Year: 2018
Director: James Wan
Cast: Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Patrick Wilson, Willem Dafoe, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Dolph Lundgren, Temuera Morrison, Nicole Kidman
Plot: When King Orm, ruler of Atlantis, seeks to unite the seven kingdoms and attack the surface world, Arthur Curry, his half brother, must go on a journey and face his brother to fulfill his destiny as the true king of Atlantis.
Review: After watching Aquaman, I felt conflicted. On one hand, I had a lot of fun with it, but on the other hand, I can't help but criticise its many faults.
Let's start with the faults. Now, maybe it's because I had watched Man Of Steel and Wonder Woman on TV recently and felt a jarring tone shift with Aquaman, but compared to those two origin stories, Aquaman had a very light tone as Jason Momoa's Arthur comes off as a goofball for much of the first half, with Amber Heard's Mera being the brains between them. Thankfully, despite all the comedic elements, it didn't get as bad as Thor Ragnarok.
Secondly, despite having a long runtime of 143 minutes, director James Wan spends a lot of it sending Arthur and Mera on a quest to find a weapon he needs to fight for the throne. If Wan had shortened this aspect, he could have given more time to developing the villains. Patrick Wilson is a great actor, but he doesn't make a memorable villain out of Orm, depicting him as a king who only sees Arthur as an obstacle instead of hating him for being his half brother. Wilson doesn't even try to chew the scenery one bit, which would have helped. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II's portrayal of Black Manta is better, but doesn't get enough screentime as he's merely the secondary baddie, and some of his lines were downright awful.
Thirdly, a lot of the stuff that happens here is very similar to Marvel's Thor, Thor Ragnarok and Black Panther. Now, I know Wan and the screenwriters most probably didn't intend it that way and it's merely coincidental, but if you've been following the MCU, a lot of this is quite familiar.
So what's good? The action. Wan is no action expert, but the action sequences were well shot and choreographed. It doesn't quite hit the benchmark set by Wonder Woman, but it still looks pretty awesome. I mean, if Wan can make Nicole Kidman look badass in a fight, doesn't he deserve kudos for that? Best sequence goes to Arthur and Mera versus Black Manta and his posse in the second act.
There's also a lot of CGI sequences to behold here, and there are times when it feels overwhelming, but most of them look good, especially when Arthur and Mera arrive at the Trench kingdom. The final battle is very much like Lord Of The Rings, but unfortunately too brief.
Momoa is great in the role when he doesn't try too hard to make fun of himself. Heard's acting is inconsistent at best. Willem Dafoe and Dolph Lundgren do well as Arthur's mentor Vulko and Mera's father King Nereus respectively, while Nicole Kidman is close to perfect as Arthur's mother Queen Atlanna.
To sum it up, Aquaman is proof that Warner Bros can make a good DC film when it focuses on just one hero at a time. Sure, the film is cheesy (check out the ending haha) and has too much fun at times, but it's good entertainment nonetheless. (7.5/10)
Year: 2018
Director: Eli Roth
Cast: Jack Black, Cate Blanchett, Owen Vaccaro, Kyle MacLachlan
Plot: When Lewis Barnavelt's parents die, he's sent to live with his uncle Jonathan, who just happens to be a warlock aka person with knowledge of magic. A mysterious clock in Jonathan's house holds an ominous secret involving a former friend of his. Lewis, Jonathan and his neighbor Florence Zimmerman, a witch, have to team up and uncover the mystery before it's too late.
Review: Eli Roth directing a family film? You'd better believe it. Roth stated that he's paying tribute to Amblin classics like E.T. and Gremlins, and while The House With A Clock In Its Walls is good entertainment, it falls a little short in becoming a classic.
However, Roth's film hits the right notes for the most part. I'd say the first two thirds of the film were great, until the last third gets a bit clunky. The most interesting aspect of the film is how all three protagonists are flawed in their own way, and how they have to overcome them and work together to save the day. In this sense, what began as friendship between the three ends up making them family by the film's end.
The CGI sequences look good enough, and the humor mostly works; even the CGI generated garden griffin that craps every now and then doesn't feel inappropriate. The Laz-Boy chair that has a life of its own is probably the funniest thing in the movie.
Cast wise, Jack Black and Cate Blanchett work very well together as Jonathan and Florence respectively, both in the lighter moments when they're throwing insults at each other, and the dramatic ones as they decide how to deal with Lewis. Owen Vaccaro throws in a sometimes uneven performance as Lewis, doing better in the funnier scenes than the dramatic ones. Kyle MacLachlan, sporting heavy makeup, chews the scenery as Isaac Izard, the film's antagonist.
The flaws would be Lewis' poor decision making in the second act, which although makes him somewhat human, also clashes with his brainy persona. My main gripe though is the final sequence, which involves a weird CGI baby and a very anti-climactic solution to the problem at hand. It felt very rushed and clumsy.
Overall, I enjoyed The House With A Clock In Its Walls, and I think it's good enough for a sequel. Roth has done a good job here, but there's still room for improvement. (7/10)
Year: 2018
Directors: Rich Moore and Phil Johnston
Voice cast: John C Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Gal Gadot, Taraji P Henson, Jack McBrayer, Alan Tudyk
Plot: When Ralph's attempt to upgrade Vanellope's game inadvertently causes a player to wreck her console's steering wheel, the duo venture into the internet to find a replacement.
Review: The first Wreck-It Ralph did a great job in bringing nostalgia back to that kid inside us who loved playing video games growing up. In this sequel, we now turn to the internet, which is more in line with what everyone recognizes currently, as we're all online users aren't we?
In this sequel, Ralph and Vanellope are best friends who hang out after gaming hours are over, and while Ralph is happy with his lot in life, Vanellope wishes there was more to hers. Ralph attempts to upgrade her racing track, but it inadvertently leads to a player ripping the steering wheel off the Sugar Rush console. When the arcade owner decides to unplug the game for good rather than buy the replacement wheel, Ralph takes Vanellope into the internet to help get the wheel themselves.
This is where Ralph and Vanellope's friendship is put to the test. Where the first movie was about accepting yourself, this one is about supporting your friend in pursuing their dreams. Along the way, the audience gets a kick out of all the stuff we're used to seeing on the net, from Google to eBay, Buzztube (standing in for Youtube), online gaming and even pop up ads. Even Twitter gets a really adorable nod here. If you're an internet geek, this is the film for you.
One of the best parts though is when Vanellope runs into a group of Disney princesses, and almost all of them are voiced by their original actors in their original films. Their reactions and interactions with Vanellope is one of the highlights of this sequel.
John C Reilly and Sarah Silverman still have great chemistry together as Ralph and Vanellope, while Gal Gadot lends her unmistakable voice as video game character Shank. Taraji P Henson throws in plenty of sass as Yesss, the algorithm that determines trends on Buzztube, while Alan Tudyk returns this time as KnowsMore, a search engine.
Overall, I enjoyed Ralph Breaks The Internet immensely, though the nostalgic gamer in me might lean more towards the original a bit. I do hope they find a way to make another sequel, as I'm really enjoying what they've come up with so far. (8/10)
Year: 2018
Director: Otto Bathurst
Cast: Taron Egerton, Jamie Foxx, Ben Mendelsohn, Eve Hewson, Jamie Dornan, Tim Minchin, Paul Anderson, F Murray Abraham
Plot: After Robin of Loxley returns to England from the Crusades, he finds his home destroyed and his girl Marian in the arms of another man. Teaming up with Yahya aka John, an Arabian he encountered during the war, he starts robbing money belonging to the evil Sheriff of Nottingham and inspires the common folk to revolt.
Review: This latest version of Robin Hood is comparable not just to the previous versions of the man featuring Kevin Costner and Russell Crowe, among others, but also to last year's remake of King Arthur by Guy Ritchie, due to its contemporary approach by director Otto Bathurst.
In all honesty, how many times can this story be remade and feel fresh? Bathurst may have updated and changed a few things, like the costumes that feel too modern for the time it's set in, the fact that people can shoot arrows as quick as firing a gun, and how Robin meets Little John (in this case, just John), but in the end, the essence of the Robin Hood tale is very much the same. It's not helped by Taron Egerton's extremely dreary opening narration. The dude is a charming actor, but a narrator he is not.
The first action sequence, featuring Robin and his fellow crusaders versus the Arabs, is the best part of the film. Once Robin returns home and joins forces with John, the story starts to get less and less interesting. The action sequence, made to look like a battle in a modern day Middle East, except with arrows, was very well shot and looked pretty good. Everything after that pales in comparison, though the film sporadically feels engaging when Ben Mendelsohn's Sheriff starts a monologue of sorts.
It also doesn't help that Robin's made to look too strong and unbeatable. He always manages to escape and avoid repercussions throughout the film. Even his romance with Marian feels flat, though it's no fault of Egerton and co-star Eve Hewson. Their love story begins rather typically and the subsequent love triangle with Jamie Dornan's Will feels that way too. Even Will's fate, which leaves room for a sequel, is typical.
So what's good about it? Well, Egerton makes a good action hero at least, having done so in Kingsman and succeeds again here. Jamie Foxx makes a good mentor as John, and Mendelsohn excels when he's allowed to act his evilness on screen. Hewson is mostly just a pretty face here and Dornan is bland as he usually is.
What else? Oh, there is a lot of action to behold, though as I've said, none of them compare to the opening battle scene. And the final fight is very anti-climactic, unfortunately.
In the end, this new version of Robin Hood is just meh, for lack of a better word. It's not a terrible movie, but not very memorable either. (6/10)
Year: 2018
Director: Julius Avery
Cast: Jovan Adepo, Wyatt Russell, Pilou Asbaek, Mathilde Ollivier, John Magaro, Iain De Caestecker
Plot: During WW2, a group of Allied soldiers on a mission behind enemy lines discover a secret lab where Nazis are creating near unkillable zombie soldiers.
Review: The biggest name attached to Overlord is producer JJ Abrams, as most of the cast are made up of relatively unknown actors. Thankfully the cast all deliver great work, though the lack of a bonafide star does hurt the film a bit.
In Overlord, a group of Allied soldiers are dropped via parachute in France to destroy a German communications tower situated at a village. After taking refuge at a young girl's home, they encounter the Nazis, and subsequently discover that the enemy has been experimenting on the villagers and their own soldiers to create zombies, and unlike the kind we've seen in other horror fare, these undead humans don't go down easy.
Director Julius Avery manages to deliver a competent film with plenty of action sequences, from the thrilling opening sequence to the final assault on the Nazi occupied church at the film's end. The second act though is rather slow, though I wouldn't blame it on Avery. The script by Billy Ray and Mark L Smith is mostly responsible for that, as well as the mostly humorless dialogue. In fact, the film is guilty for taking itself much too seriously as the idea of zombie Nazis is pretty crazy, and the filmmakers should have tried to exploit that more.
Of the cast, Jovan Adepo and Mathilde Ollivier impress the most as Boyce, the rookie soldier who has to man up to survive, and Chloe, the French girl who assists the Allied soldiers on their mission. Adepo reminds me a lot of John Boyega and is just as talented. Ollivier on the other hand is like a less cynical version of Melanie Laurent from Inglourious Basterds, but it works just fine. Pilou Asbaek scores as the evil Nazi general in charge of the base while Wyatt Russell is also solid as Ford, the commanding officer of the group.
Overall, I found Overlord to be a mostly fun zombie horror flick, complete with violence, gore and bullets to match. But it just needs to embrace its craziness a bit more to be thoroughly enjoyable. (7/10)
Year: 2018
Director: Donovan Marsh
Cast: Gerard Butler, Gary Oldman, Michael Nyqvist, Common, Linda Cardellini, Carter MacIntyre, Toby Stephens, Alexander Diachenko, Michael Gor, David Gyasi
Plot: After two submarines, one Russian and one American, are sunk in Russian waters, another American submarine, the USS Arkansas, is sent under the leadership of an unorthodox captain to investigate. They subsequently discover a coup by the Russian defence minister and must now rescue the Russian president to avoid a war.
Review: It puzzles me as to why Gary Oldman is given top billing next to Gerard Butler when he's not in the film long enough to justify it. I'm guessing it's a marketing ploy by the film distributors. In reality, Butler's top billed co-star should have been the late Michael Nyqvist, who plays a Russian submarine captain.
Based on the novel Firing Point, Hunter Killer is a submarine action thriller, and while director Donovan Marsh does his best in creating some neat action sequences plus a cool sequence where the Arkansas has to evade mines and sensors near the ocean bed, it lacks any genuine suspense. It was actually more interesting watching the Navy SEAL team sent on the ground to retrieve the Russian president. The SEAL team engage in some firefights with the Russians during their mission, and while it feels all too familiar, there is at least some excitement during these sequences.
Another problem is how pretty much everyone onboard the Arkansas maintain the same look on their faces, trying to generate tension, but aside from Butler and Nyqvist, none of them truly pull it off. Butler does a good job in portraying a leader and a hero, though he doesn't actually get to kill anyone directly this time, while Nyqvist paints a sympathetic figure as a captain who only wants to serve his country the best way he knows. As one of his final roles before his recent death, he pulls it off well.
Oldman is given the thankless role of the Joint Chief Of Staff who only expects threats and war from the enemy, and does what he does best: yell. It's a role we've seen him do dozens of times, and is a waste of his talent. He's contrasted by Common as his subordinate and Linda Cardellini as an NSA analyst, both trying to find a way to prevent a war. They both do a proper enough job, but not enough to stand out.
Still, all is not lost. There is just enough here to constitute a generally entertaining action movie, it's just not fresh or suspenseful enough. Hunter Killer is still a decent way to kill 2 hours if you're at the cinema. (7/10)
Year: 2018
Director: David Gordon Green
Cast: Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Andi Matichak, Haluk Bilginer, Will Patton, Rhian Rees, Jefferson Hall, Nick Castle
Plot: Michael Myers escapes during a prison transport and returns to Haddonfield to start his killing spree all over again, leading towards an inevitable confrontation with Laurie Strode, who has waited for 40 years to finish this once and for all.
Review: I had only seen the original Halloween last year, and did not watch any of the sequels that came after, nor Rob Zombie's remake, which is fortunate for me because this reboot by David Gordon Green and co-writer Danny McBride is a direct sequel to the original that ignores all the other films.
The biggest difference between this and the original is not just the time that has passed, but the way Laurie Strode has evolved. Michael is still the same beast he was back then, still as unstoppable and stealthy as ever, but Laurie has borrowed a few elements from Sarah Connor in T2, and is now capable of defending herself. This time, not only has she armed herself to the teeth, she has turned her home into a fortress, all in preparing for Michael's return, much to the chagrin of her estranged daughter Karen, who disliked her upbringing and just wants to forget the way Laurie raised her. Things get complicated when Laurie's granddaughter Allyson becomes a potential victim.
Unlike Shane Black's recent Predator sequel, Green and McBride don't stray too far from the original and delivers a solid slasher flick with a few twists and turns. The body count this time is much higher though, as Michael targets police, guards, hapless neighbors and yeah, a babysitter, just like last time. However, unlike John Carpenter, Green moves the film at a brisk pace. Michael spends very little time stalking here, he just goes on a freaking rampage. While this reduces the suspense somewhat, watching people getting killed one after another is kinda fun.
Of course, the best part is in the third act when Michael and Laurie reach their long awaited showdown, and this is where we get to see three generations of a family fight the boogeyman together. Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer and Andi Matichak (who bears a uncanny resemblance to Kirsten Dunst) all turn in great performances, though Curtis is clearly the star here. Haluk Bilginer plays the new film's version of Dr Loomis and proves to be a rather crazy if not stupid individual himself. Will Patton is also solid as the sheriff, while Nick Castle is back as Michael, with James Jude Courtney doubling for the tougher stunts.
Besides the reduced suspense, I was also not a fan of the typical types of kids that get killed: horny or weird. But hey, this is kinda the horror genre rules that are usually in play, so it's not a big deal. Oh, and I must compliment John Carpenter, working with his son Cody and Daniel A Davies in creating the hew Halloween score. It's a lot like the old one but with some updated sounds, and very cool to listen to.
All in all, this Halloween film is pretty darn good, and I would love to see a sequel to this in the future. (7.5/10)
Year: 2018
Director: Damien Chazelle
Cast: Ryan Gosling, Claire Foy, Jason Clarke, Kyle Chandler, Patrick Fugit, Shea Whigham, Ciaran Hinds, Olivia Hamilton, Pablo Schreiber, Christopher Abbott, Lukas Haas, Corey Stoll
Plot: Based on the true story of Neil Armstrong's life and how he became the first man to walk on the moon on July 20th, 1969.
Review: Watching First Man reminded me of Ron Howard's Apollo 13, which was also about space exploration by NASA's finest. While Howard's film is a nice little thriller with dramatic sequences, First Man is a personal look into the life of the great Neil Armstrong, right up to the greatest moment in mankind's history.
Director Damien Chazelle reportedly took great care into depicting the man and his life as accurately as possible, and from what I gather here, Neil is mostly a quiet man, extremely humble and rarely shows emotion, save for one moment when he cries over his daughter's death due to cancer. Chazelle also succeeds in recreating all the important moments in Neil's career, from the breathtaking opening sequence where he flies an aircraft that bounces off the atmosphere, to being interviewed for the space program, training, making a partly successful mission to dock with another ship in orbit, losing several of his colleagues due to mishaps, right up to the iconic mission to the moon.
It's not just the emotion that Chazelle manages to capture, but the authenticity as well. He somehow manages to put the camera into the claustrophobia inducing cockpits so that the audience can feel what it's like to go right up there to space, or the likely feeling of it anyway. Some of the radio transmissions the audience hears were apparently the real ones taken from the actual mission. Needless to say, Chazelle deserves an A for effort.
Ryan Gosling is superb as the soft spoken Neil Armstrong, who'd rather let his skills speak for themselves than having to do interviews or rub shoulders with congress. Also equally great is Claire Foy as his wife Janet, who fears for his life constantly, knowing he could end up just like his fallen comrades. Lending some strong support are Corey Stoll as Buzz Aldrin, Ciaran Hinds as the program director, Jason Clarke as fellow astronaut Ed White, Kyle Chandler as the mission director Deke Slayton and Pablo Schreiber as Jim Lovell, who will eventually end up on Apollo 13.
I did wonder why Buzz Aldrin was portrayed here as a bit of a jerk compared to his other colleagues. His relationship with Neil isn't explored fully, and I'm curious if there is anything to tell, or simply nothing. The last third of the film, when the Apollo 11 begins and completes its mission also felt rather anti-climactic, as if Chazelle had decided to cut back on details and keep the audience at arm's length unlike before that. In short, this part felt a bit rushed to me.
Nevertheless, First Man is a well made biography on Neil Armstrong, and will most likely be a frontrunner for next year's Oscars. I'd say it's worth checking out. (7.5/10)
Year: 2018
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Cast: Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed, Jenny Slate, Reid Scott, Scott Haze
Plot: Reporter Eddie Brock comes into contact with an alien symbiote called Venom, and together they have to stop Venom's rival symbiotes, who plan on bringing the rest of their kind to Earth.
Review: Does Venom really need a movie? Sure, Venom's appearance in Spider-Man 3 was extremely poor and best forgotten, but this move by Sony feels more like a last ditch attempt to make money before Marvel Studios uses the character than a need to make up for Spidey 3.
Thankfully, Venom turned out to be quite fun, even though it isn't without its drawbacks. Despite a slow first act, director Ruben Fleischer makes up for that by turning up the pace once Eddie Brock merges with Venom. From this point, it's a mixture of action and comedy as Eddie and his new friend take down bad guys while bonding with one another in weird ways. Some of the comedy doesn't always work though, as certain scenes would have worked better if Fleischer had taken things a bit more seriously.
The action sequences are mostly good, except for the final fight between Venom and his archrival Riot, which looks indecipherable at times. Watching Venom take down loads of bad guys trying to shoot him followed by an intense car chase was fun though.
Tom Hardy throws in a 110% performance as Eddie, being very convincing as the confused and crazy guy he becomes after Venom merges with him. I've always thought of Hardy as a major tough guy on screen, but here he is superb as the everyman who isn't ready to become something entirely different. Michelle Williams plays Hardy's defacto love interest with great enthusiasm, but as expected, the script doesn't allow her to do much. Riz Ahmed is slimy enough as Drake, the billionaire who brought the symbiotes to Earth in the first place.
I'd also like to note that my home country Malaysia is featured here, though they were probably never here to film those scenes. The Malay language spoken could use some polishing though.
Overall, Venom is a pretty entertaining comicbook film. It can't compete with the MCU's best for sure, but it is very far from the train wreck everyone says it is. Go check this out. (7.5/10)
Year: 2018
Director: Gregory Plotkin
Cast: Amy Forsyth, Reign Edwards, Bex Taylor-Klaus, Roby Attal, Christian James, Matt Mercurio
Plot: Three young couples attend Hell Fest, an elaborate horror fair filled with realistic scares. The group is subsequently stalked by a masked killer whom they mistakenly believe to be part of the horror show.
Review: As far as slasher flicks go, Hell Fest isn't breaking much new ground, other than the location and the killer blending into the surroundings. But originality isn't the most important thing for me, because I am looking for a competent film that knows how to have fun. In that sense, Hell Fest succeeds more often than not.
Director Gregory Plotkin uses his chosen environment efficiently, deploying an endless series of fake jumpscares (it's a huge haunted house essentially) while making the best of various lighting tricks to illuminate the rooms at just the right level. Many of his scare tactics are familiar and old school, for sure, but most of the time they work, even if you can sense them coming a mile away.
Plotkin's trump card has to be the elaborate maze of horrors at the fair itself. He certainly went through great lengths to recreate several effective haunted houses filled with blood, mannequins, actual people in costumes, rail cars, weapons, mirrors, masks and sound effects. Even if it doesn't scare you, you'll be in awe of the effort the filmmakers made here.
The six youths portraying the three couples are convincing enough as the token horror roles here. Amy Forsyth is cute and likable enough as the trademark final girl, Reign Edwards is good as her loyal best friend and Bex Taylor-Klaus nails it as the horny/bitchy one. The legendary Tony Todd makes an appearance as a character at the fair. The killer here, credited as The Other, is just a guy in a mask and a hoodie, armed with an ice pick. His greatest asset apparently, is stealth.
All in all, Hell Fest is a fun slasher horror flick that delivers exactly what it advertises. If you want to have some fun with horror before the Halloween sequel shows up soon, this works just fine. (7/10)
Year: 2018
Director: Aneesh Chaganty
Cast: John Cho, Debra Messing, Joseph Lee, Michella La
Plot: When David Kim's daughter Margot goes missing, he uses every tool available on the internet to find her, but hits a major stumbling block when he realises he doesn't know his daughter as well as he thought.
Review: Searching is a new thriller presented from the POV of a frantic father looking at a computer screen. Does that sound familiar?
Yes folks, this is just like Unfriended, minus the horror and gory deaths. David Kim, a widower looking for his missing daughter, uses all the internet tools we know of, and a few fictional ones in place of the actual ones, to find her, such as Facebook, Youtube, Google, Tumblr and the fictitious Youcast (which works exactly like Instagram Live). Like Unfriended, it works tremendously well as a storytelling device, and it does not diminish the performances of the cast in any way. Through David's conversations with the police, his brother and his daughter's friends, we learn that he isn't as close to his daughter as he figured, and that he had drifted apart from her after his wife's recent death.
These internet tools also succeed in delivering the thrills whenever David gets a new lead or gets emotional, as the cameras in play capture nearly every frame, and when that isn't enough, we get live TV news reports. Director Aneesh Chaganty, who co-wrote the film with Sev Ohanian, deftly places clues and red herrings throughout the entire film to keep the audience guessing as to what happened to David's daughter Margot, and the payoff is well worth the wait.
John Cho proves that he is a very underrated actor as he delivers a tour de force performance as David, convincingly conveying the kind of reaction we would have if one of our loved ones goes missing. I hope this film leads to Cho getting more lead roles in the future. Debra Messing also puts in strong support as the detective who assists David in finding Margot.
The film does occasionally make you wonder how easy it is for people to obtain information about other people who are complete strangers to them, or how David seems to have to do a lot of stuff most detectives would already be doing in a case like this. Nevertheless, it isn't enough to spoil your enjoyment here.
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed Searching, as both an educational tool and a piece of entertainment. If it doesn't teach you about how to use the internet to your advantage, it will remind you about the importance of family. Recommended. (8/10)
Year: 2018
Director: Shane Black
Cast: Boyd Holbrook, Trevante Rhodes, Olivia Munn, Jacob Tremblay, Thomas Jane, Sterling K Brown, Alfie Allen, Keegan-Michael Key, Augusto Aguilera, Jake Busey, Yvonne Strahovski, Brian A Prince
Plot: When a pair of Predators bring their fight with one another to Earth, only a group of crazy soldiers and a biologist stand between them and total chaos.
Review: So what does Shane Black, the man who played Hawkins in the original and writer of the legendary Lethal Weapon, and director of Iron Man 3 and The Nice Guys bring to the table for this updated entry in the Predator franchise? After seeing it, the one word that comes to mind is "unconventional".
It's clear that Black and co-writer Fred Dekker wanted to create an entirely different animal with The Predator. This time, it's not about hunting man anymore, but about the evolution of the Predator race. Black and Dekker pitch the idea that Predators are now all about enhancement and superiority, and humans on Earth are just one of the pieces of the puzzle. So on the other side of this, we have a kid with Asperger's who is smart enough to understand Predator technology, a female biologist and a group of PTSD soldiers who have to team up and stop the Predators.
Now, all this doesn't sound too bad on paper, but Black's execution is rather messy. I honestly didn't mind the constant humor projected by the soldiers, who constantly act like they just got out of the psych ward. But Black should have edited the amount of time spent hanging with these guys, as their antics pretty much overshadowed the Predators' threat. Speaking of the Predators, Black throws in a couple of Predator dogs, which were kinda cool until one of them gets domesticated after taking a shot to the head. Another one of Black's weird attempts at humor? Maybe, but this one honestly didn't work.
Cast wise, Boyd Holbrook is rather miscast as lead hero McKenna, not having the dramatic chops to play a father. Personally I felt that he should switch roles with Thomas Jane, who got the role of a soldier with Tourette's, and it was played for laughs too. Jane would have nailed the role since he had played Jacob Tremblay's father in Before I Wake, so the two would have looked convincing here. Tremblay is on point here as Rory McKenna, being no stranger to playing kids with problems. Olivia Munn is okay as the biologist, but her character got the hang of throwing herself at danger way too quickly. Sterling K Brown fares better as government agent Traeger, while Trevante Rhodes, Augusto Aguilera, Alfie Allen and Keegan-Michael Key give a nice sense of variation playing the crazy crew. Jake Busey, who is thrown in here as the son of his real life father's character from Predator 2, is given zero to do here. His connection to Gary Busey isn't even mentioned, much less explored. A total waste.
The good part is, Black doesn't hold back on the violence. We have dismemberments, disembowelments, beheadings and impalings. The action sequences are a mixed bag though. A lot of them take place in the dark and are sometimes difficult to make out, though the final fight was well executed.
In the end, The Predator isn't a bad movie, but it's certainly not an easy film to get behind. Honestly, I expected more from Black. I'd give him credit for having the balls to make this film, but a more conventional approach would have been wiser. (6.5/10)
Year: 2018
Director: Albert Hughes
Cast: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Johannes Haukur Johannesson, Chuck the wolfdog
Plot: Set during the stone age in Europe. A young man gets separated from his tribe and left for dead after a bull hunting expedition goes wrong. He has to find his own way home, with only a wolf for company.
Review: Alpha is one half a survival story, and one half a dramatic story about a friendship between a human and a wolf. The fact that it is set during the stone age, complete with an unknown language with subtitles, makes it a bit more interesting.
Keda is a young man who follows his father and tribe on a hunting expedition as a rite of passage to adulthood. During the hunt, Keda is attacked by a large bull and thrown of a cliff. Presumed dead by his father and tribe, he is left behind to fend for himself. Keda now has to survive on his own, which he does with a little bit of help from a wolf he injured in self defence and nursed back to health.
Much like The Revenant, Alpha highlights the arduous challenge of surviving in the wild. In Keda's case, he has to brave an injured leg, wild animals, rough terrain and the freezing winter. Cinematographer Martin Gschlacht skillfully captures the vast and unforgiving wild of Alberta, Canada, standing in for Europe 20000 years ago. Director Albert Hughes does a good job in balancing between Keda's eventual rise from weak youth to brave man, and his relationship with Alpha the wolf. Alpha is initially portrayed as a hostile animal who sees Keda as prey, but it eventually learns to respect and love its new human friend.
Kodi Smit-McPhee is certainly an inspired choice for the role of Keda, and he does not disappoint. His acting and facial expressions are all spot on. Johannes Haukur Johannesson also scores as his father, who is both firm and loving. Credit must also go to Chuck the wolfdog who convincingly portrays Alpha.
My main gripe would be the rather slow pace, especially during the first act as the story takes its time to get started. Personally I wouldn't recommend this story to viewers who either want action sequences or get lethargic easily.
In the end, Alpha is a solid adventure drama that qualifies as good family entertainment, and a nice alternative to those who abhor horror or violence in other current movies currently screening. (7/10)
Year: 2018
Director: Pierre Morel
Cast: Jennifer Garner, John Gallagher Jr, John Ortiz, Juan Pablo Raba
Plot: When corrupt judges and lawyers deny Riley North justice for her slain husband and daughter at the hands of a drug kingpin, she disappears for five years and returns to deliver payback to everyone involved.
Review: Peppermint joins the long list of revenge movies that have been made over the years, from Death Wish to Death Sentence, The Punisher, The Brave One, Kill Bill, Law Abiding Citizen and John Wick. But does it stand out?
Director Pierre Morel, whose only real hit in English so far is Taken, probably tried to avoid repetition when it comes to revenge stories. In this case, the protagonist Riley North has a long list of people to kill, which includes a corrupt judge and the lawyers on both sides who were all on drug kingpin Diego Garcia's payroll. But Morel chooses to skim over these characters' deaths quickly instead of allowing the audience the satisfaction of seeing their lives end. Even the three men who pulled the trigger on her family get the short treatment from Morel, who may have wanted to avoid showing Riley kill one scumbag after another as the story goes along. Even so, I felt some of these kills could have been elaborated a bit for the audience's benefit.
Morel instead focuses more time on the cops and the FBI hunting her down, and the media's attempt to paint Riley as a vigilante hero. All this is fine, but not enough time is spent on Riley's point of view of her actions i.e. whether she regrets anything she does. Even her time spent on training during those missing five years isn't shown.
Thankfully, Jennifer Garner is still game for action since Alias had ended years ago, and still manages to deliver a solid emotional performance as Riley. She certainly looks great as she mercilessly takes down every bad guy that steps in front of her. John Gallagher Jr and John Ortiz provide some support as the two cops tracking her down, while Juan Pablo Raba throws in a somewhat textbook but competent performance as Diego. Riley's final confrontation with Diego is sadly much too brief for my liking.
Despite that, Morel orchestrates a handful of good action sequences which involve Riley engaging in shootouts with Diego's men. This, and Garner's strong acting just manage to make Peppermint entertaining enough.
Overall, Peppermint is a decent revenge tale, which could have been great if Morel gave us more of Riley and more details on her path of vengeance. (6/10)
Year: 2018
Director: Corin Hardy
Cast: Taissa Farmiga, Demian Bichir, Jonas Bloquet, Bonnie Aarons
Plot: A priest and a young novitiate travel to Romania to investigate a nun's suicide at a mysterious abbey there, and encounter the evil demon Valak.
Review: The Nun is a spin-off film from The Conjuring 2, where that film's villain, Valak first appeared. This film examines the origins of the demon dating back to 1952 in Romania.
Director Corin Hardy (The Hallow) does a solid enough job in making The Nun a thrilling ride for mainstream horror audiences, but he doesn't quite have the touch of James Wan. Wan knows how to set the mood for a terrifying experience and how to chill your spine with his visual skills. Hardy adopts a different approach where he throws one scare after another towards the audience, and thankfully a lot of them are well earned. But some of them are a bit predictable, and he relies on the darkness element a bit too frequently. The opening sequence was well done though.
As for the cast, they are convincing enough for the most part. Taissa Farmiga (Vera's younger sister) gives Sister Irene the right balance of youth, innocence and courage to solve the mystery even at great risk to herself. She fares better than Demian Bichir, whose Father Burke is the textbook troubled priest seeking redemption after a failed exorcism. Bichir is good in the role, but the role itself could have been better written. Jonas Bloquet plays Frenchie, a villager who brings the duo to the abbey and becomes their defacto sidekick, and the defacto humor element, which he pulls off quite well, I must say. Speaking of humor, The Nun has a bit more of it than Wan's Conjuring films, as the latter movies take themselves much more seriously.
Aside from being less scary than Wan's films, The Nun suffers from a few unexplored subplots and lapses in logic, though you'd probably be having so much fun you wouldn't notice them. If they get to make a sequel to this film, perhaps some of these subplots can be explored further.
As it stands, The Nun is best described as an exciting horror theme park ride rather than a really good haunted house experience at the park. Much like last year's It remake, it's a lot of fun, but not as scary as it ought to be. (7.5/10)
Year: 2018
Director: Antoine Fuqua
Cast: Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Ashton Sanders, Melissa Leo, Bill Pullman, Orson Bean
Plot: Robert McCall steps back into action when his friend Susan is murdered while investigating an agency hit.
Review: The first Equalizer movie was a success, so it's a no-brainer that star Denzel Washington and director Antoine Fuqua team up for a sequel.
This sequel is actually very much like the first movie, as it follows the same familiar beats. Those of you expecting something different might end up being disappointed, but personally I didn't mind it. I wanted to see McCall kick ass and take names, and he does just that.
It's a different city from the last one, and instead of working at the hardware store by day and reading at a 24 hour cafe by night, McCall is now a Grab driver, still doing what he does for people who need help, from rescuing kidnapped children to getting even with rich yuppies gang raping a girl. In the previous movie, McCall helps a young prostitute escape her pimp, but this time he helps a teenage boy who is an aspiring artist, stay away from gangbangers in his neighborhood. However, the chief villains are not the gangs, but the people who killed his friend Susan (the same one who assisted him in the first film) for knowing too much. So this time it's a personal vendetta for our anonymous avenger.
Fuqua's steady direction and Richard Wenk's solid script keeps the sequel interesting despite the familiarity. It also helps that Washington is still the best at what he does, oozing charisma and screen presence as he takes down the bad guys while making it look like it's another day at the office. Fascinatingly enough, it's his attempt to convince Miles, the young teenager to get back on the right path that feels most effective, as compared to his effort to get even with the men who killed Susan.
Pedro Pascal puts in a decent effort as McCall's friend but Ashton Sanders (Moonlight) fares much better as Miles, and plays off Washington quite well. Melissa Leo and Bill Pullman reprise their roles from the previous film, but I do wish Pullman had more to do here.
A couple of things didn't work for me that much, the first being the villains who are no match for McCall. He remains mostly unchallenged here, just like the first time around. The other one is the subplot regarding Samuel, an old Polish man whom McCall helps reunite with a long lost relative. This subplot slowed the film down a bit and could have been edited slightly.
Overall I enjoyed The Equalizer 2, despite it being a been-there-done-that sequel. If they make a third movie, hopefully they give McCall a real challenge. (7.5/10)
Year: 2018
Director: Peter Berg
Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Lauren Cohan, Iko Uwais, John Malkovich, Ronda Rousey, Sam Medina
Plot: A covert team of highly trained operatives is assigned to transport an asset with important information from the US Embassy to an airplane 22 miles away. The team comes under heavy attack from locally hired agents, who seek to silence the asset before he talks.
Review: Mile 22 is at best, a frustrating film, at worst, clunky, as another reviewer put it. It's actually a pretty good action flick, but considering you have Peter Berg as director, Mark Wahlberg as the lead star and Iko Uwais, one of the top action stars on the planet doing what he does best in it, you'd expect it to be more than pretty good.
Berg is certainly no stranger to action movies. The Rundown and The Kingdom happen to be my favorite action vehicles from the man. Mile 22 leans closer to the latter than the former in tone, but it has none of the kinetic fun of the former or the compelling drama of the latter. The closest they get to being dramatic is Lauren Cohan's character dealing with some personal issues with her ex husband (Berg in a cameo). Cohan's character Alice is certainly one of the best things about the film as she is a perfect representation of how we would react if we were in her shoes doing her job.
Wahlberg on the other hand is basically replaying the same character he had in The Departed, where he gets to swear a lot and go on and on with his temper. There's this scene where he mouths off for about 3 minutes on a techie simply because she wanted more time to crack a code. This, added to a handful of other moments where he loses his temper and goes on a near endless tirade on other people make him damn near unlikable, and their explanation on him having some sort of condition doesn't quite help. The only time you'd actually respect him is when he actually shows concern for Alice, despite him making her one of his many targets of rage.
Then there's Uwais, who gets his big break in Hollywood (no, Star Wars doesn't count), and kicking ass more than once here. But the bad camerawork ruined what must have been superb fight choreography by Uwais and his team, which is a real shame.
So is there anything that's good? Quite a lot actually. Berg opted for a grittier style here, which works better when the team is engaged in a firefight, but not during the hand-to-hand fights. Ronda Rousey's acting has improved considerably since The Expendables 3, but she doesn't get to manhandle anyone here (not that I care). Cohan gets to speak some Indonesian and actually pulls it off well. Berg doesn't hold back on the violence thankfully, so all the action sequences have bloody results. The twist at the end was rather predictable, but I still liked it.
Berg had actually planned this to be a trilogy of sorts, and judging by how it ended, it certainly needs a follow up. But the somewhat poor execution of this film and the less than stellar box office takings so far might have torpedoed that plan. Mile 22 is a good movie and has lots of potential, but doesn't quite live up to it. Still kinda like it though. (7/10)
Year: 2018
Director: Jon Turteltaub
Cast: Jason Statham, Li Bingbing, Rainn Wilson, Cliff Curtis, Ruby Rose, Winston Chao, Page Kennedy, Robert Taylor
Plot: The crew of an ocean research station are terrorized by a prehistoric shark.
Review: I'm still wondering what everyone's problem was after they watched The Meg. I kept hearing it was a bad movie, or not as fun as they had hoped. Try telling that to the women sitting behind me in the cinema yesterday. They were screaming their heads off.
The Meg is a shark movie, like Jaws, The Shallows, 47 Meters Down and Deep Blue Sea before it. The difference is of course, the size of the shark, which is pretty humongous here. The CGI rendered megalodon is convincing enough and director Jon Turteltaub makes very good use of the shark in executing some thrilling action sequences here. While it does take some time before we actually get to see the shark, once it appears, there is no dull moment left as we get one nail biting sequence after another.
The Meg is not without flaws though. Some of its casting choices are not good. Jason Statham more or less succeeds as the reluctant hero here, but Li Bingbing looks quite awkward in her role, despite her acting having improved since her turn in Resident Evil 5. The rest of the cast fill the usual textbook roles well enough, but Rainn Wilson's overconfident billionaire who's financing the station could have been removed altogether as it feels very extraneous. The entire subplot featuring him trying to kill the shark all by himself didn't feel genuine at all.
On another note, some of the film's quieter moments don't really work. The Meg succeeds when it makes fun of itself but not when they try to make some of the deaths feel impactful. Thankfully, Turteltaub doesn't dwell on these too often and lets the shark do what it does best.
All in all, I enjoyed The Meg more than I thought I would. Is it a dumb shark movie? Yeah it is. But I liked it a lot, and that's what really counts. (7.5/10)
Year: 2018
Director: Gerard McMurray
Cast: Y'lan Noel, Lex Scott Davis, Joivan Wade, Patch Darragh, Marisa Tomei, Rotimi Paul
Plot: The New Founding Fathers of America (NFFA), who have recently taken over the US government, carries out an experimental Purge night at Staten Island, New York, offering money to anyone who participates. Among those involved are a pair of siblings and a local crime lord.
Review: If you're a fan of the Purge movies and you always wanted to know how it all began, this prequel offers a backstory where Purge night was just an experimental exercise and confined to one place instead of the entire country.
Franchise director and creator James DeMonaco hands over directorial duties to relative newcomer Gerard McMurray while he only writes and produces this time around. As in the previous Purge films, the black community become the victims of the NFFA's attempt to reduce the population and save the economy. It's interesting to note that the doctor who comes up with the experiment (played by Marisa Tomei) isn't exactly on board with the NFFA's methods but realises this much too late, offering a different angle to the whole "white people are all bad" element.
McMurray deserves some credit for executing some well staged action sequences, the best being the final fight where crime lord Dmitri takes on the NFFA assassins sent to purge an apartment block, with hints of Rambo 3 style action. There are also plenty of shootouts, slashings, stabbings and explosions to boot. A particular sequence featuring explosive stuffed animals was particularly hilarious. Unfortunately, McMurray takes too much time in setting up the first act, so the first half of the movie can be a bit tedious to sit through.
The cast does well generally, but the film suffers from a lack of recognizable stars here, save for Tomei. Rotimi Paul deserves praise for his psychotic portrayal of Skeletor, a crazy drug addict with a penchant for violence, even though his character is a bit over the top at times to feel genuine.
In the end, The First Purge is a competent enough film, but offers little more than what we've already seen in other Purge movies. In comparison, Anarchy and Election Year were more compelling overall. (6.5/10)
Year: 2018
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Cast: Tom Cruise, Henry Cavill, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Sean Harris, Angela Bassett, Michelle Monaghan, Alec Baldwin, Vanessa Kirby
Plot: Ethan Hunt and his team are tasked to retrieve three stolen plutonium cores from a terrorist group associated with Solomon Lane. To do so, they have to exchange the captive Lane for them, but CIA operative Walker, assigned to the team by the CIA director to oversee the mission, complicates matters. Further complicating matters is Ilsa Faust, who gets herself involved in an attempt to tie up her own loose ends.
Review: At some point I wondered if the Mission Impossible franchise was becoming little more than a highlight reel of stunts performed by Tom Cruise. Every film seems to up the ante on what he's willing to do on screen. And after hearing reactions from everyone on social media about this instalment, my hopes were high that this one will knock the ball out of the park.
Well, I don't mean to burst your bubble, but writer/director Christopher McQuarrie provides more quantity than quality in terms of action this time. Don't get me wrong, Fallout is very entertaining, but not the game changer everyone keeps making it out to be. We have car chases, foot chases, a bathroom fight, a HALO stunt and a helicopter sequence, but only the last one felt really fresh for me.
As for story, it's a mixed bag. The dramatic beats work better this time around as Cruise's Ethan Hunt faces a dilemma in dealing with Rebecca Ferguson's Ilsa Faust, who has her own agenda. Their friendship is put to the test here, and I like how McQuarrie plays this one out. What doesn't quite work however is the terrorist plot, which like the first film, takes one twist too many, and the whole Apostles terrorist group angle gets abandoned at the end of the second act.
Cast wise, nearly everyone is on point. Cruise, Ferguson, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg and Sean Harris all nail their roles, with Harris doing a good job despite the fact that Solomon Lane is a rather two dimensional villain. The weak link here is Henry Cavill as Walker, who excels in the action sequences (he's Superman after all) but is inferior in the acting department. He's clearly trying, but he just doesn't have the depth to play this character convincingly.
In the end, Mission: Impossible Fallout isn't as superb as I expected it to be. I liked it a lot, but for me, it isn't the best of the series. Ghost Protocol is still my favorite. (7.5/10)
Year: 2018
Director: Rawson Marshall Thurber
Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Neve Campbell, Chin Han, Roland Moller, Byron Mann, Hannah Quinlivan
Plot: After losing his leg in a hostage situation gone wrong, FBI Hostage Rescue agent Will Sawyer is now a security consultant, recently hired by the owner of The Pearl, the tallest skyscraper in the world, located in Hong Kong. When terrorists lock down the building and start a fire, Will has to find a way to rescue his family who are trapped inside.
Review: From the moment the marketing for this film began, everyone labelled Skyscraper as a Die Hard or Towering Inferno clone. Personally I don't mind a popcorn film like Skyscraper revisiting familiar elements from those films mentioned if it achieves its objective in giving me solid entertainment. To that end, Skyscraper delivers.
Director Rawson Marshall Thurber, who directed star Dwayne Johnson in Central Intelligence, and directs mostly comedies, delivers a serviceable action movie that, although goes through the motions of checking all the boxes as far as thrillers go, still manages to give quite a few heart stopping moments and kick ass sequences. Having Johnson, the biggest star in Hollywood right now on board certainly helps as well.
Johnson succeeds in playing the role of an FBI guy turned everyman, who exchanges his gun for MacGyver style tactics in taking down the baddies. Having him sport a prosthetic leg doesn't hurt either. Neve Campbell might not be convincing enough in the role of Will's wife, but she excels in playing a tough mother trying to protect her kids. Chin Han is solid enough as Zhao, owner of The Pearl who is the main target of the terrorists, while Roland Moller is alright as lead villain Botha, who isn't colorful enough to be memorable unfortunately.
The film's action sequences are pretty good, with Johnson's death defying jump from a neighboring crane as seen in the trailers being the highlight. While Thurber delivers plenty of thrills, the plot itself is rather predictable and offers very little in terms of genuine surprises.
My advice to you is this: if you want to just sit back and enjoy a summer popcorn flick, Skyscraper is perfect for you. Just don't go in there expecting a top ten film of the year. (7/10)
Year: 2018
Director: Peyton Reed
Cast: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, Hannah John-Kamen, Michael Pena, Walton Goggins, Michelle Pfeiffer, Laurence Fishburne
Plot: Hank Pym and his daughter Hope Van Dyne attempt to bring back Hope's mother Janet from the quantum realm, but they need Scott Lang, who's unfortunately under house arrest after the events of Civil War. Meanwhile, a mysterious woman named Ghost, who has ties to Hank's past, tries to sabotage their secret project.
Review: The first Ant-Man was a very underrated film, even within the MCU. When fans think of the best entries in the MCU, they'd usually name the first Avengers movie, Winter Soldier or Guardians Of The Galaxy films. But Ant-Man, a relatively low key entry, tends to get overlooked. Personally I loved it, mostly thanks to Paul Rudd's charm, honesty and comedic timing, as well as Michael Douglas' portrayal of Hank Pym.
In this sequel, a milestone due to The Wasp, a female hero finally getting credited in the title, Evangeline Lilly gets to be a true equal to Rudd as Hope aka Wasp, sharing just as much screen time as him, and being involved in more action sequences this time around. Lilly certainly excels in kicking ass and becomes a formidable partner to Rudd.
As far as story goes, this sequel focuses less on Scott's attempt to be a good dad to his little girl (though the scenes between them here are well executed) and more about him helping Hank and Hope get Janet back. There's a couple of subplots here, one involving the FBI trying to catch Scott in the act of breaking house arrest, the other being a black market tech dealer played by Walton Goggins trying to steal Hank Pym's tech. The former subplot is good enough to generate some humour, but the latter not so much, as Goggins, despite being the secondary villain here, is not much of a threat, and serves his purpose of giving Lang's buddies (once again played by Michael Pena, David Dastmalchian and T.I.) someone to fight.
Everyone in the cast puts in good work, especially Rudd, Lilly and Douglas, as well as Michelle Pfeiffer as Janet. Laurence Fishburne gets too little to do though as Pym's ex partner, while Pena shines yet again as the comic relief. While Hannah John-Kamen puts in a spirited performance as Ghost, she isn't quite a memorable villain, more like Kaecilius than Loki, or as a reviewer quoted: a female Winter Soldier.
Director Peyton Reed does not let up on the action as he stages plenty of sequences that require Scott and Hope to shrink and enlarge back and forth to beat the bad guys, which makes for some very cool action not seen in other MCU movies. Lilly's Wasp in particular, gets to shine in a cool kitchen fight sequence.
Overall, despite a couple of weak villains and a slightly messy second act, Ant-Man And The Wasp is a pretty good sequel that measures up to its predecessor. (8/10)
P.S.: Stay for the post credit scenes, the first one is the best one.
