Category Archives: Live Action Movie Reviews

Game Night Review

Posted on by
Reply

This review is of the edited TV-14 version of the film. All thoughts below should be addressed as such as a review of the unedited version would be more negative.

Game Night is one of those films doing its best to have a nice balance of being a parody while also having serious thriller moments. On the whole it’s definitely quite a bit of fun. Sub par writing does keep this film from being fantastic though and lowers it to just being a good movie. It has enough solid moments where I would say they overpower the bad ones but you can’t help thinking that it left a lot on the table.

The movie starts with showing us how competitive both Max and Annie are when playing games. Sabotaging the other team is just one of the many ways to win and they study for ages so that they are prepared for anything that comes their way. Eventually they end up getting married and continue the tradition of having their friends over for Game Night. They stopped inviting Gary over once he had a divorce though so they try to be low key now. Things all change when Max’s brother Brooks arrives.

Brooks basically exists to antagonize Max and try to shame him in front of everyone whenever they meet. He intentionally causes a disturbance and even shows up in Max’s favorite car. Brooks takes over Game Night and announces that the stakes are higher. Someone is going to be kidnapped and whoever finds that person before the others will get the car for free. This is Max’s turn to prove himself, can he find the car first?

The film definitely plays up the parody elements in right from the start where you can see how exaggerated everything is. Game Night goes all in on making the situation as crazy as possible like the scene where Brooks is attacked and nobody can tell that it’s for real. Then you have Annie running around with a live gun throughout the film but since she thinks it’s a toy she keeps pointing it at people and even puts it in her mouth at one point. One character gets shot and has to have the bullet torn out only for the whole thing to go in a different direction.

These moments are all pretty fun. When the film is embracing the wacky nature of the premise and all the twists it is at its absolute best. The film throws you a whole lot of curve balls throughout. There’s even a moment sort of like the Dark Knight where you think the film has ended only for it to keep on going. There are even two scenes after the credits as if this was a serious film. The actual ending to the movie is excellent though. Whether we get a sequel or not that’s definitely a great way to end it.

As mentioned though, the only thing holding this film back is the writing. Brooks is just way too over the top in how he messes with Max. The guy throws his board games away, steals his friends/car, tells an embarrassing story, etc. The film half heartedly tries to help redeem him by the end but he’s so far gone that it’s just hard to buy into. It also gets so extreme that I wouldn’t even say that these moments are funny. The board game throw? Sure that’s funny although Max should have absolutely retaliated or just left at that point. The embarrassing story? Not even remotely funny and the gag drags on.

Game Night is also fairly confident in its jokes so it tends to keep on calling back to them. For the better gags this works like Gary ominously appearing in the background many times. It’s hard…or meant to be hard to tell if he’s a red herring or not. This backfires for the more annoying moments though like Kevin’s plot where he is jealous about his wife Michelle having an affair at some point which gets brought up over and over again.

As for the characters, Max is a good lead. He has a lot of funny lines and gives the film a solid atmosphere throughout. I would argue again he lefts Brooks get away with way too much though. Then you have Annie who I would say is the standout character of the film. She was able to match Max blow for blow when it came to coming up with plans. She was very proactive and even participated in the fights quite a bit. Annie was quick to take every situation in stride and I can’t really think of any bad scenes she had. She may speak her mind rather quickly even if it means putting Max in a bad spot but at the end of the day they made a great team.

I’ve already talked about Brooks so nothing much more to be said there. He’s the kind of character who is supremely confident which can be entertaining but you can’t let it distract you from the fact that he’s practically the main villain in this film. At least I will say he put up a good fight against the two intruders in the opening scene.

Then you have Ryan who has to be the weakest character in the film. His gimmick is that he’s really not smart at all so he’s always saying things at the worst possible times. He serves as the comic relief character but you don’t need one of those in a parody/comedy film since everyone ideally will have a lot of humorous lines of their own. As a result he feels rather forced the whole time.

The date he brought to the main game night is Sarah who’s meant to contrast his character with how intelligent she is. She has some fun moments as well but in general their subplot wasn’t very strong. Next up is Kevin and Michelle who probably had the weakest plot. As mentioned, Michelle had an affair while they were on a break from each other and he also did but still says she should have not done it or at least come clean about it years ago. Super sloppy of her to mess up during the game though I have to say.

The problem with this gag is it just keeps being brought up over and over so Kevin comes off as super insecure the whole time. I’d also say they did the worst in the game and really could not keep up with the other teams. As for supporting characters, well we have Gary who has a rather tragic plot for the most part since nobody wants to hang out with him anymore. He does come across as rather odd but lying to his face and excluding him from everything is absolutely not the way to go. The film doesn’t give you enough reason to see why the main characters would treat him so poorly so you feel bad for him. It gets worse when something happens to his house. The film never addresses the aftermath of this but it’s definitely not something you would forgive very easily.

Overall, Game Night is a very high energy film. It really embraces the nature of being a sort of “Clue” type adventure but focused heavily on being a parody. It takes many shots at classic action movie tropes as the heroes try a lot of plans but they never work. The conveyer plan for example was really clever as well as the homages to the Die Hard series. The movie is certainly at its best during these moments and I also liked the actual game scenes. There’s a certain music track that plays during these moments which is really good. That said, considering the title you will find there are less scenes of the heroes playing the games than expected. It may have enough of a weak script where I wouldn’t call it a great movie or anything but if you’re looking for a fun film to check out this one’s a good way to spend an evening.

Overall 6/10

The Gazebo Review

Posted on by
2


Looks like it’s time for another comedy film involving a main character who’s in over his head and villains running around. The Gazebo is a solid film all around with a lot of suspense and crazy antics going on the whole time. This kind of film always has a lot of replay value and with the writing on point, it’s a film you can basically recommend to anyone. I can’t say I would ever be tempted to add a Gazebo to my backyard though.

Elliott is a writer/director who is super stressed out all the time. His blood pressure is up and the guy hasn’t been sleeping very well. Part of the reason for this is that he’s being blackmailed by a crook over an affair he had a while back. The guy is threatening to take this to the magazines and Elliott’s wife Nell would end up finding out. Elliott has been paying the guy off but at this point he’s pretty much out of money. He could sell the house but even after sabotaging it, Nell doesn’t want Elliott to sell it. Elliott believes he only has one option here…he has to murder the blackmailer.

Of course the whole film would have been over if Elliott had just told Nell from the start or better yet…if he had simply not had the affair at the start. He has a great marriage right now so that was definitely a terrible move. Even though it’s an event from before the film even started, it does mean that he’s not quite as sympathetic as he would be otherwise. He certainly goes in depth with his plan to wreck the house though. Whoever gets it next will definitely be in a whole lot of trouble.

For Elliott’s character, the fun is often in seeing him panic all the time. His voice cracks quite a lot as he really isn’t used to doing this kind of thing. There also tend to be a lot of people making house calls so his plans are interrupted a whole lot. Keeping a secret in a house like this is awful hard for him and the Gazebo ends up making things a lot trickier for him even though he initially thought it would save him a lot of trouble.

Meanwhile Nell is really solid here and she is the best character here. She defends Elliott a lot when the police come along and is doing well balancing her work career and home lifestyle. The Gazebo may not have thrilled Elliott but it was a nice thought since she was trying to get him a peaceful place to work. I also like how she handled a similar blackmail scheme that was targeted at her. She’s definitely not a character who stays on the defensive.

Elliott has a best friend named Harlow…but that guy is definitely pretty suspect. He does get a little overly familiar with Nell which Elliott notices and while it may just be the guy trying to be friendly…I wouldn’t trust him either. Harlow is trying to just do his duty as a detective so naturally some suspicion falls on Elliott. Ultimately you do get the impression he doesn’t want Elliott to be guilty but the hero does make himself seem super suspicious the whole time.

Elliott did adopt a pigeon named Herman early on in the film which was nice. The pigeon gets a solid role here and is always around to keep things light. He even had a solid role in the climax which was nice to see. The final scene made for one last gag to end things off on that even made a good amount of sense. I could see the event happening especially since caps are easily replaceable.

There are also a few supporting characters running around like the guy in charge of installing the Gazebo. That guy was cool and had great customer service. He did everything he could to maintain the Gazebo and even gave a lot of free advice. Then you have the lady trying to sell the house. She was certainly dedicated as she even worked after 10PM.

I feel like the various time periods mentioned in the film had to low key be a bit of a parody or part of the humor though. The construction guys would show up at 10:30PM, the lady showed people around the house close to 11:00PM, the best friend randomly entered the main character’s house after 1:30AM to chat, etc. It seems like the film intentionally had everyone enter the house super late and you just wonder if everything would usually be that late. Even Nell apparently always gets home close to midnight so I guess the shows are always late night plays. That part makes the most sense since if that’s the schedule then it’ll always be the same. The rest felt a little suspect.

The Gazebo is certainly a funny film most of the time but you also do get some scenes that feel like they have real danger to them. One such scene is when the villains capture Nell for example or when the blackmailer calls. The movie does a good job of building up some tension there to offset the rather light hearted nature of the film. On the whole I’d say it’s definitely a cheerful movie of course but it does have range.

Unsurprisingly the writing in the movie is very good. The characters all sound quite reasonable and even when hurling insults they tend to be polite. Well, Elliott is pretty direct in how he talks to people so he can just throw insults out rather plainly. While I wouldn’t say this is a film that is built around a bunch of twists, there is one particular aspect involving Elliott’s big confrontation that plays out throughout the movie. It takes a while before you know everything that happened as each character slowly gives Elliott more information that completely changes the situation every time. You have expect him to have a heart attack by the end.

Overall, The Gazebo is a fun film. It’s got a solid blend of funny scenes and some tension as Elliott continues to dig a deeper and deeper hole for himself. Every time a character misinterprets the situation and throws him a life line, he manages to get himself right back into trouble again. It’s a movie where the humor has held up quite well and the writing is good as expected. With a satisfying conclusion at the ready, this film won’t disappoint if you’re looking for a good time.

Overall 7/10

Tenet Review

Posted on by
2


Tenet is a film that certainly got a lot of hype before it came out. You really would see it just about everywhere and the trailer promised to bring in quite a lot of concepts. Tenet definitely delivers on bringing in an intricate experience. While I would say the film itself may end up getting lost in its own concepts, it makes for a pretty solid film that keeps up with Nolan’s previous adventures.

The movie starts with the main character in a pretty tough mission and unfortunately he isn’t able to get out in time. He’s captured by the villains and his whole team is murdered. He manages not to cave in when they start torturing him though and tries to eat his cyanide pill, only it was a fake. He wakes up back in a hospital where he is recruited into a global secret organization known as Tenet. They use technology from the future to keep the present in safe hands. Right now, a force is threatening to unleash World War III using this technology. The only lead is a man named Sator so our hero is going to have to find out what is going on by learning about him.

There’s a lot going on here right from the start. There are also a lot of plot twists and new developments of course along with time loops so you do want to keep track of things. The main concept here is the introduction of the “Inverted” premise. For example, an inverted bullet is one that not been fired yet, but it still exists anyway so you can fire it. Essentially you are reversing cause and effect.

As a quick aside, I always thought that would be a really useful power. In Fate, Lancer’s Gae Bulg has this ability and yet it has never worked a single time in every Fate media I’ve seen. It’s a shame because there’s a lot of potential there. Back to Tenet though, it rarely seems to work here either so maybe reversing these things isn’t as effective as I thought it would be? It’s interesting to see the bullet holes before the bullet appears and things like that though. An inverted nuke could even destroy the past according to a character in the film.

Mainly all of this works due to time loops. Tenet follows the time travel theory I like where you can always go to the past and change things as opposed to it being stuck by destiny. In a sense all timelines run at the same time so when you change it you probably end up creating another verse but to the characters here there is only one base universe. Due to that, in a way they will keep on reliving the same days for all of eternity with no end but each self only experiences it once.

I like time travel so these things are always pretty interesting. That said, at times it does feel like Tenet is trying to hard to throw in a bunch of new elements that it doesn’t actually consider how they would all work together and gets lost in its own experience. For example, take the Inverted humans. (Yes, humans can go inverted as well) We are shown that they can create body doubles by time leaping more than once and can invert at will. At one point the hero is fighting one agent and every time he comes close to winning the guy would rewind time a bit to try different tactics. No matter what he tried, the hero would keep countering but with unlimited retries the guy would eventually find a good option.

How can a normal human beat them? At the end of the film we have a chaotic battle where there are 4 sets of teams fighting, two inverted and two normals. The normals are holding their own though and that’s hard to buy considering all of the advantages that the inverted ones have. It’s hard for me to see how they would lose. If you take this a step further, you also don’t see how the future team can possibly lose since they started this and have the full glimpse into the past. Keep in mind that the hero is absolutely essential to crushing the villains and he wouldn’t have been around for the first loop.

That gets you into a debate on time loops itself though. For a time travel film that’s why you can typically protect yourself from official plot holes. If something doesn’t make sense, you can say that it’s just because it hasn’t been explained to the protagonist but for another character it would make sense. Time loops aren’t meant to make a lot of sense either because somehow they started without an entrance point and in theory there should be no way to end it or it would have already ended unless you have a specific point of entry. So I wouldn’t say any of these things are plot holes, but more like logical inconsistencies where I would argue the heroes never would have stood a chance. If you ask me, the inverted humans should have just been a little nerfed. Take away their ability to rewind time at will and I think that solves everything.

Back to the film, while the story and time travel is a major part there’s still other things to talk about. For starters, the writing is pretty solid here. You couldn’t even attempt to do such a grand plot without good writing and this film pulls it off pretty well. From the start you’re definitely interested in what is going on. I would actually say the first half beats the second half in that regard. I liked the mysteries going on as the hero tries to find things out. Their “Mission Impossible” on breaking into a building and also breaking into the safe later on were a lot of fun.

The movie has strong dialogue throughout and partnering that up with these stealth missions worked really well. In a way you’re even more invested in these moments since the poor hero is really thrown into a rather strange situation. While the climax has a ton of action, with all of the time looping going on you don’t feel the same amount of tension since you can always redo it if things go wrong. It made for some nice visuals but it’s a bit of an emptier climax than you would expect.

The actual ending of the film is quite excellent though. We get a great final conversation between two great characters and one sub par guy who always follows rules even when they’re awful before cutting to the “present” for one last great scene of closure. It ties back to another scene really well and delivers an excellent final line for the hero. I was definitely quite pleased with the ending that’s for sure.

One plot I didn’t really care for was with Kat and Sator though. Sator’s the main villain here who is also an abusive husband who has his wife Kat trapped in a relationship she can’t get out of. Part of the drama here is that she is hoping the hero can get her out of this but he can’t get rid of Sator directly without causing more trouble. I wouldn’t say Sator ends up being even a remotely decent villain. He certainly knows how to describe the violent ways he ends his enemies but that’s about it. The guy can’t fight for beans and is only in such a powerful position because he lucked onto a great connection with future tech. Kat’s plot is definitely quite tragic so you’re rooting for her to get out of this, but it’s not the kind of tragic element you really needed in this film. The plot comes full circle and does tie in so it’s not extra baggage or anything but I would have just substituted it with something else. Their scenes tend to be the weakest ones in the film.

Tenet is at its best when the main character’s partner Neil is around. I liked this guy from the start. He’s quick on the uptake so no matter how crazy things sound, he wraps his head around it. He’s not constantly being shocked at everything or panicking. He’s just ready to get the job done no matter how dangerous it gets. He was easily my favorite character in the film and the hero should definitely be glad he was around.

The hero is also solid. In case you haven’t noticed by now, he never shares his name in the film which is why I haven’t said it. It’s an interesting approach, almost like a video game since you can make his name out to be anything. He gets the job done and is always ready to make the right call which is also like something out of a game. As a result I could certainly say he’s an ideal lead and someone you can count on as well. Teaming up with Neil, the two of them could clear any mission here.

Overall, Tenet is definitely a solid film. I can see how the plot could make this a trickier watch but films that go for deep/ambitious stories end up being really well done when executed well. Sometimes it doesn’t work out so well like the Godzilla trilogy or the final Iron-Man anime film which went for deep themes but it felt more on the empty side. This one may try at times to get things a little too entangled but I did like the core concepts introduced here. As long as you like a well written mystery/thriller then you’ll like this one. There’s also one theme that plays many times during the film which is quite catchy. It has a nice ominous feel to it. If the film starts to get too crazy, don’t overthink it and focus on the main crisis at play here of stopping WWIII. If we do get a sequel that would definitely be pretty interesting but in a sense I think the loop would need to be broken to get some more tension in here unless you have the sequel take place far enough in the loop where we’re not sure of how it ends.

Overall 7/10

A Slight Case of Murder Review

Posted on by
Reply


Whenever you have a film about a mobster trying to go legit it tends to be quite fun. This one is definitely no exception as things get quite tricky for Remy as he tries to do things the right way. The dialogue is quick and snappy with a lot of tight pacing throughout. Those are all the hallmarks of a good gem in the rough and this movie doesn’t disappoint. You may not have heard of it before watching, but you won’t forget about it afterwards.

The movie starts with the era of Prohibition ending. People are throwing parties and drinking as much as they can to celebrate. The only people not happy are Remy and his cronies since they had made a ton of money selling beer on the black market. They were the only game in town so everyone had to buy from them. Now that it’s legal again that ends their racket. Remy has decided to go straight though. He’s convinced that people will still buy his beer so he turns his headquarters into an official brewery. Unfortunately nobody wants to buy from them though since Remy’s beer is the absolute worst. He doesn’t realize how bad it tastes though. The worst part is that he is flat broke. Will he be able to earn enough money before the government takes his home away?

There’s certainly a lot of tension for Remy here since any day now he will be out of business. The bank certainly doesn’t hold back when they are coming to take their funds. They won’t listen to any talk about extensions or things like that. They just want their money and they want it right away. Naturally there’s some temptation to go back to his crooked ways as well so this is something he’s trying really hard not to do.

A fun part of the film is how into it his wife Nora gets. She really transitions into a formal housewife right away. Occasionally she slips back into more casual terms when talking though but it’s hard to keep up the act 100% at first. The mobsters are less thrilled about this to be sure but they keep on following orders as needed. They also try to help with getting the money and everything. Sometimes it works and sometimes it just makes things even tougher so it always depends.

The movie’s humor tends to be on point though. The jokes move at a rapid pace to the point where old jokes can end up turning into new ones as the film goes on. A lot of the time you can see some of the jokes coming as the characters have misunderstandings but the execution is always on point so it works out. Each character is good at talking fast and subtly insulting the others without it being too obvious. It’s certainly a talent and a pretty good one to have at that.

I should mention there’s also another plot going on here. Remy’s daughter Mary is engaged to someone and she wants him to finally meet her folks. What he didn’t tell her is that he has become a state trooper which is naturally not an occupation that Remy is a huge fan of. This leads to a lot of drama between them. Remy’s got a pretty tough personality so he easily walks all over that guy. Even this plot is used to contribute to the ending of the film but as a whole also serves to keep the movie nice and packed with a bundle of plots.

We also can’t forget the kid. Remy has a tradition where he takes one of the kids from the orphanage over to his home for the summer. It’s surprisingly a really nice thing of Remy to do so even when he was a crook at least the guy did give back to the community. This time he ends up picking the absolute worst kid at the orphanage and this guy is naturally going to cause trouble. He smokes, drinks, and in general has a bad attitude the whole time. Fortunately Remy’s group are used to dealing with tricky characters. In particular the main minion, Mike always ends up having the upper hand with the kid.

He did surprisingly well in fact. Usually the kid gets away with absolutely everything but here Mike was always on him in an instant. That’s definitely what I like to see here since it can be annoying to see a kid just wrecking everything. Here that never happens and the kid even helps out a bit even if it wasn’t his intention. With how the gang was helping to correct his spoiled attitude maybe he will even be a better kid when he eventually makes it back to the orphanage.

What really helps this film maintain its status as a great film is how well written the characters are. For example, Remy makes a lot of mistakes but he is still a pretty cunning guy who is always ready for what comes next. With people constantly throwing new twists and wrinkles at him the guy still comes up with new plans on the spot. Nothing can slow him down. When he ends up having to think of a way to get around dead bodies, loads of cash, and a state trooper he is able to conquer each obstacle. It’s easy to see why he became the leader of the mob.

Overall, A Slight Case of Murder is a great film that I would definitely recommend. At the same time it’s a fairly simple movie so there’s not a whole lot to say. At its core it’s a comedy where everything always happens in a rather extreme way so Remy is kept on the edge the whole time. The writing is on point and the movie is really over in a flash. The sheer high tempo of the jokes and scenes can be overwhelming if this isn’t your genre of comedy but I would definitely say to give it a shot and see what you think. I’m confident you’ll leave with a satisfied experience.

Overall 8/10

Starcrash Review

Posted on by
2


Whenever you see a film about aliens, action, and outer space you know that things are about to get real. This is definitely a film that is quite solid as a result. You can expect a lot of good battles and fun dialogue with lightning fast pacing. It’s a good all around movie that has withstood the test of time and it actually does end up beating the majority of Star War titles and even some Star Treks.

The movie starts off by introducing us to the greatest pilot in all the cosmos Stella and her ally Akton. Together they commit a lot of crimes and have fun doing it. They end up getting cornered by the police though so when they escape they end up being captured by the Police. The police end up breaking them out of jail though to stop Count Zarth. They will be accompanied by the police robot named Elle and an alien known as Thor. This all seems rather trust worthy so now they need to find Prince Simon so he can assist the Emperor in stopping the Count. Can they find him? Also, what if he didn’t survive the plane crash?

There is a whole lot going on in this film right from the start. One thing you’ll definitely enjoy if you’re a sci-fi fan is all of the action. The characters are using their blasters to wipe everyone out and they even get a light saber at one point. There are a lot of hand to hand fights where Stella even gets to beat back legions of adversaries. This is a movie that knows how to get a good rumble going.

As for the visuals, they’re on point as well. It’s definitely got that Star Wars/Trek vibe to it with the spaceships all around and a lot of space fights. The pacing is on point and I’d say the writing was pretty good. You’ll always be engaged as the characters exchange tough talk and try to size each other up. Thor openly mocking the heroes was certainly fun after he took over the ship.

Now, one very forced element in the film though is that Stella’s uniform doesn’t seem to be standard procedure. It’s extremely noticeable when the heroes are taken to the villain base that everyone has super weapons grade combat suits at the ready while she’s wearing more of a Red Sonja type costume which she keeps for pretty much the whole film. It’s definitely a “really?” kind of moment.

Still, beyond that she is a fun character. Technically she is the captain of her ship and a top notch hand to hand fighter after all. It would be surprising if she couldn’t deal with this level of opponent. The trouble is that she has no real defenses though. What that means is that if the villains catch her she will be yelling for help almost immediately. Despite being the tough heroine in the film she does get captured quite a bit.

Then you have her partner Akton. He is one of those guys who is so powerful that we never even learn his full abilities. He seems to be able to manipulate vectors, fire energy blasts, see the future, use energy weapons nobody’s ever heard of before, and that’s just for starters. He can do just about anything but still gets knocked around from time to time. Still, if you need someone to have your back he’s probably the best pick you could ask for.

Elle is another standout character here. He’s a very upbeat robot who is always yelling and having a good time. While he does get nervous a lot, he is always ready to jump into the fray to save lives. It’s why he makes for a good cop and why he never gave up when going after Stella. There’s clearly a lot of history there and it makes for some good banter. He added a lot to the dynamic.

Next up is Simon who doesn’t show up until near the end. He seems like a good character though and is definitely a heroic one. Without him the heroes would have been in a sticky situation by the end. He’s definitely not very necessary though as you could certainly have not had him appear and things wouldn’t change much. Thor was a more interesting character with how confident of his skills he was. The guy was even able to take down Akton in their first fight which is no small feat.

As for The Emperor, his time control tech is super impressive to be sure. You have to wonder why he was so helpless before Stella and Akton got rid of all of the obstacles. Surely he could have done more against the Count right? The Count was definitely a fun villain though. He has a cool costume and a very classic villain laugh. This guy had a tendency to get amused quite often after all.

The minion designs are also fun. As the film goes on we meet a giant robot like something out of Ultraman that shows up to step on the heroes. Then you have a pair of robots who wield swords that can even turn into energy blades. All of this helped to really show how dangerous the army of the count was. It’s also fortunate that Elle was around with his blasters. The robot was not taking any prisoners and must have disintegrated dozens of opponents throughout the film. Ultimately the sheer numbers were just too much for him to stop.

Overall, Starcrash is a very good film. It’s definitely a blast to watch and the kind of film you really don’t see anymore. It’s a relic of its time and a reminder of the good ole days of sci-fi films. The only element of the film anywhere near a negative would be that Stella should have had a proper battle suit like everyone else. Beyond that, the film delivered with showing us various planets and introducing a lot of concepts. The contrast of Stella being extremely confident but losing most of her fights while Elle was always scared but kept beating everyone he fought made for a nice dynamic as well. With a few sequels this could have easily become the next big Sci-Fi series. I guess it wasn’t to be this time but any fan of the genre owes it to themselves to watch this.

Overall 7/10

The Red Shoes Review

Posted on by
2


When you have a whole film revolving around Ballet you’re going to need to expect it to be good. Well, I assume it is, but ballet isn’t really my thing. I’ve never cared much for the costumes or the style of music. Give me a metal concert or even some Vtuber/Idol spectacle instead. Ballet just feels very low key. It’s a decent movie but not one that will end up being super engaging or anything.

The movie begins with Julian noticing that his songs have been stolen by his professor. He writes to one of the biggest music owners in the world known as Boris. The guy tells Julian to work for him as a composer who will mainly be directing the orchestra. Boris also hires a dancer named Victoria who he believes may end up being an amazing dancer. The job if high stress and there is always a lot going on but the three of them are making it work. Boris really has just one rule…..there is not to be any romance. You can be a professional or you can be a romantic but he says they can’t be both. The characters all agree to this so it should work out…right?

Heh heh..if you’ve seen any movie then you know exactly how this will work out. Julian and Victoria fall for each other. They want to have their cake and eat it too by being part of the group but Boris did make himself clear on this. There’s a lot of drama to be sure and the film ends up going in a bit of a different direction than I had expected. It’s one that makes all of the characters look rather suspect to be sure. While I would say the film is a light hearted affair for the most part, it does have its serious moments.

Boris did make for a fun main antagonist. Antagonist may be a bit strong since the guy means well but of course he’s not sympathetic to the romance so that won’t help matters. When his star dancer leaves he doesn’t even care because she had left for marriage. Boris is quite unrelenting on these rules of his after all. He does have some good ideas though like forcing Victoria to listen to the song she as struggling with during all of her meals which does seem like a good way to have it memorized.

Then you have Victoria who really wants to be a dancer but gets torn between that and her feelings of romance. I must admit that she didn’t look very good due to this. You have to pick one or the other but you can’t keep waffling between them. Her worst scene here was likely when she tried going back to Boris without telling her husband Julian. What kind of excuse would she have been able to make in the end? Surely she didn’t think she could keep that kind of thing a secret for very long right? Ultimately it would definitely catch up as all things do. The ending also wasn’t her best moment.

Next up is Julian and he’s really just as guilty. The golden rule while working for Boris is no romance. That’s really the only one and it seems easy enough not to get into that. Still, he made his choice and it seemed like the other gig was going well so it’s too bad it wasn’t enough for Victoria. Julian’s not in a great spot by the time the film is over so things are rocky for all of the characters.

There are a few supporting characters who were fun like the dancing coach. That guy had a lot of personality and he was also bold enough to side with the two characters when they broke away from Boris. These aren’t the kind of characters who just roll over so they did well in supporting each other. It made for a pretty interesting dynamic since after a while you can’t get rid of everyone.

The story was nice and strong for all of these scenes. Really where the story would get a bit weaker was when it was focusing on the actual ballet. Naturally there isn’t a whole lot of story in those moments as it’s just play after play. There were some good special effects during the dance but they do tend to drag on a bit compared to other dancing styles. It’s a huge focus in the film of course so that did limit how interesting it could be to an extent.

There isn’t a whole lot to talk about beyond that due to the simple nature of the plot. Keep in mind that the film itself is quite long at over two hours. So the execution was on point since you can easily describe the plot despite the movie being so long. This one isn’t about twists or turns as it’s just interested in telling the main plot of the movie. With the pacing and writing being good, at the very least that meant the film certainly wouldn’t be bad. The first half did beat the second though as it was fun seeing the original show go on as Julian realized what had happened and Boris insulting everyone as he made his way through the party. To his defense, it would be putting him on the spot to have to watch a live audition when he’s just trying to have a good time.

Overall, The Red Shoes is a decent film. It reminds me a lot of the film where the opera conductor was fighting with his father over the ability to have a romance and still do your job. These films were very similar in that regard. It’s a bit hard to root for the characters here since they knew the risks of taking this job from Boris at the beginning. In general Boris was rather strict and cold but he did make his shows a success and seemed to have a good work ethic when it counted. He would help train his stars in a way that complemented their skills. If you want to watch a retro dancing film then this is the one to check out.

Overall 6/10

The Skull Review

Posted on by
5


Whenever you have one of these old horror films with Peter Cushing you can expect a lot of drama and tension. He doesn’t scare easily from the villains but they do give it their best. Having a villain be an actual skull is definitely a bold move for sure. It’s not every day you have a skull floating around like this is some kind of Youtube fan video but it works rather well.

The movie starts with a guy running home because he finally got this skull he was going for. He’s so focused on the skull itself that he even tells his friend to go away after she went to the trouble of preparing for his arrival. When he tries melting the skull, it quickly takes him down for the count. It proceeds to mind control another guy to destroy the friend.

In the present, Christopher is competing in an auction with Matthew on a bunch of items. He ends up losing on a batch of evil looking dolls since Matthew overbid for them by a large sum. When asked why, the guy says he has no idea. Ah well, Christopher heads back home to his business of writing about the occult and accepting odd gifts from suspicious characters. This time the guy has brought him a skull belonging to the most dangerous murderer in existence. This could be the break Christopher has been looking for, but will it only bring him doom and despair? Only time will tell.

The film isn’t afraid to get rather crazy as well. At one point, a group of fake police show up and kidnap Christopher. They take him to a church where these guys are having a crazy ceremony and force him to play Russian Roulette several times. Fortunately luck is on his side so Christopher is able to escape and live another day. Things definitely could have been a whole lot worse for him so he should really consider himself fortunate.

Now, he does make some dicey moves like keeping the skull even once he knew it had been stolen. It seems like he’s not very particular about where he gets his objects from so long as it helps is research. So in that respect it’s not like he’s a hero or anything. Still, he is a fun character in large part due to how confident he is. Nothing shakes him in the slightest. Even as he sees multiple dead bodies he keeps it moving.

At one point he even notices that the Skull seems to keep being in a different place but he just rolls with it. The skull stares at him all night and Christopher doesn’t really care. In fact, they even have a staring contest at one point and you could argue that Christopher won that one. Of course, ultimately you get the feeling that he’s probably doomed but at least he put up a good fight.

As for the Skull, well it’s not very scary. You have doubts on if it is even alive for most of the film. It seems like it emits negative aura or something which is why anyone associated with the skull starts going around murdering people. You can make a strong case that this doesn’t have to mean that it’s sentient though, but that it’s cursed. Of course, all the stare downs do give the impression of it being alive of course.

Then by the climax it is clear as the skull is able to fly around with some retro special effects and even summon a book. So, I have to give the film kudos for making one of the most surreal villains of all time. Being unique doesn’t always mean good though. I’ll take most creatures over this guy but as a one time adventure it works well enough.

I would say how effective the film is will really depend on how much you enjoy the suspense. The characters are very slow to do much of anything. The movie is on slow burner mode the whole way through with only a few jump scares to break things up from time to time. The writing is really solid though which helps. It’s why a modern remake would have a hard time matching up to this one. At least here you get the solid dialogue between the characters and everyone talks in a rather distinguished way.

It would have been nice if Matthew had appeared more. A lot of the best scenes in the film are the dialogue scenes between him and Christopher. For example, the auction scene was handled really well. Both of these guys are rich and used to winning. So when it becomes a bit of a challenge none of them back down. They also seem to have a good working relationship when they aren’t competing. It’s part of what makes the climax rather emotional, or at least as emotional as this can get.

You can kind of tell how this film is going to play out from the start though. In these kinds of films where the villain relies on mental hypnosis to take the heroes down, they ultimately never end up standing tall against it. Without fail you can always count on the hero succumbing to the darkness which is unfortunate. Otherwise you can applaud their determination about not believing in such superstitions. It just falls flat once they actually lose to it.

Overall, The Skull is a pretty solid horror film from back in the day. The whole thing is built around a lot of suspense as each scene is played quite dramatically. The score is good with each tune underscoring how scared you’re supposed to be. Even Christopher’s character goes from being absolutely confident to slowly starting to feel some terror as he knows that the Skull cannot be beat. The very final scare scene is almost a bit humorous in how over the top it gets. So next time someone tries to give you a skull that is supposedly haunted and lets you know that it has also been stolen, you should probably stay on the side of the law and refuse it.

Overall 7/10

Assassin’s Creed Review

Posted on by
Reply


Assassin’s Creed is one of those video game series I haven’t played but I do see the games all over. Plenty of their characters have fought on the blog and if you’re a fan of parkour then it seems like it delivers on that. The games always have events happening in various time periods. Well, the film changes things quite a bit while taking a stab at one adventure. It’s a pretty good film although if you’re a big fan of the games it will probably be hard to get past the changes.

The movie starts with Cal witnessing his father murder his mother. The guy tells Cal to run so he does. The lead grows up as a very aggressive guy and after murdering a criminal is sent to a special jail. The staff there will be using an experimental time travel device on him so he will inhabit the psyche of his ancestor. They want him to find the golden apple or at least the location of it. The apple is what grants humanity free will so whoever has it in their possession will become immensely powerful.

So part of the film takes place in the present while parts take place in the past due to this neural link. I can say right away that the present timeline plot is a lot more interesting for me. The setting is effectively a jail for metahumans after all and you can see how things would be pretty interesting there. Down the road you could have some kind of war and if one such jail exists, I’m sure many more do. There are probably undercover bases all over.

The neural links also allow you to use the fighting abilities of your previous incarnation when you were an assassin. This means that the fighters are all very well trained so Cal goes from not having any real fighting abilities to suddenly being a top notch fighter. He’s able to take down dozens of opponents at once even though they also have enhanced abilities. His are just on another level.

I liked the fight scenes a lot here because of how stylized they are. I’ve always enjoyed the arm blade style weapons that the Creed films are well known for and they are put to full display here. You can imagine the film easily being rather violent as characters are getting ripped to shreds and beheaded but with the stylized approach most of it is actually rather bloodless. The enemies either turn into apparitions as we see what’s happening in the present or they just go down instantly. As a result despite the constant action, the film really isn’t very violent at all.

Since the assassins are meant to be rather subtle fighters, it does make sense that they wouldn’t be making much of a mess. There are a lot of fights throughout the movie so you will have no shortage of action scenes. There is less parkour than you would expect though. Cal does run around jumping on roofs and such and doing the big jumps from the games but that’s about it. It’s not something that happens super often but maybe that’s because the past doesn’t get as big a role as you would expect.

Again, that is for the best though. The present timeline is just a lot better. You have a lot of solid architecture and meetings there. Such as the corporate group led by Alan who wants to use the apple to take own the assassins. Alan makes for a decent villain although he’s not exactly a fighter so he just talks a good game.

Sofia is a much more interesting character. She is a villain because she cosigns on everything going on but you can tell she isn’t as absolutely evil as Alan. She does have good intentions even if they don’t always work out. Sofia would certainly get a big role if this film ever gets a sequel.

Honestly I would say Cal is the only other big character in the film. Sure, there are a few others like his companions in the past, present, and his father but their roles are fairly small. His father gets one of the most sudden scenes where he stabs a guard but gets finished off immediately afterwards. Also yes, I didn’t buy into the reason for why the father had to murder the mother. I don’t care if the army after them was huge, they’re assassins and escaping is what they are supposed to do best. Destroying an ally is always just a fancy way of saying you give up.

As for Cal, he’s a pretty solid character. Definitely one who is consumed by rage for pretty much the entirety of the film though. He’s gone through quite a lot and finally takes matters into his own hands by the end of it. Cal is in a pretty interesting spot for the sequel and one of the reasons why the sequel would have a lot of potential since the present should be the main focus now. There’s a whole lot more you can do with that than the past.

The film has a bit of a slow beginning though as you could say the movie doesn’t really start until Cal uses the machine. The flashback of him as a boy doesn’t really add to anything and just walking around the prison doesn’t make for the most interesting scenes. It’s a waste of the present timeline since you want to see the grand outside world and how society will react to the Assassins. That’s where the climax pays off.

As for the past, well I’ve referenced it a lot but it’s hard to be as engaged in that era. I’ve never been a fan of the past after all since the graphics aren’t as good and the backdrops don’t look as nice. There’s not a whole lot there to capture my attention at any given point. You have people dying left and right as Cal/Past Cal has to try and avenge them. Maybe if we had time to actually give some of the characters a real personality this could have worked but there was no time for that.

Additionally, you are just waiting for them to get to the present the whole time so there’s no way for it to actually leave an impact. I know the past is a crucial part of the Creed series but that’s why some of the changes here were good to get rid of that aspect. Throw us into the present for the real action. The only thing the past scenes were good for were all of the extra fight scenes as Cal took the villains down by the busload.

As for the soundtrack, it’s not all that noticeable. I would make the case we only get one really solid track which plays in the final minutes of the film. Right after the final scene in the present with the apple and Sofia’s decision, we get a theme that is likely taken straight from the games. Beyond that, it’s all rather standard fare.

Overall, Assassin’s Creed is one of those films that focuses on action over story which is always a decent move to make. It’s definitely not an all star film like Mortal Kombat or anything like that but it’s a pretty good movie. it’s fairly long so there’s a lot of time for battles and setting up the sequel. I’d make the case that a lot of the film is actually sequel bait since it’s all leading up to him escaping and the real adventure beginning. The odds of a sequel seem rather slim like with most video game films but who knows…maybe they’ll pull it off but more likely there will be a reboot at some point.

Overall 7/10

Escape Room Review

Posted on by
Reply


There are probably less than 10 horror films I’ve ever seen that got a positive score not counting creature features of course. This would be one of the few to make it as it was quite a bit better than I expected. The cast is actually pretty solid which is extremely rare for a modern horror title and the premise is utilized well. You can see the appeal of escape rooms after watching this although I’ve still never tried one.

The movie starts by introducing us to the 6 people who are going to get trapped. First there is the genius Joey who isn’t very good at hanging out with other people. She prefers to keep to herself. Well, one day her professor sends her a cube so that she can try out an escape room to pass the time by. She is supposed to try something challenging over the break as part of her homework so this makes sense. Next up is Jason who is a wealthy investor who probably isn’t using Robinhood so he won’t be frozen out of his sales. He doesn’t really need the $10,000 prize but is doing this for fun and since one of his best investors recommended he try it…the guy can’t say no.

There’s Ben who is at a pretty tough time in his life so he is eager to get some money. It’s all pretty simple to him, win the challenge and get $10,000. It’s similar for Mike who is a truck driver with a big family so he admits the money would be pretty helpful. There’s Danny who just loves escape rooms in general so he is eager to see if this one lives up to the hype. Finally there is Amanda who is the most mysterious of the bunch. We don’t know exactly why she is here beyond the fact that she got invited like the rest.

As you would expect, the 6 characters get stuck inside the room. They must now try to solve each puzzle before the various death traps wipe them out. If they don’t solve the puzzles quickly enough then they will be melted, squashed, and destroyed in short order. The main difficulty here will be working as a team. This is the kind of challenge that is meant to throw some tension in between the members. Survival is often your first instinct after all and all of these characters want to live. Plus they’re strangers so it’s not like they are attached to each other all that much. Can they survive this?

Horror films and survival thrillers usually go by fairly strict logic of over 50% of the cast must die minimum. If you have 10 characters starting off then 5 will due. If you have 6 then at least 3, etc. Part of the intensity here is always figuring out which characters will die and which will live. Of course that’s assuming that at least one lives but it’s extremely rare for everyone to die. That’s usually left for pure slasher films or supernatural entities like the Grudge. For a survival horror like this one you figure at least one would live…right?

Of course I can’t say who lives here. Still, I think what stands out about the film here is that the premise is actually pretty fun. The idea of everyone being stuck in a crazy puzzle house like this and having to escape is a real blast. Each character is tested to their limits and you feel like the puzzles are fair for the most part. You’re actually given opportunities to solve each one if you put your mind to it. I guess at most the only puzzle that seems like it would be a stretch to figure out was the one involving the medical equipment. That one didn’t seem very fair and balanced.

As mentioned, I also thought the characters and writing were pretty good here. Joey is a solid main character and her high intelligence was established early on in the film. She’s able to contribute quite a lot. Now, she does have a cheesy scene at one point in the film where she comes up with a plan. The plan really should not have worked no matter how you slice it since without plot armor that would be game over so even though it was kind of portrayed as she made the right call, I would disagree.

Then you have Jason who is the most confident member of the group. Even when someone dies he is ready to keep on moving. He certainly seems the most uncaring among the group but at the same time you do realize that each second counts here. Several times just 2-3 more seconds would have made the difference in each round. So every time when the characters want to stop and reflect on what just happened and hold a mini funeral in their heads, you can’t blame Jason ducking out of there. You can hardly blame the others for grieving either since it’s hard to just pick up and move out but it’s why Jason was tough.

Mike was another really fun character. He’s having as good as time as he can with this and is clearly a glass half full kind of guy. Mike’s not going to get depressed and he comes in handy with the fishing. He clearly doesn’t take well to be disrespected either so he keeps the others in line. Next up is Amanda who looks really good as well. She started off rather rocky but we gradually learn more about her character. Physically she can hold her own with any of the others as she has a lot of formal combat experience. Amanda’s another likable character here.

Then there’s Danny who loves Escape Rooms and video games as I mentioned. You feel bad for him the whole time because he’s probably the only one aside from Mike having any fun. As he said “I’m playing the funnest game but with the meanest people” which really sums up his experience here. The others are always insulting him or being sarcastic. Yeah, he’s a little slow to realize that this is for real and not just for fun but it is hard to realize that this whole thing is a scam.

The only bad character here would be Ben who is constantly raining on everyone’s parade. He goes into the games with a bad attitude and never gets better from there. Despite this being life or death he is never interested in helping out or doing anything like that. He really needs the money so you’d think he would be more interested in helping out.

Having good characters gives the film a nice dilemma. In a lot of other films you don’t care about which character survives because they’re all bad. Think of a film like “The beast must die” where every character is a cannibal or into evil practices or “I know what you did last summer” where every character was complicit in murdering an innocent guy by the road. You aren’t invested in seeing who survives because they’re all just that bad. Here you’re just waiting for Ben to be defeated but that’s about it.

As the film goes on tensions continue to rise of course so things aren’t very smooth for the characters. I also liked the scenery a lot. In particular the ice level really stands out. A lot of effort was definitely put into the backdrops. The upside down level was another fun one with the phone ringer being a signal for something to happen. Even the opening level modeled after an office building was a blast. The final level’s probably the most boring one since there’s no time to explore with the walls closing in but on the whole this was visually a very impressive film.

Overall, Escape Room was considerably better than I expected. Maybe it’s in part because this is a horror film that doesn’t feel like one. There’s not a bunch of excessive violence for no reason. The film doesn’t revolve around shock value twists. (There are shocking twists for sure but nothing that’s just there to be super insane) The characters are good, the writing is solid, and the visuals are nice. The whole challenge thing is also a really fun gimmick like Tower of God, Phy Brain, or other titles like that where you have to clear a challenge quickly or die. Even for franchises I’m not a big fan of like Hunger Games, I always like that kind of survival aspect when it’s handled well. The film’s ending is also pretty great so this really makes for a complete package. I’m hoping the sequel is able to keep up the momentum since this is a rather high bar to keep up with.

Overall 7/10

Without Love Review

Posted on by
Reply


Without Love is one of those films where you definitely know how it’s going to play out. Any film where the characters initially say that they’re not going to let things get personal or romantic are doomed to fail right from the jump. It’s just not going to work, the friend zone never seems to exist by the end of these films. Either way it is a fun film. It may be a script that’s not one of the more realistic ones but when you factor in that the film is part comedy/parody then it works out.

The movie starts with Patrick running into a really drunk man named Quentin. This works out well for Patrick since he is looking for a place to stay temporarily so he can run some government experiments. He tricks Quentin into letting him spend the night and then even orders a bunch of equipment into the house. When the actual owner of the house shows up (Jamie) she isn’t exactly thrilled about this. Patrick is able to convince her in a rather roundabout way to keep him. Afterwards they exchange origin stories.

Jamie had a perfect marriage until her husband died while Patrick has had a pretty rough experience. Both of them are completely done with romance as a result….or so they say. Jamie has an idea that will solve their problems. She tells Patrick they need to marry each other in a loveless marriage. Why? She doesn’t know but it’s an idea and Patrick likes it so they quickly get married. Now she will assist him in his work but the more they work the more they start letting things get personal although they can’t admit it. What can they do?

The only thing I couldn’t help but wonder the whole time though was….why would being married make the work any easier? There is really no good reason for them to have gotten married if we’re being honest. The only decent reason would be that Jamie actually liked him from the start and figured that getting married would help lower his guard. It’s an effective strategy if that was the case although the film doesn’t play it off like that. It’s more like it just happened gradually.

It’s definitely one of the most predictable romances you’ll ever see but as they say, friendship is impossible in these kinds of things. Jamie’s a good character but she does get pushed around rather easily. The opening scene where she is effectively tricked by Patrick was certainly something. Additionally, she does put herself in some rather tricky circumstances like hanging out with the local flirt who constantly tries to get to her even when she is married and running to his side when she has a fight with Patrick.

The film has a rather bold ending which leaves you with a lot of concerns. Then you have Patrick who acts a bit like an anime tsundere with how he won’t admit his feelings. Now, if he completely kept them off then he would probably be right here since they both agreed not to have any feelings for each other. He just ended up staying true to their original goal for a lot longer than she did. Ultimately he couldn’t stay the course though which you could probably predict. There are so many misunderstandings between the main two because they are never on the same page.

There’s also a backup romance plot between Kitty and Quentin but it doesn’t have a whole lot to do with anything. Quentin tries to recover from his drunk opening but from the dialogue we learn that he gets drunk a lot which isn’t a good look for him. He was also quick to move on from Kitty so when he rebounds at the end it’s hard to buy into. Likewise Kitty reveals she has had a lot of affairs. It’s always hard to root for a romance when both characters have been playing the field the whole time.

Despite being hyped up as one of the big villains, Edwina doesn’t show up until near the end of the film. She’s the one who messed Patrick up and doesn’t appear until near the end but they don’t have any kind of big confrontation. That would have been interesting but she basically doesn’t do anything here. It does make Patrick look bad for not being very definitive throughout the whole movie though. It’s part of what puts a wedge between him and Jamie.

As far as the writing goes, I would say the film does a good job. There are a lot of good lines and the characters are reasonable. The fast talking at the beginning of the film is fun as Patrick turns every line against the drunken Quentin and then when he one ups Jamie. Now, it’s hard for me to believe the latter scene in the slightest but it still makes for a fun little moment.

It’s easy to forget but there is a government plot in here as well since the whole point for trying to get a place to stay is so Patrick can build some devices in secret. Devices that let you withstand more Gs in space and things like that. She helps quite a lot and he even test runs some of the equipment but surely the government could do better than to have him working in this basement right?

Put it this way, the whole point is secretly but in a small town where everyone knows each other, isn’t it super suspicious when a bunch of giant moving vans appear taking out a bunch of tech and bringing it all to one house? I feel like the government fails on the secret aspect of this mission. Also, I couldn’t help but feel like some of the story points were just rather contrived though like the wedding that makes no sense. The film could have done a better job of at least explaining why this would even be remotely necessary or even useful.

Overall, Without Love is going for a slightly different angle at romance but ultimately turns into a standard romantic comedy. It doesn’t hold up nearly as well as some of the other ones that I’ve seen recently but it’s decent. Even if the characters were able to play this straight and live in a loveless marriage I would say it’s a bad idea. Marrying for tax breaks or just to say you’ve been married just doesn’t seem like a good idea in the long run. For that it sounds like deep down each character really just wants to have a best friend. While the films may deny it, it’s certainly possible to have friends even as a grown up. Maybe that’ll finally happen in one of these films coming up…but I wouldn’t hold my breath.

Overall 6/10