People Places Things: Fantasy And Reality Crashing Together To Create Life

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

This film is entirely carried by the likeable offbeat charm of Jemaine Clement. I have been a fan of Clement’s for a long time now, probably dating back to my younger years watching Flight Of The Concords, and one thing has stayed consistently the same since then and that is the likeability of this man; he can do no wrong.

That is very true here, as Clement is front and centre and has to do a lot of the heavy lifting of this film. The plot is focused on the idea of Clement’s character having to deal with and move on from his ex: highlighting the messy road he faces, with pit falls aplenty. I think this translates very well, and I thought it was the right move to not have Clement’s character be in another relationship by the end of the film; the man finally has it all together.

In terms of humour I didn’t find this film funny particularly, more charming perhaps. I was not laughing but I was smiling throughout. There are a number of scenes that are incredibly cringey to get through, I assume this is a purposeful decision on the part of the film to highlight the issues in the characters life, but they were so painful to watch I almost had to turn away.

Overall, if Clement had not been involved this film would not have been even half as good.

Pros.

Clement

The ending

The character growth

Cons.

It is not funny

A few of the scenes are quite cringe    

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The Prophecy 2: Always Ask If Someone Is An Angel Before Sleeping With Them

The Prophecy II is a fantasy action thriller film directed by Greg Spense. The plot again follows Gabriel (Christopher Walken), now freshly back from Hell and on the hunt for a Nephilim. Gabriel wants to kill this human angel hybrid as it might be the humans can fight back against their own extinction. The angles opposed to Gabriel and his genocidal ways, are of course helping to protect this person/ Nephilim/ unborn baby; the war wages onward.

This is a step back from the first film in terms of quality, you can see the cheaper production values and it is clear that this was rushed out to capitalise on the success of the first film. However, there is still a lot of merit to the film and I enjoyed my time with it.

The majority of my enjoyment comes from further exploring this universe. As I said in my review of the first film in this series, the universe and the lore are deep and rich and there is a lot going on to sink your teeth into. It is nice to see some more familiar Angels like Michael (Eric Roberts), join the fray this time around.

Walken is still quite easily menacing, though he is somewhat softer here then he was in the first film; you can see where they are taking his character.

Overall, though it is not as good as the first film there is still a lot of value here and it is still entertaining to explore this world.

Pros.

Walken

The lore

Other familiar angles joining the fray

The 90s feel

Cons.

You can tell that less thought went into this one, it feels rushed.

3/5

Reviewed by Luke   

Shaun The Sheep The Movie: A Return To The Silent Era

Shaun The Sheep The Movie is a British animated film directed by Mark Burton and Richard Starzak; the film serves as a continuation of the animated series Shaun The Sheep. The plot follows Shaun (Justin Fletcher), as he and his fellow sheep head to the big city after their owner (John Sparkes), goes missing.

My big issue with this film is the fact that none of the characters talk, they make strange noises, mumble, but they don’t talk. Now, I want to preface this point and this review by saying that I have not seen the series before, maybe the odd five minutes here and there. So, with that said when I put this film on, I was expecting the characters to talk just like in Aardman’s other features and of course they didn’t. This bothered me as I often didn’t really understand what was happening and a lot of the time it felt like one random scene after another.

This also becomes an issue with characterization, as I didn’t end up caring about Shaun and co so their journey and struggle had little effect on me and I lose interest quickly.

Overall, I would say this is probably the least accessible of Aardman’s catalogue and if you aren’t either a little kid or a previous fan of the show you probably won’t like this.

Pros.

Some interesting scenes and moments

It is watchable

Cons.

You don’t care about the characters

The lack of talking serves to hurt the film

It has pacing issues that result in you losing interest

2/5

Reviewed by Luke  

Hellraiser: The Devil Is An S&M Freak

Hellraiser is a British supernatural horror film directed by Clive Barker.  Frank Cotton (Sean Chapman), opens a portal to hell when he unlocks the secrets of an ancient puzzle box, he is then seemingly killed. However, he returns from the beyond and convinces his brother’s wife Julia (Claire Higgins), to bring him men to kill so he can consume then and gain a new body. Also for some reason Frank’s family, his brother, the brother’s wife, and their daughter, have moved into the house where he ‘died’.

So, in cult circles this might be one of the most important, most beloved slasher films ever made. I had watched this once before when I was young, and I didn’t like it, but watching it again now with fresh eyes I have realised that everyone was right this film is great.

Firstly, it has a very distinct visual flair which is both very 80s and very S and M inspired. I enjoyed the look of this film to a great extent, I thought it screamed of a dark sense of creativity and I loved when the film showed us glimpses of its version of hell.

I thought the makeup and costumes for this film might be some of the best I have ever seen. Though they look a little dated by today’s standards they really achieve a very grisly, very real look that I think is impressive. Frank’s skinless body looks frighteningly real and I will give the film props for that. Like wise the look of Pin Head (Doug Bradley), and his fellow cenobites will make you stand up and take notice.

Overall, this may be one of the best slasher films I have ever seen.

Pros

The makeup/ costumes

The visual aesthetic

Pin Head and his fellow Cenobites

The world and the lore

The creepy sense of threat that never goes away and makes your skin crawl

Cons.

None

5/5

Reviewed by Luke    

Ratatouille: There’s A Rat In My Kitchen What Am I Gonna Do?

Ratatouille is an animated family film directed by Brad Bird. The plot follows Remy (Patton Oswald), a rat who dreams of becoming a chief, as he teams up with out of his depth cook Linguini (Lou Romano), to become the ultimate cooking duo and change the face of the French culinary scene.

This had been on my list for a long time, I have seen most other Pixar films, but for one reason or another I just hadn’t gotten round to seeing this. Now after having seen it, I can say it is solidly middle ground for the studio.

I feel the film repeats a lot of plot beats from other Pixar films, the themes feel a bit too familiar. However, it is worse than that because not only do these themes and plot points feel done before, but they also feel like they have been done worse here.

The film didn’t really connect with me emotionally, and that is what makes or breaks a Pixar film. Though it has a few good cheer worthy moments, it seems to lack any kind of heart as a whole. Neither of the two main characters have any real charm or likeability, by the end I didn’t even care slightly about Linguini.

Another thing I noticed was the stark lack of any real kind of female representation. Yes there is one other female cook, who has all the personality of a brick, but she is basically just turned into a love interest for Linguini and has no kind of agency; also when her and Linguini are forced to kiss by Remy it is more than a little icky.

Overall, a very middling Pixar film that lacks any kind of heart and that is probably the least emotive of all of Pixar’s work, seriously Onward is better and that is saying something.

Pros.

A few cheery worthy moments

I liked how they developed the food critic character

It has a very distinct sense of personality

Cons.

It feels all too familiar

The two main characters aren’t very likeable or even interesting

Turning the only female character into a love interest

2.5/5

Reviewed by Luke    

Ride Along 2: Even Angrier

Ride Along 2 is a buddy cop comedy film directed by Tim Story. This time around the ‘Brothers In Law’ are heading to Miami to try and take down a big time criminal.

My issues with the first film are magnified here. It seems as thought the creatives behind this film learnt the wrong lessons from the first film and doubled down on all their mistakes, it is not fun to watch.

Once again Hart’s Ben is funny, though less so, this time around more of his jokes don’t land. There are only so many times they can play up the fact he is a hopeless gamer before it starts to become unfunny. This film does seem to like driving its jokes into the ground, to a point where they just become irritating.

Ice Cube’s James is even more angry this time around because that is a personality right? I thought maybe they would soften him a bit in this film so we could see the man behind the angry front, but hey why worry about characterisation when you just rely on cliches.

Ultimately, the main issue with this film is that nothing is done to further either of the characters if anything this film feels like a retread of the film.

They also put Oliva Munn in this film for some reason, her character is not given much to do. The only reason she seems to be around is to fill the ‘eye candy’ role for the male gaze and for James to have a love interest. She has no agency of her own and does not really advance the story and is not developed in anyway either, once again this feels cheap and shows how reliant the film is on cliches.

Overall, this film feels needless and like a retread of the first that is afraid to break any new ground.

Pros.

A few funny jokes

It is watchable

Cons.

It is painfully average

A lot of the jokes don’t land

It doesn’t seem to know what character development is

Oliva Munn’s character is objectified and underused

1/5

Reviewed by Luke

Locke: An Entire Film Of A Man Sat In A Car Having Phone Conversations

Locke is a drama film directed by Steven Knight. The plot sees Ivan Locke (Tom Hardy), driving to the birth of his child. However, as he does this his life falls apart around him, as the child is not with his wife and he is blowing off work for the birth.

So, if anyone ever questions Tom Hardy’s acting credentials tell them to go and watch this film, it is slightly under an hour and a half of a man sat in his car talking to people on the phone. Though that might not sound like much the emotional journey we go on, is indescribable.

Once again through very subtle facial acting Hardy is able to communicate such a wide array of emotions. We can see Ivan as a character slowly start to break down as the film goes on when he realises how severe the consequences of his actions are going to be. All this is not said, but it is shown through Hardy’s performance.

I especially enjoyed Ivan’s conversations with his dead father, who he talks to as the journey progresses. In these instances Hardy is so raw and so passionate that you can’t help but be enthralled by him.

The supporting cast who he talks to over the phone give good enough performances, but this is Hardy’ film through and through.

Overall, a magnificent film and a tour de force performance from Hardy, highlighting the fact that he is one of the best character actors of these modern times.

Pros.

Tom Hardy’s performance, that is all five pros

Cons.

None.

5/5

Reviewed by Luke  

Superman, Man Of Tomorrow: A Superman Story With No Martha Moment

Superman Man Of Tomorrow is an animated superhero film directed by Chris Palmer. The plot follows Clark Kent (Darren Criss), in his early days as he is settling into his Superman identity. This super powered coming of age story is capped off by a wild show down with Lobo (Ryan Hurst), and a mad dash to defeat Parasite (Brett Dalton), before he takes over the world.

I had heard good things about the animated Superman films, so despite the fact that I am more of a Batman person I decided to check this out. I have to say it was nothing I haven’t seen before, it was yet another film showing the early life of Clark Kent, maybe it was a different take on it? I don’t think it was a different take personally, I just think it was yet another boring origin story.

The voice cast was strong with Zachary Quinton as Lex Luthor being the standout, the rest were serviceable if not memorable. I found the dialogue to be quite stilted personally, with some of it reading like poor fan fiction; in fact I think I have read stronger Supes fan fiction before.

Overall, much more boring than it should be, it did nothing for me and other than Zachary Quinton, I thought it was incredibly average standard fare.

Pros.

Zachary Quinton

Cons

Yet another take on young Superman

The voice cast were serviceable if not great

A lot of it boiled down to two super powered beings just punching each other for a long period of time

It was incredibly average

1/5

Reviewed by Luke    

Noelle: Disney Plus Gets A Big Steaming Lump Of Coal

Noelle is a family friendly Christmas movie directed by Marc Lawrence. The film follows Noelle (Anna Kendrick), who must leave the North Pole and venture out into our world to try and find her brother Nick (Bill Hader), who has fled after a freak out about becoming the new Santa Claus.

This is wholesome enough Christmas fare, it won’t be a new favourite by any means, but it is nice turn your brain off and watch junk food.

The writing is fairly weak, all the twists and turns are telegraphed a mile out, the big reveal that maybe it should be Noelle who becomes the new Santa Claus is blindingly obvious from half an hour into the film. The idea that we should have a female Santa Claus also doesn’t feel novel anymore, as I am sure it has been done before.

The humour is okay, there are no laughs to be had, but a few moments that will make you smile. I found the biggest issue with this film in that department was the repetition of jokes, the joke that every kid wanted an iPad for Christmas wasn’t funny to begin with and got progressively less so as it was overused. Repeating the joke doesn’t make it funny. Also the fact that kids want an iPad for Christmas feels like product placement that is about ten years out of date; you could be forgiven for not realising that this film came out in 2019.

The best thing about this film is Kendrick. Her performance is very warm and wholesome, and that vibe is contagious and spreads to the rest of the film.

Overall, a fun single use Christmas film that has many issues that you will forget about as soon as it is over.

Pros.

Anna Kendrick

The general wholesomeness

Cons

The humour

The obvious twists

The weird out of date product placement

2/5

Reviewed by Luke