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DanLawson146
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Gladiator (2000)
Ridley Scott's Best Film
POSITIVES:
1) Crowe and Phoenix are both completely sensational in this film. I was blown away by both of their performances. Crowe rightly won Best Actor at the Oscars for this film and I think Phoenix was robbed of Best Supporting Actor, though he was at least nominated. I'd also like to mention how stellar and filled with gravitas the performance of Richard Harris was as Marcus Aurelius during the first 30 minutes too
2) Ridley Scott is a master of set pieces and world building and both of those feats are really at their best here. The action scenes (which there are plenty of) are superb and still really hold up today, whilst Scott also does a great job of making this version of Rome feel like a world you are becoming a part of as you watch the film
3) I was really engaged by the political aspect of the film, in terms of having Maximus' story set against the backdrop of a conflict about whether Rome should be an Empire or a Republic. Political plot lines in films can be very hit or miss, but I thought it was very good here
4) Hans Zimmer's score here is magical. From the start of the film all the way to the very end you are accompanied by this magnificently epic score, which really helps to heighten the events of the film
5) I'd be lying if I said I didn't cry at the end. When Derek Jacobi's character asks "who will help me carry him?" and Maximus' body is lifted into the air and carried away like a hero, it had me really welling up, which is a sign of how much I had became engrossed in the film
NEGATIVES (all quite minor):
1) It didn't make sense to me that, after Commodus murders Marcus, all of the soldiers who we've just seen being led into battle by Maximus just immediately turn against him and try to kill him? I felt like this was far too sudden. The soldiers that have just been fighting alongside Maximus literally try and kill him and successfully kill his family literally immediately after Commodus kills Marcus, that's so so quick to change allegiance in such a serious way? Not one of them stop to question this order from Commodus and I thought it was all too rushed
2) Ridley Scott has became infamous in his films for not having much respect for historical accuracy or geographic accuracy, and this film is another example of that at several points
3) I didn't like all of the visuals in the film. There are a few times during action sequences where the camera does a sort of shaky slow motion, and I didn't like that. Also, there's one scene towards the end where Commodus is out on a balcony speaking to his adviser and the background of Rome is so painfully fake. It's the only shot in the film where I think it's really bad special effects that wouldn't hold up today
4) I think it was a mistake to have Maximus kiss Lucilla towards the end. He's spent the whole film mourning his wife and waiting for the day he can see her again in the afterlife, so this kiss just felt in bad taste to me
5) We've spent the film seeing Commodus as being a man of intellect, not of physical strength. He even tells Marcus before he kills him that he has courage, just not courage in a fighting sense. I therefore found it unbelievable and against character that Commodus would decide to go and fight Maximus in the arena at the end. I understand that he stabs Maximus beforehand and so presumably thinks Maximus will die at the start of the fight, but it still seemed against character to me that Commodus would put any risk onto his own life. It seemed like the filmmakers just needed to think of an epic way to kill Commodus at the end and this was the best they could come up with, but it doesn't fully work for me.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
It's sublime at times, but so baggy
POSITIVES:
1) The performances are all brilliant. Everyone is completely perfectly cast and it really is an ensemble piece. It's career defining roles for pretty much everyone involved and that's quite some achievement
2) The second half of the film, after the Fellowship have came together and set off on their quest, is really terrific. I love the bond that forms between the different members of the Fellowship and I so appreciated how much more action packed this second half of the film was, with some really engaging and well filmed action sequences. Scenes like the fight with the Balrog and Boromir's death are rightly etched into pop culture as some of the most iconic scenes in cinema history. Also, when the film eventually ends it leaves you really excited to see the next film to find out what happens next
3) From a technical point of view, the film is a masterpiece. The direction, costume design, production design etc are all superb. Also, a really big shoutout needs to go to Howard Shore because the score for this film is outstanding
NEGATIVES:
1) As I've alluded to in the title of this review, as well as in my point about how much I enjoyed the second half of the film, it is undeniable for me that the film is painfully slowly paced, especially in the first half. To have a film be the first instalment of a trilogy and yet still be 3 hours long on its own is outrageous. The first 90 minutes of the film could lose 30-45 minutes easily. Scenes like Bilbo's birthday party or the hobbits bumbling round in the corn fields are completely unnecessary and should be cut out completely. Get the hobbits out of the Shire after 15 minutes and get them assembled with the rest of the Fellowship within the first hour. This would make for a far more digestible experience for me. Also, none of the flashbacks to the original war with Sauron are necessary; leave it up to our imagination as the audience to put the pieces together based on what characters like Elrond tell us instead
2) Whilst I'm sure they were quite revolutionary at the time, I couldn't help but notice a lot of instances where the visual effects looked extremely dated and poor. It's not all the time, sometimes they're great, but there were several occasions where it was blatantly obvious that a low quality green screen or cgi was being used
3) Now that we've had the Hobbit trilogy be released as well, it makes some of the first half of the film seem quite confusing to me. Why does Gandalf need to go off and research the one ring to make sure that that is what Bilbo possesses, and make sure he believes that Sauron is back. Based on the events of the Hobbit trilogy, including those directly experienced by Gandalf, doesn't it seem like a continuity error between the trilogies here?
Johnny English (2003)
It's an easy watch, not much more
POSITIVES:
1) Rowan Atkinson gives a great central performance. Everyone knows he's a master of comedy, especially physical comedy, and he really demonstrates that here
2) The film had plenty of really funny moments and I really laughed loudly at several points
3) I was pleasantly surprised by how competent I actually thought the action set pieces were. They're pretty memorable and engaging to watch, whereas I'd have expected some much lower quality action from a film like this
NEGATIVES:
1) Something I couldn't get out of my head throughout the entire film is how we're supposed to be rooting for this guy who literally gets a huge amount of his colleagues killed within the first 10 minutes of the film. It's played for laughs when it should be horrifying? I think a much better way to go would've been to have Johnny be clumsy and silly during unimportant moments, but still ultimately be good at his job and get things done when they're important. Instead, Johnny is terrible at everything, which doesn't make him a likeable character worth rooting for in my mind
2) The ending is completely outrageous. Of course I understand that it's a comedic spoof film, and I wasn't expecting staunch seriousness, but the film could've at least attempted to balance its humour with a semi-decent plot surely? The idea that the queen abdicates simply because someone points a gun at a corgi is ridiculous but it's just the tip of the iceberg really. Why isn't Charles next in line to the throne? Why when English is accidentally appointed king does everyone immediately start doing his bidding when he'd just been outrageously embarrassing himself 5 minutes earlier? How does this absolute buffoon get himself a knighthood when he has contributed literally nothing of any use for the entire film?? It's completely infuriating
3) I thought Natalie Imbruglia was terrible and an awful casting decision. I have no idea how she came to be thought of for this role, she was abysmal.
Spider-Man 3 (2007)
It's better than people say
POSITIVES:
1) Sam Raimi is a great visual director and some of the visuals here are really memorable and powerful. For example, there are a couple of shots of Peter in the dark suit that are like pieces of art
2) All of the SandMan stuff in the film is really good. You can tell that a film with SandMan as the main villain was the film that Raimi really wanted to make, as SandMan is given plenty of screen time and a truly fleshed out character. The scene of him directly after his accident where he's coming to grips with his new body and is unable to pick up his daughter's locket is so so so good
3) I've said it in my other reviews too, but Rosemary Harris is a complete revelation in these films. I don't think much of the acting is strong in these films at all, but then she comes on screen and I feel I can let out a sigh of relief because finally there's a strong performer on the screen. She's so warm and likeable but also some vulnerable and emotional when necessary. 10/10 performance
4) Ultimately, after three films, there is certainly some payoff to seeing the resolution of this trilogy and each character's respective arcs, even if it isn't fully satisfying
NEGATIVES:
1) As I've alluded to in a previous point, I just don't rate much of the acting here at all. I don't think Maguire, Dunst or Franco are yet the accomplished performers that they would become in the future, and newcomers like Howard and Grace are incredibly wooden as well
2) It's quite common knowledge at this point that Raimi never wanted to have Venom in the film, and it really shows. Every time Eddie/Venom is on screen it's completely terrible. It's easily the worst incarnation of Venom that we've seen and single-handedly knocks the film down a couple of points in my rating
3) It is undeniable that the special effects have mostly not held up very well. It looked really bad in quite a few scenes here compared to how advanced the technology is today.
Spider-Man 2 (2004)
Unpopular opinion but I prefer the first one
POSITIVES:
1) Alfred Molina is terrific as the villain. I think his performance really elevates the quality of the film. I also think Rosemary Harris gives a really brilliant performance as Aunt May. She's probably my favourite performance in the film and I also think she has the best scene in the film (giving Peter the Spider-Man advice he needs in the back yard whilst her boxes are getting moved to her new home)
2) The action scenes in this film are really entertaining and I think these films were made at a time where technology was improving so rapidly, meaning the action here does feel like an elevation on the first film
3) The film does a good job of demonstrating the weight of the burden of being Spider-Man and how this affects Peter. You do genuinely feel for him when he decides to give up being Spider-Man to focus on being Peter, but then also feel for him when he is inevitably drawn back in to being a hero. I thought the scene of Peter, with no protection or powers, going into the burning building to save the small child was really terrific and a perfect encapsulation of who Peter Parker is - just a fundamentally brave and heroic person
NEGATIVES:
1) I hate to say it but I honestly just don't think Maguire, Dunst or Franco are good actors at this stage in their respective careers. Some of the line deliveries from all three of them are awful and I couldn't see past it
2) Whilst the special effects are more advanced than the first film and were able to win an Oscar, I still think they're far from perfect. There were certain sequences where they're really ropey when watching in 2024
3) I couldn't shake the feeling throughout the whole film that Otto is basically just a rehash of Norman from the first film. He's another science genius, another father figure to Peter, another good man who is corrupted by a science experiment gone wrong, etc. It also bothered me that I don't really understand how he turns good again at the end? His inhibitor chip doesn't get fixed? It seems like Peter just hits him hard enough that it turns him good? It just seemed like a big plot convenience without proper explanation
4) We're two films in now and I can't believe how outdated MJ's character feels. She's just a damsel in distress with no strength of her own whatsoever. The fact she's been with four guys in the space of two films, she leaves her fiancé at the alter, and she just shrieks hysterically constantly is all just so outdated when watching in 2024. Also, the multiple scenes in this film of Peter flip-flopping on whether he should be with MJ or not are just soooo frustrating. During the scene right before Otto kidnaps MJ, where MJ tells Peter that she'll dump her fiancé for him and then Peter shuts her down AGAIN, I honestly nearly threw something at the screen I was so frustrated by how ridiculous it was.
The Matrix (1999)
This must've felt surreal in 1999
POSITIVES:
1) The film has so many iconic moments and iconic lines that even people who haven't seen the film will make references linked to it. That is a kind of status in pop culture that money can't buy
2) The film has became the pre cursor for so many films that have came after it. It is clearly the inspiration behind so many sci fi films that have came out in the 21st century so far
3) I think it's really impressive how ahead of its time the film's plot feels. It has predicted what has came to pass with the launching of smartphones and social media etc in such a clairvoyant way
NEGATIVES:
1) Keanu Reeves just isn't a good actor. I'm sorry, but he's not. Some of his line delivery here is atrocious and I was almost laughing at certain moments when I wasn't supposed to be
2) There are certainly moments that feel very dated when watching in 2024. Not all of the visual effects hold up well and the costume design is almost a parody of itself at this point
3) Neo is essentially saved by the power of love at the end?? I absolutely hated that so much, it felt so cringe and like something that had been parachuted in from a different film. Not only is it cringe inducing and makes no sense, but we hadn't even really had any build up to Trinity loving Neo at all? It just comes completely out of the blue? I was going to rate this as an 8 but I've had to mark it down a point because of how stupid this is.
Trap (2024)
I had a blast with this
POSITIVES:
1) Josh Hartnett is in almost every scene of the film and he gives such a gripping central performance. The way he was able to switch on and off between caring father and brutal killer was deliciously unsettling. I thought it was very smart of the film to have Cooper be a very caring husband and father, as it humanises him and makes us root for him despite the horrors of his crimes
2) I thought the first half of this film, everything prior to them leaving the concert, was completely gripping. All the scenes of Cooper scanning the concert arena and going round the corridors trying to find a way out were extremely enjoyable for me
3) The film is only about 100 minutes long and is extremely fast paced, meaning you will never feel bored. M Night correctly understands that there is no need for a film like this to be over 2 hours or have any slow exposition scenes, instead it is short and snappy and is all the better for it
NEGATIVES:
1) As I've alluded to in the positives section, I stopped enjoying the film as much in the second half once they leave the concert hall. I think it would've been much better to have the film all stay within the concert hall and keep the sense of claustrophobia and tension that was present by being trapped inside an enclosed arena
2) There is no denying that the film is completely ridiculous. As much as I enjoyed it, it was very hard for me to suspend my disbelief at times, because some of the occurrences are completely outrageously silly
3) I'm going to contradict myself slightly here, as I said in the positives section that I liked how there was no dull exposition scenes, and while this is true, I did find myself leaving the film feeling like I'd missed some crucial plot points. Other than the fact that the profiler has given a general profile of what she thinks The Butcher will be like, I don't understand how they were going to catch Cooper at the concert? The film says that they were stopping every man at the concert and questioning them, but surely these questions can't have been particularly overbearing or lengthy considering the film says there are 3000 men at the concert? Why is Cooper so certain he needs to sneak out? Why doesn't he just walk out with his daughter as if nothing is wrong and just blag his way through the police questions, which he clearly demonstrates that he is able to do when necessary? This bugged me throughout the whole film, as much as I enjoyed it.
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024)
Ritchie doesn't leave his comfort zone
POSITIVES:
1) There's no denying that Ritchie knows what he's doing when it comes to this kind of film. The action scenes are very fun to watch and the dialogue is very sharp and snappy, with some very charming performances, most notably Henry Cavill, who I thought was excellent
2) You'd be forgiven for thinking that there aren't really any stories from World War 2 left to tell, because there have already been so many films and tv shows about this period, but I was actually pleasantly surprised by how I didn't know anything about this story and it felt like something new
3) I thought it was surprisingly touching seeing the real life characters at the end and finding out what happened to each of them after the events of the film
NEGATIVES:
1) The film has absolutely no depth whatsoever. It's actually painful how surface level it is. This meant that whilst it was very light and easy to watch, I wasn't engaging with anything at all
2) I thought the whole subplot around the two characters that were already on the island waiting for Cavill and Co to arrive was just completely unnecessary. It really strongly weighed the pacing of the film down for me. Every time we cut away to one of these scenes I was just begging for us to leave and go back to Cavill instead
3) There is absolutely no need whatsoever for this film to be two hours long. Cut out all the scenes of the two characters already on the island. Cut out the prison break sequence, as this was just an unnecessary detour and it wouldn't be hard to just have all the characters together at the start instead. Get the film down to a much more digestible and snappy 90 minutes long that would be much more enjoyable to watch.
Spider-Man (2002)
I'm impressed at how good it still is
POSITIVES:
1) The film is elevated so much by its elder statesman actors. Willem Dafoe, Cliff Robertson, Rosemary Harris and JK Simmons all completely crush it in their respective roles and frankly they greatly increase the acting quality from what Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst and James Franco bring to the table
2) Raimi is a great visual filmmaker and he's really able to put his stamp onto this great Hollywood spectacle. The film has plenty of iconic imagery and I think that's really down to Raimi
3) I loved the darker and more mature themes that the film offers. The scenes of Dafoe arguing with his alter ego are really incredible and I thought the thought-provoking ideas around things like keeping your superhero identity secret or how people eventually turn on their heroes were really well done
4) The score from Danny Elfman is really great. I love all of Elfman's music and this is no exception
5) I frequently finish a film and think it was slow or could've been shorter, but with this film it's the exact opposite. I think the film is so fast paced and never feels boring. I loved that they had Peter get bit by the spider and Norman get the goblin powers all within the first few scenes of the film
NEGATIVES:
1) Not all of the special effects still hold up today. There are several moments where you can really obviously tell that a scene has been quite poorly computer generated, most notably during the swinging scenes or the jumping across rooftops scenes
2) As I've alluded to earlier, I really hated so much of the interactions between Maguire, Dunst and Franco. I hate their love triangle so much, in fact all of the stuff around Peter's high school life just felt so cliche and cringeworthy. Some of the dialogue and the line delivery between these three characters was so terrible and I was almost being sick in my mouth and some of the confessions of love between Peter and MJ. I honestly just don't think any of the three of them were particularly good actors at this point in their careers
3) I don't think the film's attitudes towards women are very progressive when viewed in 2024. MJ is put into peril three times within the final hour of the film and it is almost comical the amount of damsel in distress shrieking and screaming that Dunst is made to do during these scenes of peril. I also think the fact that she goes from dating Flash to Harry to Peter all within what seems like not a great length of time makes her not come across very well.
Alien (1979)
In 2024, it's not a great watch
POSITIVES:
1) I love films that are stripped back in terms of only having a handful of characters and only being set in one location. I think it adds a sense of claustrophobia that keeps the narrative moving and adds to the dramatic tension of the film
2) Visually, the film is so iconic. The visual effects department and the designers really deserve so much credit for this film. Everyone knows what a xenomorph looks like even if they haven't seen the film because the image of them is so iconic, and scenes like the chest burst will always be remembered
3) I liked that the characters feel very grounded in terms of their discussions around things like bonuses and chains of command, it feels like conversations that real people would have. I also thought it felt very realistic, during the twist of Ian Holm's character being an android the whole time, that the company they all work for would happily sacrifice them for the mission; that was good bit of social commentary
NEGATIVES:
1) The film feels incredibly slowly paced, especially in the first hour. It was really a slog to keep my attention focused on the film and I feel like if this film was made today it would not be allowed to be anywhere near so dull
2) The film is not scary to a modern day viewer like myself. I do believe that 45 years ago when it was released it was probably terrifying to people, but I just feel like the film has been left behind by advancements in technology, so even though I'm usually easily scared during horror films this just gave me no fear whatsoever
3) On the whole, I just feel like it is not a great idea to watch this film for the first time in 2024. I feel like to a modern audience watching for the first time they just really won't get what all the hype is about. I completely understand why people who watched it decades ago consider it to be a classic, but I just felt like it's a film that now seems so limited by its time when you compare it to what we get from films in the modern day.
Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)
A summer blockbuster in all its glory
POSITIVES:
1) Fans have waited so long to see Reynolds and Jackman share the screen together and it did not disappoint. Their chemistry together is off the charts. They completely nail the comedic moments but I also thought they both did a great job during the emotional moments too. Jackman slips back into this character like he never went away and I loved him for it
2) I thought the fight scenes were all really fun to watch and shot really well. The film has multiple scenes of 1v1 Deadpool vs Wolverine, as well as big group fights against a horde of enemies, and I thought both of these different kinds of fight scene were filmed in a way that was really engaging
3) Look, I'm just a man, so it would be impossible to deny how much I had a grin on my face during this film. The humour is hilarious and the cameos were complete fan service in the best kind of way. I thought it was really clever to have cameos like Elektra, X23, Sabretooth and Toad get announced before the film was released, because it made the other cameos like Human Torch, Gambit and especially Blade feel really surprising
NEGATIVES:
1) I thought both of the villains were weak and forgettable in terms of Paradox and Nova. I think it's clear that the film wanted so badly to give Reynolds and Jackman as much screen time as possible that they don't take the time to flesh out either of the villains properly
2) I thought all of the worst moments in the film were ones where it was falling into the same old superhero tropes that we always see. Everything about the time ripper and the evil plot to destroy multiverses just felt painfully generic and I was hoping the film would be more inventive with its storytelling
3) For a film with such a big budget, there were definitely some ropey moments with the visuals. Nova putting her fingers inside people's faces just looked really goofy to me, and I was disappointed by how much of the film took place in the incredibly bland looking void.
Django Unchained (2012)
One of Tarantino's best
POSITIVES:
1) The performances are amazing. Tarantino is always so good at getting world class performances out of his actors and I thought the main six of Foxx, Waltz, DiCaprio, Washington, Goggins and Jackson were all on top of their game here
2) Tarantino's previous film, Inglourious Basterds, felt like the start of a new chapter in Tarantino's filmography, and I think it's one that is very much continued here. The ability to create scenes that are so deliciously filled with tension is something that Tarantino started in Inglourious and really perfects here. Every scene with DiCaprio is so beautifully filled with tension
3) It's impossible not to commend how well made the film is. Tarantino rightfully won the Oscar for writing the year this came out, as some of the dialogue and scene building here is unbelievable, but everything else like the cinematography, production design, costume design etc are all superb too
NEGATIVES:
1) I do think the film is too long. There's a montage scene around the middle of Django and King collecting different bounties which I thought could be cut out, and the final half an hour or so after Candie's death feels like an unnecessary epilogue. If both of these things were cut out then the film would be a much more digestible two hours
2) In a way, I feel like Jamie Foxx was a bit miscast. I think he gives a great performance, but I think the idea that he's supposed to be an uncool slave at the start but then becomes the hero by the end is just a bit far fetched when you cast Jamie Foxx, because he immediately looks cool right at the start and especially from when he gets a haircut he's just immediately oozing charisma when I feel like the character was supposed to not be so cool at that point
3) I don't really have any major issues with the film, as I really love it, and the couple of points above are just nitpicks really. However, there are another couple of small things that I'd change if I could. I think the flashback sequences and the scenes were Django hallucinates seeing his wife next to him could all have been removed. I also think the few times are the camera really dramatically zooms into a character's face just looked goofy. Finally, I think the use of modern music took me out of the film at times.
A Star Is Born (2018)
A good directing debut for Cooper
POSITIVES:
1) The performances are really great. Cooper and Gaga are both such magnetic screen presences in this film and make you care so much for each of their characters, while Sam Elliott is also superb in a more supporting role
2) Cooper completely nails it from behind the camera, particularly in the music performing scenes. The soundtrack is amazing and is one that I listen to frequently, with many great songs on it, and the way in which Cooper directs the music performing scenes was really well done
3) Emotionally, the film is a complete rollercoaster and does a wonderful job of hooking you in and then completely sucker punching you. Even right at the start when we see Jackson watching Ally for the first time in the drag bar, then performing "Maybe It's Time", I was completely connecting with the film emotionally. This meant that by the end my emotions had been completely wrapped up in the film and its central tragedy. Obviously this is one of several adaptations of this story, but the central premise of two main characters whose careers are going in different directions was very engaging
NEGATIVES:
1) The film is definitely too long and does feel like it's dragging at several moments. There are some fairly meandering dialogue scenes that I think could've been trimmed to make the film a more streamlined experience
2) I appreciate that this is basically the central premise of the film, but I honestly didn't buy into the romantic aspect of the relationship between Jackson and Ally. I think part of the reason for this is that Cooper is so notably older than Gaga, but I just kept thinking throughout the whole film that it would've worked so much better if Jackson was just helping Ally because he wanted to pass the torch onto her as a younger artist, rather than it being romantic and giving me a relationship that I never fully believed in or was invested in
3) I have a very low bar for cringe and this film surpassed it several times. There are moments early on where Ally just randomly bursts into song in the middle of a conversation that I found very cringe, and then there were several later moments as well, none more so than Jackson peeing himself at the Grammys. I was squirming in my seat from cringe here
4) I think the film suffers from a fundamental problem of having its best moment come so early on. The "Shallow" performance is by far and away the best scene in the film and actually had the person I watched this with crying her eyes out. The problem, therefore, is that this scene happens roughly halfway through the film, maybe even earlier than that, and the film never reaches that high again, making the rest of the film feel slightly underwhelming because part of you is waiting for another scene as great as the "Shallow" performance.
Creed (2015)
One of the best boxing films ever made
POSITIVES:
1) The three central performances are all incredible. All three of them manage to juggle emotion, humour and charm really impressively. Normally in these kinds of films, the personal stuff would be boring to me, but in this film I find it so engaging and that's largely down to these performances. I think it's such a shame that Stallone didn't win the Oscar because he truly deserved it. Credit to the writing as well to make all three of these characters so likeable and relatable
2) The fight scenes are probably some of the best fight scenes in any boxing film ever. In particular, the one-take fight around the halfway point was completely gripping and jaw dropping. I'd also be lying if I said I didn't almost fist pump the air when the iconic Rocky theme music started playing before the final round of the Conlan fight
3) Technically speaking, the film is so well made. It feels like a franchise film but made by real artists rather than made by a studio board, and this elevates the material incredibly. I thought the direction from Coogler was superb and the score from Göransson is one of my favourites of all time - I listen to it often when working out
NEGATIVES:
1) Outside of the three central performances, I do think some of the acting is quite poor and caricatured, especially from the actors playing other boxers. For example, as a Brit who knows Tony Bellew as a real life boxer, I thought it was a crazy decision to have him star as the antagonist in this film. It completely takes me out of the film whenever he's on screen and I don't think he sells the role at all
2) The film definitely requires you to suspend your disbelief quite a lot. Adonis goes from being a complete nobody to fighting for a world title in what feels like an insanely short amount of time. One of the issues with the film is that due to the frequent use of montages it's hard to tell how much time is actually passing between scenes or between fights
3) I think the 2 hour 13 minute runtime was long for this film. It feels like it's wanting to cram too much in at certain points, because it's wanting to focus on Adonis as the main character but also give Bianca her own story with her music career but also give Rocky his own story with his health issues. I think the middle of the film after the first fight but before the Conlan fight could've been trimmed to bring the film down to under 2 hours in length.
Despicable Me 4 (2024)
A bland and pointless cash grab
POSITIVES:
1) The film certainly has some chuckle-worthy moments, especially revolving around the minions
2) The animation is very well done and there are some fun action set pieces with some amusing visuals
3) Look, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't grinning a lot and actually getting quite emotional when it came to the happy ending of Junior finally saying "Dada", Lucky the goat coming home, and the Everybody Wants To Rule The World singing sequence where we see some of the villains from the previous films
4) I appreciated all of the pop culture references that the film had, particularly when it came to referencing other films
NEGATIVES:
1) As the title of this review states, the film just feels so unnecessary. It adds nothing to the series and really just creates the feeling that this series ran out of steam a long time ago
2) Whilst I did chuckle at times, the film is nowhere near as funny as it ought to be. There were no proper laugh out loud moments, there were only light chuckles, and I found the humour and the script in general to just overall be disappointing
3) Will Ferrell's accent was so infuriating to me. I really don't get why he couldn't have just spoken in his regular accent? I thought this weird Eastern European accent he was doing was honestly painful at times
4) The original kids all felt completely irrelevant in this film, as all the screen time goes to newcomers Junior and Poppy instead. The film occasionally hints at subplots, like high school bullying, but then completely ignores them and never goes anywhere with it? In general I think the film just felt really badly written and also completely over stuffed with characters, meaning that people like the original kids, as well as characters like Valentina, just feel completely cut out.
Kinds of Kindness (2024)
It's just weird, but it'll stay with me
POSITIVES:
1) The cast are all great screen presences whom it's impossible to take your eyes off, and it's quite impressive how well the leads are all able to inhabit three different characters in the space of one film
2) The technical aspects of the film are all just as great as you'd expect from a Lanthimos film. The direction, cinematography, costume design, production design etc are all superb
3) I think the score deserves a special mention. It's incredibly melodramatic but in a great and memorable way
4) For a film that's just under three hours long, I was never bored or feeling like the time was passing slowly. The film feels a lot shorter than it actually is, which is definitely a good thing
NEGATIVES:
1) I always have and always will have a fundamental problem with anthology films like this. The fact that the film is made up of three separate stories, each of which are just under an hour long, means that it's impossible to ever actually latch on to or care about one specific story or character. None of the individual stories or individual characters are given enough time to breathe or be properly fleshed out, meaning everything feels rushed and not impactful. Each of the three stories could easily have been their own feature length film and that would've been more enjoyable I think
2) I found the film to be very cold and emotionless. All Lanthimos films come with odd line delivery at times, but in films like The Favourite or Poor Things you can still connect emotionally with the characters. Here, on the other hand, everyone seems to deliver their lines in a completely emotionless and staccato way, making the film feel quite robotic and without any depth
3) By the end of the film, I had grown incredibly frustrated at the fact that none of the three stories we've just sat through come with any kind of resolution or payoff. I'm not one of those people that needs everything laid out plainly and clearly to be able to understand it, but I also don't think it's fair to ask an audience to sit through almost three hours with you and then not really give them any answers about what they've just seen. Each one of the three stories just left me with more questions than answers and this grew irritating by the end of the film. Don't set up all these interesting characters and mysteries and then give us literally no answers or payoff about what has been happening or why it's been happening!
Dead Poets Society (1989)
Feels very dated and cringe in 2024
POSITIVES:
1) Robin Williams is completely spellbinding whenever he's on screen, to the point that whenever he's not on screen you're impatiently waiting for the next time he appears. It's rightly considered an iconic performance in the history of film
2) The film certainly has some memorable moments. The final scene is rightfully the most memorable of them all, but scenes like the surprise death or Ethan Hawke's character speaking poetry for the first time are also very well done. Peter Weir is a very steady hand as a director and I think the film benefits from that in these moments
3) As the film went on, I grew to appreciate the sense of friendship and brotherhood that the boys have between each other; it was heartwarming how they stick together
NEGATIVES:
1) As I've discussed in a previous point; whenever Robin Williams isn't on screen the film feels incredibly dull to me. It was a slog at times when nothing felt like it was really happening. It is certainly a very slow paced film, particularly during the first half
2) As the title of this review states, the film feels incredibly dated and cringe in 2024. I think it will completely alienate a young audience like me who watch it for the first time in 2024. The idea that this group of young & popular boys would go and start a poetry club is just completely ridiculous. The scene of Josh Charles' character going and reading a poem to his crush in her classroom was just absolutely outrageous, I was literally squirming in my seat because of how cringey it was
3) I'm a Brit, and the film just felt soooo American to me. It was hard to relate to a lot of what was happening, or even find it believable, because the film feels so American and I'm not American.
A Quiet Place: Day One (2024)
Some good things, but nothing special
POSITIVES:
1) The two central performances are very strong. Nyong'o is a complete powerhouse and probably one of the best actresses working today, whilst Quinn embodies vulnerability very well. Nyong'o and Quinn have great chemistry together also, especially as the film goes on and we get scenes like the mime magician scene
2) Visually, the film is very competently made. The monsters look great and the direction of the action sequences was very good
3) The film is a light and breezy 90 minutes long, meaning it doesn't overstay its welcome at all and I appreciated the fairly stripped back nature of it
4) Finally, just a shout out to the cat, whom I loved
NEGATIVES:
1) The film feels very pointless. It doesn't add anything new to the Quiet Place series at all and just feels a re-tread of things we've already seen. This makes the film feel like it was only made as a cash grab
2) The plot contrivance around the need for pizza was honestly one of the most ridiculous plot points in a film I think I've ever seen. The film should be over in about half an hour when the ships arrive to take all the humans away to safety, but Nyong'o's character inexcusably decides to not leave because she wants to get pizza instead?! I understand that she is terminal so doesn't value her life too much, but she risks her cat's life for this?! She's also then overcome with surprise and emotion when they eventually arrive at the pizza place to find it destroyed - of course it's destroyed there's an alien invasion destroying the whole city?!?! Honestly I had my head in my hands at so many points because of this
3) The tense scenes are feel very repetitive. There are only so many variations of "protagonist needs to get X but monsters are nearby so they need to be quiet" that we can see before it starts getting boring
4) I don't think I'll remember anything about this film in the long term, other than the ridiculous pizza plot line.
The Bikeriders (2023)
A very strong Scorsese-lite film
POSITIVES:
1) The performances are brilliant. Austin Butler and Jodie Comer shine in the lead roles, but oh my god Tom Hardy was immense. He's intimidating and unnerving for most of the film, but also surprisingly vulnerable in certain moments when necessary too. He really knocked me out and I hope he gets some awards recognition
2) The film is extremely competently made. All of the technical aspects like direction, cinematography, production design, costume design etc are really high quality and you can tell that a lot of love and care went into the making of the film
3) The film definitely works in terms of making you care about what happens to the three central characters and by the end of the film I was very emotionally impacted in a positive way by the happy ending for Benny & Kathy, whilst also being emotionally impacted in a negative way by the sad ending for Johnny
4) The film zips along at a good pace and I never felt bored by it. Whilst I am going to raise some issues with the narrative, I was never not enjoying myself and I thought the runtime was nice and sensible rather than overstaying its welcome
NEGATIVES:
1) As I mention in my previous point, I do have an issue with the non-linear nature of the narrative and how muddled it feels at times. It just felt like it was sometimes randomly hopping from scene to scene and I found it hard to get any sense of how much time we were supposed to think was passing between scenes and some scenes would often feel disconnected from what came immediately before or after
2) As the title of the review suggests, I found the film to be so clearly a remaking of Scorsese films like Mean Streets and Goodfellas. Everything from the narration, to the criminal lifestyle that starts off seductive but then turns dark, to the constant use of cool music from the era, to the fact that Benny is so blatantly a Henry Hill ripoff, was all just so distracting and took me out of the film at several points because I couldn't shake the Scorsese homage from my mind
3) Outside of Benny, Kathy and Johnny, I didn't really care about any of the characters or feel like they were particularly fleshed out at all. I think the film suffers from the fact that the gang is too big and therefore there are too many supporting characters, a lot of whom feel very over the top and almost caricatures of stereotypical dirty bikers.
Inside Out 2 (2024)
Very competent, but dull at times
POSITIVES:
1) All of the technical aspects of the film are very well done. It looks great, it sounds great, it feels like Pixar back closer to its best
2) The film has plenty of laugh out loud moments, my favourite being the introduction of the characters of Ennui and Nostalgia. The sar-casm and the recurring gags around Pouchey were very funny as well
3) When the time comes, the film certainly knows how to tug at the heart strings. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't welling up when all the different emotions were cuddling around Riley's sense of self at the end. I also thought that, whilst incredibly predictable, it was a good message at the end to say that all of these different emotions are necessary and it's just about finding balance in how you use them
NEGATIVES:
1) I definitely think the film suffers in the way most sequels do by feeling the need to go bigger than its predecessor. For example, new characters like Envy are given absolutely nothing to do because there just isn't enough room for them, whilst themes from the first film like the different Islands in Riley's mind are just brushed over and not given any development whatsoever in this film
2) The entire second act of the film felt incredibly dull to me. It honestly felt like nothing was happening. After the core emotions from the first film are flung away by Anxiety, their mission is simply to return to the front of Riley's mind, but we have to spend an entire hour or more with them encountering different obstacles and I just didn't find this engaging at all. I also thought that, whilst the new emotions like Anxiety felt quite fresh at the start of the film, they start feeling really annoying by the end. Maya Hawke's voice as Anxiety was grating on me so much by the end and that's not her fault, it's how she's used in the film
3) As an adult watching this film, I'm obviously not the target audience, but I did find some of the overly childish humour to be unnecessary. Given that the character of Riley is now a teen, and most of the kids who watched the first film will be teens now themselves, couldn't the film have been a tiny bit more mature?
The King of Comedy (1982)
Feels so relevant in the digital age
POSITIVES:
1) The performances are so great. Fair play to the supporting cast, of which Jerry Lewis is a standout, but oh my god Robert De Niro is electric in this. It might be my favourite performance of his. I couldn't take my eyes off him in every scene of his, especially the scenes at his home where he is imagining himself being on Jerry's show or having lunch with Jerry, I thought they were completely brilliant
2) In this modern digital age (I watched this for the first time in 2024) I was really pleasantly surprised by how well this film holds up and how relevant it feels today. I often feel like films from the previous century feel very dated, but that wasn't the case at all here. It feels very ahead of its time now that we have so much obsession with celebrities through social media
3) As always with Scorsese, the film feels so well made. Hats off for not only the direction, but the cinematography, production design, costume design, editing etc
NEGATIVES:
1) This isn't a fault of the film as much as a fault of myself, but I have a low tolerance for cringe or awkwardness and I found this film to be so unbearably cringey and awkward at times. Obviously this is deliberate on the film's part and it does it very well, but I just can't say that I always enjoyed watching the film because there were times during Rupert's interactions with Jerry and his secretary that I was literally squirming in my seat due to how cringey and awkward it was
2) I do think the film's narrative has a fundamental problem with suspension of disbelief. We're meant to believe that Jerry is the biggest talk show host in America and yet he hardly ever has any security on him? Rupert and Marsha are able to kidnap him incredibly easily because he inexplicably just openly walks around the streets with no protection? Even Jerry's office and his home are incredibly easy for Rupert to repeatedly come in and out of, when in reality he would be stopped from entering either before he could even get in the main entrance.
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
The birth of Ritchie is not his best
POSITIVES:
1) This is Ritchie's first film and it contains so many things that would go on to become staples of Ritchie's career: the character nicknames, the razor sharp dialogue, the bursts of violence, etc
2) I really enjoyed the way the film was shot. I liked that it wasn't too crisp or glossy and I felt that it helped with the realism of the grimy nature of the film
3) Once all of the various different plot strands come together at the end with all of the different characters finally converging on the same location, it was very entertaining to see the payoff of what we have been building up to
NEGATIVES:
1) The film has far far far too many characters and too many different plot threads going on. It feels so muddled and unnecessary, especially given that some of the characters and plot threads are far more entertaining than others
2) I have to confess that for the second act of the film I was really struggling to stay engaged with it. I just found the film to be quite meandering and it felt pretty obvious where we were going to end up so I just wanted us to get there a bit quicker
3) Watching the film for the first time in 2024, I do think there are plenty of elements of the film which probably seemed very cutting edge in the 90s but now just feel painfully outdated.
Bad Boys: Ride or Die (2024)
Harmless fun, but nothing special
POSITIVES:
1) The film is simply a good time. It's a fun way to kill a couple hours on a weekend without needing to have your brain fully engaged or have to deal with any heavy themes
2) I thought the action scenes were really well done. The crew deserve a lot of credit for how fun they are to watch, while Will Smith is still able to pull off this stuff just as easily as he has been able to for his whole career
3) The chemistry between the two leads is still really good and the film has plenty of laugh out loud moments
NEGATIVES:
1) The film brings nothing new to the table whatsoever. The entire plot is full of things we've seen a thousand times before, the twist is unbearably obvious, and there's absolutely nothing here that will stick with me in the long term
2) Whilst Will Smith seems to be completely ageless, I thought it was obvious that the film was struggling to work around Martin Lawrence most of the time. He does nothing in the action scenes, and some of his dialogue was unbearably annoying. I actually think it would've been a better film if he was killed off or put in the hospital and it was left to Will Smith and his son to be the bad boys
3) This film should 100% have been a cheap and cheerful 90 minutes. There's no need for it to be just under 2 hours long. The plot is very weak and generic and therefore could easily have been trimmed down to make a better experience.
Creed III (2023)
Jordan shouldn't have directed this
POSITIVES:
1) The performances are great. Each of the returning cast members fit like a glove into their characters by this point, whilst the bulldozing newcomer Majors really steals every scene he's in by being incredibly intimidating and unnerving. It was also nice to see cameos from previous opponents in the series, as it made it feel like this universe has a real heavyweight division of multiple top fighters all having their own careers and crossing paths at different times
2) I thought the film really sold me on the emotional side of the story. I completely bought into the conflict between Adonis and Dame, as well as caring about Adonis' family life and wanting things to go well for them
3) I thought the film dealt with diversity and inclusion very well. Most films try and hit you over the head with this kind of thing, to the point that it becomes annoying. However, I thought the way this film handled it, especially when it came to Adonis' deaf daughter and the frequent use of sign language, was really well done
4) I was surprised by the fact that I actually didn't feel like Rocky was a notable absence in the film. Obviously it would've been nice to see him, but I actually think by barely mentioning him at all and having Adonis retired for most of the film, it allowed Rocky's omission to feel natural and not play on my mind at all
NEGATIVES:
1) The pacing is shocking, with some plot threads taking far too long, like everything revolving around the Mexican boxer, whilst others, like the mother's death and the whole final act, are sped through far too quickly. Adonis literally doesn't mention his mother a single time in the film after her death? The build up to the final fight is literally just a training montage - no tense exchanges at a press conference, no grieving for the mother, no emotional resolution between Adonis and Bianca, just straight into the fight like it's nothing
2) The editing was horrific. The cutting from one scene to the next was so jarring at times. I'm not sure if there was an original longer cut that was supposed to connect certain scenes a bit better, but honestly there were so many moments where scenes seemed to end really abruptly and then the next scene would randomly be in a completely different location and time
3) The final fight felt like a real anticlimax. I felt like it took far too long to get to it, especially since we all knew it was coming due to the trailers and the nature of these types of films. Then, when we finally got there, the fight choreography was quite poor for me, there wasn't anywhere near the same level of drama and suspense as the previous final fights in the series, and the decision to have the sequence where the crowd go away and it almost seems to be taking place in a dream was a really badly executed idea I thought
4) As the title of this review suggests, as well as my previous negatives, I simply don't think Jordan was up to the job of directing this film. I think it's obvious that being the lead actor and the director was too much. His performance is very good, but he should leave the director's chair behind for the foreseeable future. Even if we forget about all my previous negatives, there just was nothing special from a directing point of view at all. It was very safe and lacklustre, whereas the two previous directors in the Creed franchise both felt so much more competent and able to show some flair.
The Iron Lady (2011)
A fairly weak film carried by Streep
POSITIVES:
1) Meryl Streep is absolutely spellbinding here. She completely deserved the Oscar she won for this performance. I thought Jim Broadbent was very good too
2) I thought the film did a good job in the present day scenes with elderly Thatcher of making us engaged emotionally. The creative decision to have Thatcher hallucinating her late husband's presence throughout the film was an inventively good choice I thought
3) I was impressed by how the film managed to take such a balanced, non-judgmental view of its lead character. It is much more of a character study of a human being than it is a biopic of a famous ruler. The film doesn't shy away from Thatcher's flaws and her poor moments, but it also doesn't vilify her and allows some positive traits to shine through too
NEGATIVES:
1) The pacing was really an issue for me. I felt like the first half was extremely slowly paced to the point of boredom, but then the second half rapidly flies through massive historical events without giving itself anytime to properly flesh them out
2) Apart from Thatcher and her husband every other character felt extremely one dimensional. The film doesn't seem interested at all in making any of its side characters appear well rounded or empathetic. Most of the side characters are just portrayed as generic stuck up Tories, rather than the important historical figures that they each were in their own right
3) I don't think the non-linear structure of the film was the best way for it to be. I found myself getting frustrated at several points when we were leaving the interesting stuff to instead watch elderly Thatcher doing very mundane things like watching an old home video. I think it would've been better if the film was simply bookended by elderly Thatcher rather than constantly cutting back to her. This would've made the narrative more digestible and linear as well.