Movie Review – BlacKkKlansman

TL;DR – Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman is at times hilarious, at times deeply provoking, and at no time will it hold your hand as it explores the deep centred racism in America (spoiler: it is not just America)

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

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

BlacKkKlansman. Image Credit: Focus Features/Universal Pictures

Review

I was not one hundred per cent sure what it was that I was getting myself into when I walked into to see BlacKkKlansman. I knew it was about a black police officer infiltrating the KKK and that it was based on a true story but that was about it. Spike Lee is a filmmaker whose work I am unfortunately not that familiar with, so was this going to be a comedy, was it going to play it straight, was it going to do both while being deeper for it? Well with that in mind let’s take a look at the race relations of the 1970s which in no way reflects on America of today … in no way …

So to set the scene, in 1972 Ron Stallworth (John David Washington) is hired as the first black police officer in Colorado Springs. While this is meant to be a step forward for race relations, Ron is hidden away in the records room taking abuse from his fellow police officers. That is until one day an important African-Amerian activist Kwame Ture (Corey Hawkins) comes to town and they need someone to go undercover at the speech and well every other member of the police force would stand out. It is here where he meets Patrice Dumas (Laura Harrier) one of the event organisers, and listens to the speech which focuses on promoting the cause of African people from white oppression, up to and including armed resistance. Happy with his success the police decide to move Ron into the intelligence division and on his first day he responds to an ad in the paper about a new KKK chapter starting up in the town. One slight problem, just a small thing really, but it kind of won’t work if they ever have a face to face meeting. So Ron enlists officer Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver), Ron is Ron on the phone, and Flip is Ron in person, and all of it flows from there.

Continue reading

Movie Review – Mission: Impossible – Fallout

TL;DR – Heart pounding, electric, bombastic, edge of seat, high octane, adrenaline rush, these are all things I would use to describe Fallout.

Score – 4.5 out of 5 stars

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

Hunt jumps out of a plane, he jumps out of a lot of things. Image Credit: Paramount Pictures/Bad Robot

Review

When I think back to 1996 when the first Mission: Impossible film came out all those years ago I can remember it being enthralling and as it was one of the first big action films I ever saw in the cinemas that opening mission still holds a special place in my personal cinematic history. However, I didn’t think I would still be talking about these films over twenty years later, I mean there were a lot of great action films in the 1990s but few if any have had the same persistence as Mission: Impossible. Now to be fair, not every film in the series has been a gem, and I even stopped watching after a while, but people told me I should catch the last entry into the franchise with Rogue Nation (see review) and I really enjoyed it. Well, jump forward to 2018 and the director/writer of that last film Christopher McQuarrie is back for a second jump into this world of spies. With this in mind, I had high hopes that they could continue the good work here, and I am so happy to say that they did.

Continue reading

Movie Review – The Boss Baby

TL;DR – Ok it is a really silly premise, but this aside, they actually do a really good job of creating a charming film, with some interesting characters.

Score – 3 out of 5 stars

P.S. There are Mid/Post Credits scenes (but you do not need to stay for them)

Boss Baby. Image Credit: Dreamworks.

Review

So you are living a great life just you and your parents, fighting space monsters, exploring the jungle, being swallowed by deep sea monsters only to be rescued by hot sauce, you know the normal childhood stuff. However, one day a cab pulls up and out pops a baby wearing a suit and your whole life is turned upside down. This is Boss Baby and yes it is a silly a set up as it sounds, made more silly by everyone committing to the framing device completely. So you probably already know if you are going to go see a movie about a talking business baby already, or you are a parent and have no choice … but as a film, even a really silly film, it actually is a surprisingly good one.

Continue reading

Movie Review – Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation

TL;DR – A surprisingly good entry into a long running franchise, who knew Tom Cruse could still be this engaging

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation. Image Credit: Paramount Pictures.

Review

So here we are the fifth film in a franchise which is something quite rare, even rarer is that it is the best of the franchise so far. So if you are unaware of what the Mission Impossible movies are all about let’s give you a quick rundown. The IMF is a secret intelligence organisation that takes on missions other spy agencies would find impossible, think of it like the American Bond (and the comparisons don’t stop there). This is the fifth instalment so there are a couple of things you take for granted when you go to see it, Tom Cruise is going to do some crazy stunt that even stuntmen would be like nope. A character is going to pull off their face to reveal that they are really someone else wearing a face mask, someone is going to get a message that will self-destruct in 10 seconds and Alec Baldwin is just going to be there to yell at things. All of these things happen and more, but the polish in which the actors, directors, effects people pull them off is remarkable.

Continue reading