28 Years Later – Movie Review

TL;DR – A wildly fascinating film, filled with interesting creative choices. I am not sure that makes it a great movie, but it does make it a wildly engaging one.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid to see this film.

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

Warning – Contains flashing lights.

Blood splattered across a television playing Teletubbies.

28 Years Later Review

In the last year or so, we have been inundated with sequels to old films with a significant gap since the previous movie. Think Beetlejuice Beetlejuice or Gladiator II. Well, today we are dipping into the Zombie genre with a sequel that is just as long, but probably works from an alliteration perspective [as long as we ignore months, and let’s be honest, who hasn’t done that at one point]

So, to set the scene, we open in the throughs of the first rage virus outbreak as carnage spreads across the Scottish Highlands. 28 Years Later, the rage virus has been stopped in Europe and now the British Iles are quarantined. No one can leave once they touch the ground. Settlements are few and far between, but on an island off the British coast, a community has survived on Holy Island. Where only a tidal causeway connects with the mainland. Spike (Alfie Williams) lives on the island with his mother Isla (Jodie Comer) who is profoundly sick, and Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) his father. Jamie desperately wants to take Spike out on his first killing trip, more than a few years before the town would like them to. But as they explore a fallen world they come across something they are not ready for, an Alpha (Chris Gregory/ Chi Lewis-Parry).

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The Bikeriders – Movie Review

TL;DR – While this film is a beautiful character feature, however, its pacing and subject matter make it difficult to connect and care.  

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.

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

Tom Hardy rides into town.

The Bikeriders Review

Today, we are looking at an interesting film because it has been a weird rollercoaster for me. When I first heard of the premise and cast, I was so giddy. It was a combination that had to be seen to be believed. But then that first trailer dropped … and it was not great. I came into this screening with more than a bit of apprehension that ended up being a little justified.

So, to set the scene, it is 1965 and fresh new journalist and photographer Danny Lyon (Mike Faist) is interviewing people from the Vandals motorcycle club. Of particular interest was Kathy Cross (Jodie Comer), who entered this world as an outsider before falling in love with the dangerous but charming Benny (Austin Butler). Everything is going well under the watchful eyes of leader Johnny Davis (Tom Hardy). But the question is: is that security earned, or is everything on the cusp of falling apart?

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Free Guy – Movie Review

TL;DR – A film that works through the sheer charisma of its cast but left me feeling hollow when I left.    

Rating: 3 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid to see this film

Free Guy. Image Credit: 20th Century Studios.

Free Guy Review

I had wanted to catch Free Guy for a couple of weeks now, but schedules never lined up, well that was until today when I managed to slip in just in time for the start of the film. I was intrigued because I like Ryan Reynolds as an actor, and I enjoy the video game/streaming intersection that the game is delving into. However, as I walked away from the cinemas there felt like a lot of opportunities were not taken. 

So to set the scene, every day, Guy (Ryan Reynolds) wakes up, wishes his goldfish a good morning, gets a coffee, and goes to work at the bank, where he gets robbed multiple times a day. Because Guy is an NPC (non-player character) in the video game Free City. However, one day he notices one of the player characters in the game is humming a song that he loves, and it breaks him from his gameplay loop. It is here where he discovers a whole new world is just under his fingertips … or glasses.

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