Author Archives: tldrmoviereviews

Black Bag – Movie Review

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TL;DR – Sexy, intriguing, delightful, and also a bit tense. In other words, it is an almost perfect spy film.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

A handgun on a wooden table.

Black Bag Review –

It has been a long time since I have seen a spy film perfectly capture that intrigue, where you, the audience, do not quite know what is going on, yet you are profoundly compelled to find out as the machinations of the story unfolds in front of you. Narratively, that is hard to pull off, especially in the modern era where we have seen most of the story tricks you would use in other films. However, in today’s entry, we find a movie that nails that with class.

So, to set the scene, George Woodhouse (Michael Fassbender) and Kathryn St. Jean (Cate Blanchett) look like your normal highly successful power couple, bar one thing: they both work for one of Great Britain’s security services. Kathryn is a renowned field agent, and George is a security specialist whose polygraphs are legendary. They work well together because they know where all the professional boundaries lie. However, this is thrown asunder when a key analyst, Meacham (Gustaf Skarsgård), discovers there are only five people who could have stolen a highly classified weapons program, and one of them is Kathryn. What is George to do? Well, maybe invite every suspect to his house for dinner.   

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Silent Zone – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A serviceable if somewhat frustrating zombie flick that does at least land the moments that count.  

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I was sent a screener of this film.

Bandits surround our heroes.

Silent Zone Review –

Well, the zombie film is back in vogue, and I am always interested to see how these concepts get translated across the world. Today’s film makes the most of its location work to explore a world that has fallen apart and the people trying to survive it.  

So, to set the scene, at the start of a zombie outbreak, Abby had the misfortune of watching her family get killed and try to turn on her. She would have joined the dead if it was not for a police officer, Cassius (Matt Devere), who killed her reanimated family. Ten years later, society has completely collapsed, and few survivors exist to live out a life of shrinking resources and constant threats of ferals. Abigal (Luca Papp) and Cassius live in the woods, two weeks away from an island of security. But when a scout from a herd finds them, they know time is not on their side.

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Mickey 17 – Movie Review

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TL;DR – Weird, I mean profoundly weird, but maybe not weird enough

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film

Warning – Some scenes may cause distress.

Starship over an icy planet.

Mickey 17 Review –

There are some movies that you will see just because they have a specific director attached to them. For me, one of those directors is absolutely Bong Joon-ho. My first introduction to his style of films was Okja, and what an introduction it was. Indeed, I’ll steal a moment from my conclusion and recommend watching Okja right now on Netflix, though it may change the way you view the world. This was followed by the phenomenal Parasite, which made me immediately hit yes when I got the invitation to see his follow-up: a weird political sci-fi about a man who can’t die.    

So, to set the scene, friends Mickey (Robert Pattinson) and Timo (Steven Yeun) made some bad deals on Earth, and to stop themselves from being cut up into little pieces by a load shark, they decided to jump on one of the new colony ships heading out into the beyond. Theirs is going to the icy world of Niflheim, and while Timo can sweet talk his way onto the ship, Mickey must sign up to be an ‘expendable’. This is someone who has his body and mind scanned so that they can take on dangerous jobs, and if they die, we just make a new one. Well, we start the film off with Mickey 17, who is currently in a very precarious position, and I am not sure anyone immensely cares.

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Inside Man (Gemini Lounge) – Movie Review

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TL;DR – It is an interesting character study, but I struggled to connect with any part of the film.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I was sent a screener of this film.

The perp board.

Inside Man Review –

Today, we are looking at a film that is steeped in tradition even before the ‘based on a true story’ moniker pops up on the screen. In the deep of the 1980s, New York who was full of mobsters, murders, and illicit substances. It has been a fodder for many films, including the one we are looking at today.   

So, to set the scene, we are in Brooklyn, New York, back in 1983 when Bobby Belucci (Emile Hirsch) was a cop at the crossroads. After finding another man with his wife and introducing that man to his fists, he was demoted to the backend of the department and stuck behind a desk. But one drunken night, Bobby gets the chance to change his fate when he saves the mobster Chris Rosenberg (Jake Cannavale), one of Roy Demeo’ (Danny Abeckaser) guys, from a stabbing.

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In the Lost Lands – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A dull, dreary production that is screaming to find something of substance, but it never happens.  

Rating: 1.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film

Broken wind turbines.

In the Lost Lands Review –

There is a genre of film that exists when you pair Paul W. S. Anderson and Milla Jovovich up, most notably found in the many Resident Evil films. There is a visual and narrative styling to these films that you can see even when they jump into different universes like Monster Hunter. It is a style that some people love, but I have struggled in the past. However, we will see if today is different.  

So, to set the scene, the world as we know it is gone, destroyed in a great war long ago. Now, there is only one real human city left under the control of ‘the church’ and ‘the overlord’. Outside of those walls is where the Lost Lands can be found. Full of danger and monsters. In that one city can be found Gray Alys (Milla Jovovich), a witch that is sometimes hunted by the church for heresy and other times sought out by those in power to do favours that she can never refuse. When Queen Melange (Amara Okereke) seeks the skin of a shapechanger, Gray needs to find a hunter who can help, and in the gambling halls, she sees the one person who can ford the Lost Lands, Boyce (Dave Bautista).   

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The Last Journey (Den Sista Resan) – Movie Review

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TL;DR – It was a fascinating and emotional film, but I did walk away with a number of questions that did not quite sit right with me.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

An orange car.

The Last Journey Review –

There are some films that you don’t know what you are getting yourself into before you sit down. Today, the fact that this film is called The Last Journey gave me a little guide on where we were going to drive. However, this is one of those films that no matter how prepared you are walking in, you will still be an emotional mess by the end [or in the first five minutes if you are me].

So, to set the scene, back in 2008, Lars Hammar retired from teaching to enter his glorious third age. However, instead of freeing himself to explore the world, Lars has retreated into his lovely armchair from Belgium and seems content to stay there until he passes. Well, his son Filip has decided that it is time to get his father out of whatever funk he has found himself in by taking him on the same journey to the south of France that they used to do every year when they were children. Show him the world from the back of a small orange vintage car and hope that they restart that spark in him. Well, that is the plan. The question is, can they even get out of Sweden?

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The Gorge – Movie Review

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TL;DR – The oddest meet-cute I have ever watched, which could have been interesting if that narrative was there to support it.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid for the AppleTV+ service that viewed this film.

A helicopter over a gorge.

The Gorge Review –

When you have been poorly sick for a while, it is hard to get that motivating spark going again. The more you are away, the more content you miss and the deeper the backlog gets. But sometimes, it is best to just dive headfirst into something and see what happens, which is what we did with our film today.  

So, to set the scene, Levi (Miles Teller) is a very successful sniper who has been out of the Marines for several years, working for private military contractors until he was deemed unfit to serve. He didn’t have a reason or drive to contest the results, but maybe an old spook that could command the Army around might give him that drive. He is taken to an undisclosed location in the middle of a no-fly zone, so secretive that they have scanners to stop it from being seen by satellites. Western powers control one side, the Eastern powers control the other, and there is one person on each side. But they are not stopping people from getting into the gorge. Oh no, they have to make sure what is in the gorge never comes out.   

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NCIS: Sydney – Fire in the Hole [S2E2] – TV Review

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TL;DR – Conceptionally, it was one of their stronger episodes, even if it was a bit silly.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Paramount+ service that viewed this series.

A Tall Ahip on Sydney Harbour with the Bridge in the background.

Historically, this series does its best when it makes the most of its dual nature of being designed for both Australian and American audiences. It creates friction and conflict where good stories lie. Today’s episode might be one of the better examples of this.  

So, to set the scene, two significant moments are happening for the crew of NCIS: Sydney. On the harbour, Jackson (Sean Sagar), Doc (William McInnes), and Evie (Tuuli Narkle) are exploring why a former navy officer has washed up on the shoreline in old-timey naval garb. Meanwhile, JD (Todd Lasance) and Mack (Olivia Swann) are organising the Force Protection Detail for the USS Perez. It should be a typical day, bar from the fact that the dead navy officer just showed up for work. We will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Captain America: Brave New World – Movie Review

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TL;DR – It is a perfectly serviceable film saved by a strong rapport between the cast and perfectly fine action sequences, but it was aiming for a level it did not have the strength to reach.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is an end-credit scene.

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

Celestial Island.

Captain America: Brave New World Review –

There are some films where you walk in with a healthy amount of trepidation, and for me, this was one of them. The Captain America films were always one of the highlights of the MCU for me, with Captain America: The First Avenger, Captain America: The Winter Soldier & Captain America: Civil War all scoring high on my best of MCU lists. I even enjoyed The Falcon and The Winter Soldier series, even if it was a bit uneven. But something about the production just felt off, and the need to drop the Red Hand into every trailer made it feel like they didn’t have much else to go with. Having watched it now, I think this was both a fair and, luckily, unfair suggestion.  

So, to set the scene, it has been several years since Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) took over the mantle of Captain America, and while things have been going well, they are about to be tested with the election of Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross (Harrison Ford) to United States President. We open in as Cap flies a mission in Mexico, recapturing a container captured by mercenaries led by Sidewinder (Giancarlo Esposito). The mission was a success, and Sam, Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez) and Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly) were invited to the White House to see the Celestial Island Treaty be signed. It was a perfect night right up until Isaiah stood up and tried to kill the president. Chaos erupts, and suddenly, the world is on the brink of war.

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Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy – Movie Review

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TL;DR – In a cup, add a heaped measure of situational comedy, a tablespoon of second-hand embarrassment & a squeeze of authentic charm. Shake it up and pour over the realisation that you are getting older & serve with a garnish of the exploration of life after death.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There are items during the credits.

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

Three figures release a single balloon into the air.

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy Review –

Now, I should be a bit clear: up until this point, I have never watched a Bridget Jones film before. When they first came out, I was very much not the target audience, but as you get older, you realise that target audiences are bogus and you should be experiencing a variety of medias. It also looked like this was going to be a bit of a soft reboot, so it was the perfect time to jump in. Little did I know just how right I was.  

So, to set the scene, it has been four years since Mark Darcy (Colin Firth) was tragically killed during a humanitarian mission overseas. Since then, Bridget Jones (Renée Zellweger) has been spending time at home trying to raise her two children alone, working through both their and her grief. But as the anniversary of Mark’s death draws near, Bridget is forced to look at her life and wonder if she is doing the right thing for her and her kids. But even though everyone has an opinion on how she should approach life, especially those nasty school mums, she needs to find her own way. But it won’t hurt if the new teacher Mr. Wallaker (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and local ranger Roxster (Leo Woodall) help change her perspectives.    

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