who is trendy in the year of 2020.

Pros.

It is good background noise

Cons.

It is not a Scooby Doo film

It is dumbed down

It tries to hard to be trendy

It relies wholly on a celebrity cameo that most of the kids watching won’t know

Why is Scarecrow in this?

0.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Get Hard: What Is Your Mad Dog Face?

Get Hard is a comedy film directed by Etan Cohen. The plot follows James (Will Ferrell), an investment banker who is so rich he is almost untouchable, then one day he gets arrested for fraud. The industry giant is brought down, and his friends desert him. Faced with a long jail sentence he hires car wash attendant Darnell (Kevin Hart), to teach him how to survive prison; after James’ assumes based on Darnell’s race that he must have been to prison at some point in his life.

I must admit I am a new convert to Hart, but so far both of the comedy films I’ve seen him in have been very funny; this being the second. I think Hart’s pairing with Will Ferrell works well, they play off each other strongly and the race-based humour, which pokes fun at James’s inherent racism, feels both rewarding and also enlightening.

Though the comedy often skewed towards the low brow and the crude, I still found myself laughing. It was gross out, but not to the point of being off putting.

I thought though the story was predictable I liked where it went and thought that the film had the right amount of heart. I thought the friendship between James and Darnell felt not only real but earned.

Overall, a funny comedy film that never allowed my face to be without a smile.

Pros.

It is funny

Hart and Ferrell are a strong paring

The friendship feels earned by the end

It has many memorable moments

Cons.

It does go too low a few times and is quite predictable.

4/5

Reviewed by Luke

Robin Hood: Step Up 2 The Streets, How To Demystify And Ruin A Beloved Folk Character

Robin Hood is an action film directed by Otto Bathurst. The plot serves as a retelling of the classic tale, now imagining Robin (Taron Egerton), as a jaded crusader who has been betrayed by his country and stripped off his lands after he was falsely pronounced dead. Together with his dear friend Little John (Jamie Fox), he decides to take the fight to the powers at be, for the people.

You could be forgiven for thinking that this film and King Arthur Legend Of The Sword (review on site), are in the same universe they share a lot of similarities, including plot and colour pallet. Much like that film Robin Hood fails to establish itself in any meaningful way or decide what it wants to be, instead it cobbles bad ideas together leading to a hard to watch end project.

Egerton is trying his best here and he is a very believable action star, he carries the film in the physicality department, and you don’t doubt his Robin’s fighting abilities. However, he struggles in the dramatic, acting, part of the role. His character feels very two dimensional and is not very easy to warm too, yes he is a badass, and?

The wider supporting cast are forgettable, the only two that come close to leaving an impression is Foxx as Little John, though he is basically just a glorified sidekick, and Ben Mendelsohn as the infamous Sheriff of Nottingham. Much like Egerton Mendelsohn is good but this talents are widely wasted and used incorrectly.

Overall, this film fails as a franchise starter and as a Robin Hood film. The Russel Crowe epic is a much better telling of the same tale.

Pros.

Egerton

Mendelsohn

Cons.

The new take doesn’t add anything

The side characters are boring and forgettable

It is very predicatable

The ending is pure sequel bait

1/5

Reviewed by Luke

Ironclad: A Very American British War Film

Iron Clad is a British war film directed by Jonathan English. The plot sees a group of medieval swordsmen, some knights, some Templars, and some criminals, hold a fort against the mercenary army of King John (Paul Giamatti). Fighting desperately to uphold the Magna Carta, and to defeat a tyrant.

This is one of those films, very much like Iron Sky, that I have on my watchlist and like to put on when I feel the mood for pulpy violence or fantastical nonsense. Did it deliver on those fronts? Yes and no.

The violence I found to be bloody and brutal, which is what I was expecting and hoping for, but the camera kept cutting away in the heat of battle and it led to it feeling poorly shot, disjointed and oddly out of sequence. An example of what I am talking about is you would see something like a sword hit someone’s arm, then a cut to their eyes, then the arm would be hanging off. This to me screams of a film that was done on the cheap, which is not in and off itself a bad thing, but it is when it is this obvious.

The fantastical nonsense front was a bit better. I enjoyed the silliness of it all and how much of a blatant rip off of Magnificent Seven it is. I thought having Giamatti just talking with his normal accent and not even bother to do an English accent was a touch of genius, it pushed the film firmly into so bad it is good territory.

I am a big James Purefoy fan and I think he is trying his best here. He has a great amount of presence and he leaves an impact whenever he does something on screen, but his talents are wasted. His romance with Kate Mara’s character is also a little icky when you think of the age difference, but that’s just me.

Overall, it falls into so bad it is good territory and can be enjoyed for the sheer cheesiness of it, had the battles been shot better, it could have been genuinely good.

Pros.

James Purefoy

The stakes and the tension

It is almost comical at times

Cons.

The action is not well shot

It is highly derivative

3/5

So bad it is good for sure

Reviewed by Luke