Category Archives: Movie Reviews

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A pure delight from start to finish in an absolutely stunningly realised world.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film

Gwen and Miles sit upside down looking at the sky line of New York.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Review –

If there is ever a tough act to follow, it is Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. A film that shifted an entire film production style that many movies like The Mitchells vs. The Machines and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish have taken onboard since. Indeed, I loved the movie so much that it sits on My Personal Top 10 Animated Films of All Time. There is no way a sequel could like up to that legacy … but hear me out … what if it could.

So to set the scene, It has been one year since the event of the last film, and Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld) has been struggling with being all alone again after finding a kindred spirit with Miles (Shameik Moore). However, when a Vulture (Jorma Taccone) from a Renaissance-style universe trashes the Guggenheim Museum, she discovers that the Spider-verse is not closed off. But also her dad George Stacy (Shea Whigham), finds out she is Spider-Woman, and tries to arrest her. This could have ended badly without the rescue from Miguel O’Hara / Spider-Man 2099 (Oscar Isaac) and Jessica Drew / Spider-Woman (Issa Rae), for a Spider-Society is protecting the Multiverse from all threats, and Gwen is the newest member.

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Renfield – Movie Review

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TL;DR – At times, it is a delightful bloody mess, but it does struggle in places

Rating: 3 out of 5.

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

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

Dracula.

Renfield Review –

Some genres in cinema are almost timeless and resurge from time to time. The last time vampires surged to the front, they were sparkly and problematic for various reasons. But with the recent strengths of What We Do in the Shadows, it was only time until someone took that energy into the cinema space, and that is what we are looking at today.

So to set the scene, we open with Renfield (Nicholas Hoult) giving a little back history of his life since he rocked up to Count Dracula’s (Nicolas Cage) castle at the start of the 20th century. When Dracula gets injured by sunshine when hunters attack, Renfield moves the two to New Orleans to set up in the dilapidated Charity Hospital. Renfield needs to find victims to help Dracula heal, so he attends a co-dependent relationships self-help group where he hunts for abusers. However, one day while protecting Rebecca (Awkwafina) from Tedward Lobo (Ben Schwartz) and his henchmen, he saves many innocent lives, sending him on a crash course with his master.  

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Plane – Movie Review

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TL;DR – Not the biggest or most bombastic action film I have seen, but it knows precisely what it wants to be and makes it work because of that.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid for the Amazon Prime service that viewed this film.

Place Seatbelts light flashing.

Plane Review –

For a long time, if you went to watch a Gerard Butler action film, you knew entirely what you would get. Some fun moments but no real substance. However, Greenland changed all that, and suddenly things became interesting again. But the question is, can that interest last?   

So to set the scene, Brodie Torrance (Gerard Butler) is running through security, which is important because he is the plane’s pilot. It feels like a relativity typical run on New-Years Day, bar for some weather and for a surprise passenger Louis Gaspare (Mike Colter), who is being extradited for a murder. But then a lighting strike takes out all the avionics and radio, giving them only 10 minutes to land the plane before they drop out of the sky. They make a miraculous landing, but getting the plane down might be the easy part.  

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Asterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom (Astérix et Obélix: l’Empire du Milieu) – Movie Review

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TL;DR – While it captures the vibe of the original comics, some choices kept ripping me out of the film.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There are many mid-credit scenes

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix service that viewed this film

The village.

Asterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom Review –

Growing up, one of my joys was going to the library and finding a new Asterix comic I had never read before. Then I got old enough to understand that all the names were puns, and a new world opened up. I know they have done a couple of live-action movies before, but now was a chance to see if they could capture that joy from the original comic.

So to set the scene, it is 50 BC, and all of Gaul has been concurred by the Roman Empire … well, not all of Gaul because on the coast, one village holds out. Four Roman camps at Totorum, Aquarium, Laudanum, and Compendium surround the village but still cannot concur. Out in the forest hunting for boar are the titular Asterix (Guillaume Canet) and Obelix (Gilles Lellouche), who show why the village can not be concurred thanks to the magic potion brewed by the druid Getafix (Pierre Richard). But one day, a surprise chariot arrives in the village carrying Princess Fu Yi (Julie Chen) from China escaping a forced marriage with Deng Tsin Qin (Bun Hay Mean), and our pair have to go off on a new adventure.   

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Hypnotic – Movie Review

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TL;DR – This is a fascinating mess of a film, more of a vibe than anything else.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit scene

Disclosure – I paid to see this film

Ben's eye.

Hypnotic Review –

Sometimes a film comes out of nowhere with no press, no mentions, just all of a sudden, a Ben Affleck/Robert Rodriquez jam is in cinemas. Well, if nothing else, that fills me with intrigue, especially when I have no idea what I am getting into.

So to set the scene, Danny Rourke (Ben Affleck) is sitting in his therapist’s office wondering if he will be approved to return to duty. His daughter had been kidnapped, and even though the perpetrator was captured, there was no body. But as he walks out, his partner Nicks (J. D. Pardo) has a mission for him, Banks across America are being attacked, and no one knows how they are doing it. But as they arrive at the Bank of Austin, after a tip about security box 23, Danny sees a man (William Fichtner) walk up to people, say four words, and then they lose control of their lives.

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Fast X – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A high-octane blast from start to finish, with a bombastic style that only this series can pull off.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit scene

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

Warning – There are many flashing lights in this film

Dom drifts his car.

Fast X Review –

If you had asked me which new film from 2001 would spawn so many sequels that you could legitimately call it a Saga, it would not have been The Fast and the Furious. I mean, it was not a bad film. Indeed it was an interesting spin on a standard narrative setup. But I struggled to connect with the series until I watched Fast Five. It was then that I got it. I bring this up because we might be at the 10th film, but we are diving back into the past.

So to set the scene, we open ten years in the past as Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker) rip a vault out of a police station and onto the streets of Rio de Janeiro. It was a great success, but in the process, they kill Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida) and knock his son Dante Reyes (Jason Momoa) into the bay. Ten years later, Dom is teaching his son Brian Marcos (Leo Abelo Perry) how to drive, and all is well with the family when a knock on the door reveals a wounded Cipher (Charlize Theron). She warns him that someone is out to get him and his family, which is a problem because Roman (Tyrese Gibson), Tej (Chris “Ludacris” Bridges), Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel), and Han (Sung Kang) are in Rome, and no one can contact them.

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Crater – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A fun yet grounded film that knows when to pack an emotional punch.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

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

They look up at the blue gem of Earth in the sky.

Crater Review –

I always look forward to an interesting new take on the science fiction world. Still, as we look out into the wide world, it has been nice to see something a bit closer to home get some of the limelight recently with Ad Astra, Moonfall, The Wandering Earth II, and more. The Moon, or Luna, benefits from being right there but just out of our grasp. It beckons from a time in our past and might also be a building block of our future. There are many stories to tell, and today we look at a fascinating combination of a coming-of-age film and a road trip movie, all outside the atmosphere.  

So to set the scene, up above the pale blue dot that is the Earth lives the Moon, and in 2257, it was home to the Lunar Mining Colony. As a meteor storm comes and lockdown is declared, we find that several people are not in their quarters but are in the process of stealing a rover. Caleb Channing (Isaiah Russell-Bailey) and his friends Addison Weaver (Mckenna Grace), Dylan (Billy Barratt), Borney (Orson Hong) & Marcus (Thomas Boyce) crack into the rover’s circuitry to try and hot-wire it. Caleb just lost his father, Michael (Scott Mescudi), in the mines and is about to be sent to the new Colony of Omega, 70 years away. Before he leaves in three days and never sees his friends again, the group decides to go on a road trip to the once place Caleb’s parents liked on Luna, a crater.  

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The Mother – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A straightforward action film that is elevated by a strong bond.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix service that viewed this film

An explosion of Ice and Fire.

The Mother Review –

In recent years, it has been nice to see many actors have a resurgent cinema career. One of those has been Jennifer Lopez, who jumped back with Hustlers, then Marry Me, and now we shift to the world of Action with The Mother, and she fits well into this world.

So to set the scene, it is a quiet morning in suburban Linton, Indiana, where an FBI safe house is nestled between all the homes. It is here where FBI Agent William Cruise (Omari Hardwick) is debriefing a new informant, The Mother (Jennifer Lopez), about her role in securing an arms deal between Hector Álvarez (Gael García Bernal) and Adrian Lovell (Joseph Fiennes). When the safe house is breached by armed assailants and all the FBI agents are shot, we discover that there is a reason that they are hunting The Mother. However, she has more than a few tricks of her own, and it is not only her life she is protecting.  

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Book Club: The Next Chapter – Movie Review

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TL;DR – While it might not stick the landing, it is still an improvement on the first film, and the friend dynamic completely works.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There are some photos during the credits

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

The Book Club ladies arrive in Rome.

Book Club: The Next Chapter Review –

Sequels are always a tricky beast to approach. There are few things worse in cinema than a follow-up to a film you loved falling over. However, this is not the case for me because I was not that impressed with the original Book Club. This means it is a case of seeing if the second swing at the ball can hit.

So to set the scene, the members of the book club Diane (Diane Keaton), Vivian (Jane Fonda), Sharon (Candice Bergen), and Carol (Mary Steenburgen), were going well until they had to shelter in place due to Covid, but that is only going to last a week. Many, many months of Zoom later, the women finally meet up for their next in-person book club, but Vivian has a surprise, an engagement ring. The shock and surprise were strong, but after that passed, there was an opportunity. Because back in the day, the four of them wanted to go on a holiday in Italy, and well, a bachelorette party was a fantastic excuse to fix a past wrong.

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Book Club (2018) – Exploring the Past

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TL;DR – A hyper-specific film that, while charming at times, also feels locked in a time long past.  

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit scene

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix service that viewed this film

Women look out a window.

Book Club Review –

There are many reasons to watch a film, and if I am going to be completely honest with you, the one we are watching today probably would not have been the one I would have picked. I could say that this is all a part of my trying to broaden the films I watch, which I am. But the truth is that I have to see the sequel tomorrow for a review, and it felt like this was one of those films where you need the context before proceeding. It is not the best reason for watching a film, but it is also by far not the worst.

So to set the scene, for over 40 years, through marriages, divorces, deaths, children, and hotel remodelling, four women, Vivian (Jane Fonda), Diane (Diane Keaton), Sharon (Candice Bergen), and Carol (Mary Steenburgen) have all come together each month for a book club. Each of them is at a precipice in their lives as new or old things come crashing in. It is within this world that Vivian chooses Fifty Shades of Grey and their world changes.

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