No Time To Die: The Ending Bond Deserves

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

-There are spoilers within so don’t read this until after the film.

Summary

James Bond has to come out of retirement to fight a new threat that is far closer to those he loves than he realises.

-HUGE SPOILERS

I can’t believe they did it. They actually did it. For months I have been reporting that this film would kill off Bond and for months people said I didn’t know what I was talking about. Looks like I was right. Yes, Bond is blown up whilst poisoned and severely wounded, there is no way he is shaking that off. I am impressed by the creatives for doing this, as it does bring the Bond franchise to a close but in a very meaningful and poignant way. I really do hope going forward the universe focuses on the other OOs rather than bringing back Bond from the dead; if they do that this becomes a much worse film.

I have never been a huge Bond fan, this and Skyfall were the only two of Craig’s tenure that I thought were good. I thought the emotional maturity of this film was a refreshing touch, Bond is flawed, he makes mistakes, he looks to others for approval, rather than just walking into the room and having everyone thinking he is great and then throwing themselves at him. In that regard I thought the humour in this film really landed for me, there were a number of good jokes that made me chuckle over the course of the film’s runtime and I appreciated that.

My criticism of the film would be that it is very long, and as a result has pacing issues. There is a lot to get through with this film and a lot of it is very dark and that creates a heaviness which makes the film hard to get through. I would say more comedy might have helped in this regard, or obviously shortening the length.

Overall, a good swan song for an aging franchise, please don’t bring Bond back.

Pros.

The humour

The ending

The emotional maturity

Craig

Cons.

Pacing issues galore

Rami Malek’s villain needed more development

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Spectre: Bond Defeats His Targets By Putting Them To Sleep

2/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Bond, Daniel Craig, is back to uncover and defeat a conspiracy close to home and one that links all the Craig era bad guys.

So I will open this by saying I am not a big Bond fan, I have seen a fair few of them and they have their moments, but to me they were never as good as the Bourne films.

This film was painful to get through, whoever edited it should be fired. An opening that drags on and on before anything even remotely interesting happens, followed by a story that meanders at nearly every turn seems almost like it is going out of its way to bore audiences. Self-indulgent would be the word I would use for it.

Moreover, it is painfully clear to see that Craig does not want to be there. He has the dead-eyed stare of a man who deeply regrets signing a contract but must now follow through. When you compare how he is in this film to the other Craig era bond films, or any of his other performances he just seems so turned off, so disengaged which almost becomes infectious as the film progresses.

The mystery is painfully dull and seems to add more complexions to itself simply to pad out the runtime. The villains are generic and are nothing we haven’t seen time and again before in previous films. The only character that actually got my attention was Dave Bautista’s Mr Hinx, he was an interesting character that could have been an intimidating villain for Bond, but no they killed him off.

Overall, this is why the series needs to retire.

Pros.

It is watchable

A few neat visuals

Cons.

It badly paced

The mystery is awful

No one bar Bautista looks like they want to be there

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Captain America The Winter Soldier: If A Government Agency Wants The Ability To Kill Anyone Anywhere Generally They Are Evil.

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Captain America, Chris Evans, is forced to question what and who he is fighting for, when Shield, the government agency he has been fighting for turns out to be overrun with nefarious forces hellbent on world domination.

Until Antman and the Wasp came out this was my favourite MCU film. I watched it several times when it first came out, but this is my first time rewatching it since. Whilst I still think this is one of the best films in the MCU, I can see that there are issues with it that I didn’t see the first time around namely the pacing.

I enjoyed the deeply personal feel of the film, and the great character work between Cap and those around him. I think the character interactions are at their strongest with Cap and Scarlett Johannsson’s Black Widow, with this really being the film for me where she really came into the character and established a firm presence within the MCU. Moreover, I like the set up and building friendship between Cap and Sam Wilson, Anthony Mackie. Evans and Mackie have strong chemistry together and this makes for a number of strong humorous scenes.

I thought the Hydra twist worked really well and is an excellent choice to reset the MCU status quo. Moreover, the return of Bucky, Sebastian Stan, now as a villain is a stroke of genius as it furthers the emotional and moral burden on Caps shoulders. Even when first watching I knew the film was going to bring back Bucky as I was familiar with the character from the comics, however for those who are not familiar with the source material this would have been quite a surprising reveal I am sure.

Chris Evans performance as Cap is even better than it was in the first film, and that is saying something. He plays the do-gooder who no longer knows how to do good so well, and I enjoy the morality of the character and his decisions this time around. I think Evan’s performance emotes this split in the character, and he does a lot without saying very much at all. Certainly one of the best performances in the MCU.

Overall, a strong MCU film that has a few slow scenes but on the whole manages to be one of the best films in the MCU.

Pros.

Evans

Johansson

The twist

The Winter Soldier

Cons.

The pacing is off

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Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy: A Circus In Pandemonium

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

There is a mole somewhere in British intelligence and a veteran intelligence officer is brought out of retirement to find out who it is.

This film is basically a who’s who of older British leading men they are all there and are all excellent. I thought it was nice to see Colin Firth and Mark Strong share the screen together, several years before they would do so superbly in the first Kingsman film, they have great chemistry. I think Gary Oldman ends up stealing the show with this performance, though it is a very close race as there is a lot of talent on display here.

I found the mystery to be engaging and surprisingly well structured, it kept me guessing right up until the end, I did not figure it out. I thought the reveal we got was satisfying in the end, though I thought the tease we got throughout the film of who could it be, With each agent looking guilty at different times was equally as enjoyable.

I found the film to be paced well for the most part with the mystery being enough to keep me engaged throughout, with the reveals and revelations being spread out enough for each section of the film to feel like it matters. The one thing I would say is that there are a few dialogue scenes in the midsection of the film that do run a bit long in terms of keeping you, or at least me, interested, they could have done with being shortened.

Overall, a strong British spy mystery film.

Pros.

The acting

The mystery

The pacing

Oldman steals the show

Cons.

A few slow dialogue scenes

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SAS Red Notice: Ruby Rose Finally Gives A Good Performance

Written by Luke Barnes

SAS: Red Notice is a British action thriller film directed by Magnus Martens, based on the book of the same name by Andy McNab. The plot sees the British government turn on a family of mercenaries in their employ when one of the many atrocities committed runs the risk of being traced back to senior figures. A cat and mouse game ensues.

This seems to be a week of humility for me, first I was wrong about the Snydercut and now I am wrong about Ruby Rose- well partially. So, as some of you may know I have strong doubts about Rose as an actor, in that she can’t act or emote with her face. However, the one thing she can do is be a convincing action star and this film proves that. She commands the screen as the unhinged psychopathic villain intent on making the world pay and manages to sell herself as an action presence.

However, Rose is easily out acted by veteran performers such as Noel Clarke and Andy Serkis. By and large the acting in this film is good. The lead performance from Sam Heughan is a little weak, but maybe that was on purpose as the film reveals his character to also be a psychopath and to struggle with emotions.

The film does focus a lot of its time and energy especially in the third act on psychopaths and how they differ from everyone else, and whilst I think it is a fascinating aside that I would love to see more explored elsewhere, it does steal focus away from the film and derail it a little bit.

Though for the most part I enjoyed this film my main issue with it would be that it reduced Hannah John- Karmen, a very gifted actor (who has appeared in Netflix’s The Stranger, as well as playing Ghost in Antman And The Wasp), down to basically a damsel in distress/ girlfriend character, which feels incredibly reductive.

Overall, a strong action film with a few interesting asides, sadly these asides derail the plot and from that position the poor performances are even more visible.

Pros.

Rose as an action star and not as an actor

Some good action/ thrills

Clarke and Serkis

The ending

Cons.

Derailment

Poor acting from some of the cast

4/5

Six Minutes To Midnight: Peak Britishness

Six Minutes To Midnight is a British spy thriller film directed by Andy Goddard. The plot sees Thomas Miller (Eddie Izzard), a British spy sent to infiltrate a boarding school for the daughter of the Nazi high command operating on British soil mere weeks before the onset of WW2.

There is something so British about a period piece, set around the war, and featuring Judy Dench; it is almost like a Britishness trifactor.

When I first saw the trailer for this film, I thought it was going to be a very tense spy film. However, when I watched it my expectations were met, though they were also a little underwhelmed at the same time. Yes, there is some spy thriller elements, but the film could do with losing a few of the slower sequences in favour of more sustained prolonged tension. Like honestly, I don’t care that one of the girls clearly feels left out from the rest, this is not a coming of age film, I want spy thrills.

Izzard handles most of the dramatic heavy lifting and manages to have quite a few strong character moments. I would dare say she is the strongest performer in this film, yes even out performing Dench and veteran actor Jim Broadbent. However, that might not be that hard as neither is given much to do, and Dench is just playing the same character she always plays, a sassy old woman.

The villainous reveal in this film also receives a portion of my ire, it is so painfully obvious. I won’t spoil it for you, but from the opening few minutes you will be able to guess it.

Overall, Izzard is trying to keep this film together and just about manages thanks to some strong tension and character moments. However, the film could do with being trimmed down and with having Judi Dench and Jim Broadbent being given far more to work with.

Pros.

Izzard

Some strong tense sequences

The ending

Cons.

Wastes a large amount of the cast

The identity of the villain is painfully obvious

3/5

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

Johnny English Reborn: Forget Wick, Hunt, Reacher, Bourne and Eggsy, This Is Bond’s Real Competition

Johnny English Reborn is a comedy spy film directed by Oliver Parker. The plot sees international super spy Johnny English (Rowan Atkinson), come back from disgrace to find the world at the mercy of mysterious evil organisation Vortex, naturally he is the only man who can stop them.

In all honesty this film didn’t need to be made, the first Johnny English works as a perfectly fun standalone adventure, but as the rules of the industry go if something makes a little bit of a profit it must be mined for all it is worth. There is little new here that you haven’t seen before, nor is there any character development or plot intrigue to make it worth your time.

Atkinson is fine here, but again it is nothing you haven’t seen in the previous film. The real star of the show here is Agent Tucker (Daniel Kaluuya), who shines despite only being a glorified side kick. Him and Atkinson have a strong repour that is fun to watch.

The comedy didn’t really do much for me, again it was a retread and a rehash. It was watchable, but it never made me laugh or even smile really, but comedy is subjective. The plot feels like clutching at straws and the big-name actors who are brought in to try and sell more seats, don’t add all that much.

Overall, a deeply needless sequel, that only serves to stretch the jokes and the characters further- breaking both in the process.

Pros.

Daniel Kaluuya

It is very watchable

Cons.

It does not justify its existence

It isn’t funny

The new characters, other than Kaluuya’s Tucker, add nothing

2/5

Reviewed by Luke

Anna: A New Start For Luc Besson

Anna is a spy film directed by Luc Besson. The plot sees Anna (Sasha Luss), forced into a world of calculating intelligence officers and kill or be killed mentalities.

The first half an hour of this film is brutal to sit through, honestly I need to say that now because if I didn’t and you went straight into it then you might turn it off before it gets good. Yes, that is right despite an incredibly dull opening half hour the other hour and a half is surprisingly strong.

The plot jumps around a lot in time which is normally a problem for me, but here I enjoyed it. Besson uses the time jumping narrative to show all of the backstabbing and double dealing, which builds a nice sense of tension and suspense throughout the film that expertly comes to a head in the film’s final act.

Luss is a memorable lead, she nails the physicality maybe even better than Theron in Atomic Blond and is a very believable assassin. However, where her character suffers is in the personality department, in that she doesn’t really have one she is quite bland and charmless. In terms of charm her performance is blown out of the water without question by Cillian Murphy as the charismatic head of the CIA. Murphy as well as Helen Mirren make this film what is it.

Overall, if you can get past a diabolical first half an hour you will find a very enjoyable spy thriller that has no reason to be as good as it is.

Pros.

Sasha Luss

Cillian Murphy

The time jumps

The action

Cons.

The awful first half hour

3.5/5

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