Author: Mark

Ranked

RANKED – Halloween

Post author By Mark
Post date October 31, 2021

One of the most well known franchises in all of horror, Halloween has had something of a rocky history on its way to resurgence with 2018’s fantastic reboot. There’s been a robot army spin-off, Busta Rhymes karate kicking Michael Myers through a window, hell the big man has even survived a run-in with the also never ageing Paul Rudd. Even in Michael’s worst outings (and there are more than a few) there is some fun to be had, and we’re taking a look back through the entire 40 plus year history of films. Now cue the Carpenter score and let’s begin.

12. Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)

After an unsuccessful follow-up to the original behemoth, the creatives behind the Halloween franchise took a completely left turn for the third entry, leaving Michael Myers and the town of Haddonfield squarely in the rearview mirror. In its place we’re left with a strange sci-fi story involving cursed children’s Halloween masks that transform the wearers heads into pest infested pumpkins when a certain television commercial is aired. Now while that might sound like a “so bad it’s good” situation, the final result is anything but; an intensely boring, painfully slow sequel with little to keep you invested in a frustratingly uninspired mystery.

When her father is mysteriously killed in a hospital and the assailant sets himself alight, his daughter Ellie (Stacey Nelkin) teams up with doctor Daniel Challis (Tom Atkins) to investigate the circumstances of the death, leading them to the small Irish town of Santa Mira, home of mask manufacturer Silver Shamrock Novelties and its shadowy boss Conal Cochran (Dan O’Herlihy). It takes the film about half of its runtime to even get us to Santa Mira, wasting its time setting up an uncomfortable dynamic between Challis and his ex-wife (played by original Halloween actress Nancy Kyes), which the film feels allows him to be an unrestrained creep for the rest of the film, hitting on any woman that moves before ending up with Ellie, a romantic entanglement that has zero set-up. Michael Myers may not have impressed with his second outing, but even his victims corpses have more life in them than this mess

11. Halloween: Resurrection (2002)

A lot of the Halloween films feel dated now, after all the franchise began all the way back in 1978, but none show their age as much as the abysmal Resurrection, the premise of which revolves around a group of fame hungry people locked inside the abandoned Myers house and rigged with cameras in some awful spoof of the reality TV craze of the early 2000’s. Complete with Tyra Banks and Busta Rhymes. Also Busta Rhymes roundhouse kicks Michael (Brad Loree) through a window. This isn’t a joke.

What makes it all so much worse is the absolute cheat that is the marketing, with posters and trailers promising the return of Laurie Strode, only to see Jamie Lee Curtis’s iconic character dispatched within the first 10 minutes. None of the other characters manage to make any meaningful impact (apart from Busta of course) and Michael is once again neutered as a villain; seeing him strung upside down flailing for his life and kicked through windows takes the edge of a killer known for his immovable strength. Despite all this, the movie still manages to muster enough entertainingly awful moments to keep you from boredom, something that the objectively better made Season of the Witch lacks.

10. Halloween II (2009)

If the first film was proof he could adapt the iconic original, then Rob Zombie’s second instalment is him completely let loose, full of over-the-top violence and a visually dirty palette. Picking up years after Michael’s (Tyler Mane) initial terrorising of Laurie (Scout Taylor-Compton) – after a needlessly gory, elaborate 30 minute dream sequence – we find her struggling with survivors guilt, pushing away adopted father Sheriff Brackett (Brad Dourif) and sister Annie (Danielle Harris). We know she’s not doing well because Laurie spends most of her screen time inexplicably screaming whilst the camera violently shakes and her character has shifted so violently to allow her to hang around the disgusting characters Zombie favours so much because it plays into his wheelhouse.

So extreme is the shift that Halloween II feels like a sequel to one of Zombie’s other films like House of 1000 Corpses or The Devil’s Rejects with Michael simply shoehorned in as a murder machine. It’s the most needlessly violent film in the franchise by a mile, as he decapitates, stabs and eye gouges his way through a washed out, grey looking Haddonfield; a fugitive on the lam running into almost everyone in the county if it means Zombie can extract some more bloodshed. Then there’s the bizarre sub-plot of Michael’s mother (Sheri Moon Zombie) reappearing in dream sequences with a white horse to guide Michael to Laurie – a way for Zombie to keep working with his wife maybe? A dreadful sequel that is so utterly uninterested with furthering the Halloween franchise that the iconic score isn’t even used until the second half of the credits.

9. Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989)

A direct continuation of 1988’s Return of Michael Myers, Revenge picks up with a bullet-riddled Michael (Don Shanks) miraculously floating downriver and being taken in and nursed back to health by a kindly stranger… before promptly murdering him and resuming the hunt for Jamie (Daniella Harris), the now mute daughter of Laurie Strode. Jamie’s brutal murder of her stepmother at the end of the previous film is conveniently forgotten and with adopted sister Rachel’s (Ellie Cornell) early death ridding the film of any carried over emotional investment; the weight of the film collapses around her, with a terrible supporting cast providing little assistance.

Donald Pleasence is now a caricature of the ominous psychiatrist from the Carpenter helmed original, violently shaking the little girl and commanding she use her randomly acquired uncle-niece psychic connection to lead him to Michael so that he can end the evil once and for all. It’s a brief respite of unintentional levity amongst forgettable kills, godawful writing and a now boringly unstoppable Michael, who completes his transformation from escaped mental patient to full on Superman, happily shaking off bullets and explosions in his unquenchable bloodlust. The only thing that seems to put a stop to his onslaught? A simple latch that completely stumps poor Michael, prompting him to rip the entire door off in a fit of architecturally challenged rage. We’ve all been there.

8. Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988)

Following the dismal Season of the Witch, Michael Myers (George P. Wilbur) returned (see what I did there?) to Haddonfield in 1988 with a brand new mask and renewed bloodlust; the film wasting no time getting to the carnage as Michael’s demise at the hands of Loomis in Halloween II is quickly retconned and he breaks out of the sanitarium in suitably gruesome fashion. From here we follow Jamie (Daniella Harris) the daughter of the now (assumedly) dead Laurie Strode and her adopted sister Rachel (Ellie Cornell) as they attempt to navigate a typical Halloween of trick or treating and boy trouble before being alerted to Michael’s presence by the hilariously unhinged Loomis (Donald Pleasence).

While it starts strong, the film strangely chooses to constantly show Michael in awkward spots. Whether that be awkwardly scrambling onto a rooftop or bumbling, nothing takes the wind out of your spooky sails quite like watching a now middle-aged Michael catch his breath partway through a chase… until he rips a man’s throat clean out with one hand. The wacky tone continues right until the very last scene, with the young Jamie suddenly tapping into some dormant killer genes from her uncle, recreating young Michael’s first kill complete with bloody clown outfit, while a horrified Loomis looks on screaming “No!” for what you can only assume was well after the director yelled “Cut!”. Hilariously bad fun in all the ways that Season of the Witch should have been.

7. Halloween (2007)

You don’t hire Rob Zombie for a carefully nuanced trip through Haddonfield. You hire him to deliver the bloodiest, grizzliest take on Michael Myers (Mane) to date; a film made to take you into the mind and world of Myers like none that had come before in the most disgusting, horrifying to watch way possible. And he delivers on that promise… eventually. So much of Zombie’s reimagining of Carpenter’s classic is spent explaining and that is its downfall. Audiences never needed to know why Michael was mute or learn about his horrifically abusive upbringing and terrible home life for him to be terrifying.

Yet Zombie seems obsessed with exploring every minor detail that could serve to give motivation to Myer’s killings; effectively making a sympathetic character out of him (to a degree); a victim of circumstance who finally succumbed to the darkness around him. It’s an admittedly interesting take on what exactly makes a psychopath tick, it just isn’t right for the character of Michael Myers. When it comes time to deliver on the “reboot” of it all and trace Michael’s hunt for Laurie (Scout Taylor-Compton), Zombie has exhausted all of the new he wants to bring to the table, producing an incredibly dull second half that devolves into repetitive hide-and-seek antics with the odd gory kill here and there. All meaningless when we don’t know or care at all about Laurie or her friends.

6. Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995)

The end of the “Thorn Trilogy” The Curse of Michael Myers is a curious entry in the Halloween cannon. Things certainly get off to a good start, establishing Laurie Strode’s babysitting charge from the original film Tommy Doyle as the protagonist (played by a young Paul Rudd in one of his first roles), haunted by his experience and obsessed with discovering what drives Michael’s (Wilbur) bloodlust. He is soon drawn back into the nightmare when he discovers the abandoned newborn child of Jamie (J.C. Brandy), who has escaped from the strange cult that have held her captive for 6 years only to meet her own gruesome end. Teaming up with a now retired Loomis (Pleasence in his last outing), the pair race to protect the last of the Myer’s bloodline from Michael’s wrath: Laurie’s adopted cousin Kara (Marianne Hagan) and her son Danny (Devin Gardner).

For every step the film takes towards restoring the franchise to the height of the original – the small town setting, Michael’s slow burn stalking, Alan Howarth’s renewed use of Carpenter’s score – it also takes one back by doing what every good sequel does: completely ruining the fun through over-explanation. Michael’s motivations go from a deranged killer to a demonically possessed conduit of literal evil who was selected as a child by the same cult that has kidnapped Jamie. There are gross indications that Jamie’s kid might be Michael’s (the franchise was always missing the fun of incest), a bizarre subplot to have Loomis take over the role as leader of the cult and Danny’s unexplained psychic chats with a demon, but thanks to Paul Rudd and Pleasence’s toned down performance it manages to be more memorable than the previous two entries. Far easier to enjoy now knowing that the trilogy was wiped from the timeline with the release of H20: no harm done.

5. Halloween II (1981)

How do you improve upon a genre-defining classic like the original Halloween? Well, in Halloween II’s case the answer seems to be “more of the same”, as Michael (Dick Warlock) is revealed to have survived the events of the first film, hellbent on finishing off the only survivor: Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis). Despite Carpenter’s continued involvement (he returned to co-write the script and co-compose the score), you feel his lack of direction in almost every scene; none of the tension of the original stalkings returns, replaced by cheap jump scares and a higher body count of utterly undeveloped fodder characters.

The shift in location to the local hospital does admittedly provide for some interesting variations on Michael’s usual methods – a nonsensical scalding hot hospital tub and a slow-burn syringe stabbing being two particular highlights – but having this titan of horror fooled by the sound of gas leaking is a unique way to completely neuter your killer in only his second appearance (in addition to inexplicably making him Laurie’s long-lost brother). Thankfully there is some fun to be found thanks to a gleefully deranged performance by Donald Pleasence as psychiatrist Sam Loomis; shouting completely serious nonsense like “You don’t know what death is” and somehow managing to maintain a straight face. Kudos also to Jamie Lee Curtis’ shift in portraying Laurie Strode, ridden with PTSD after her traumatic first run-in with Michael and unable to do much for majority of the film, it is nonetheless a great performance that, in a film full of brash hilarity, feels like a genuine response to the events unfolding.

4. Halloween Kills (2021)

Picking up right where things left off in 2018, Halloween Kills continues the story of Laurie (Curtis) – now bed-ridden in hospital – and her daughter (Judy Greer) and granddaughter (Andi Matichak) as they regroup to take on Michael (James Jude Courtney) after learning of his survival. The story expands to the other survivors of the 1978 attack, widening the circle of heroes to include Anthony Michael Hall’s Tommy Doyle among others as the town mobilises to protect themselves, risking their own humanity in the process. Meanwhile the man himself is carving a bloody path through Haddonfield towards a climactic showdown with enemies new and old.

Halloween Kills suffers from being the middle instalment in a planned trilogy, with less development and significantly lower stakes than its 2018 predecessor. Nevertheless the film more than lives up to its name by crafting some of the goriest, most intense kills in the franchise, delivered by a Michael Myers who has now begun to transcend into un-killable, more-than-human territory. There are interesting strides made on the story-side of things too, as writer-director David Gordon Green subverts expectations and suggests that Michael’s rampage might not actually be tied to Laurie (a breath of fresh air for a franchise historically obsessed with their connection) but it ultimately feels incomplete without the final film to tie everything together; a gruesome piece of filler on the way to a (hopefully) more satisfying conclusion.

3. Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)

The combination of Jamie Lee Curtis’ return and the recent success of fellow slasher Scream proved the shot in the arm Halloween needed so desperately needed to revitalise itself, discarding films 3-6 and picking up 20 years following the “death” of Michael (Chris Durand) in the hospital (cleverly conveyed through the reuse of that film’s anthem “Mr. Sandman”). Laurie (Curtis), now headmistress of a private school and living under the name Keri Tate, has been permanently scarred by the events of 1978, leading her to become an overprotective mother to rebellious teenage son John (Josh Hartnett). When Michael returns for revenge on his sister and nephew, Laurie must finally confront the demon from her past once and for all.

The influence from Scream is immediately felt through the Drew Barrymore-esque appearance of Joseph Gordon-Levitt – who is promptly murdered with an ice skate – but extends to the constantly quipping cast of friends that John surrounds himself with and the frequent meta references to the franchise’s history. Along with the (mostly) inventive kills it makes for an incredibly fun return to the story of the Strode’s, free of the complicated lore of earlier entries and with a great performance (as usual) from Curtis, who brings new layers to a more forceful portrayal of Laurie: a final girl turned final woman for the ages.

2. Halloween (2018)

Of all the Halloween sequels, David Gordon Green’s soft reboot/sequel is the only one to recapture the tone and characters while creating genuine fear towards Michael Myers (Courtney). So it’s a good thing then that the story ignores all the sequels and reboots, taking place 40 years after the original and focusing on Laurie (Curtis), her daughter Karen (Judy Greer) and granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak). There’s endless dramatic tension and emotional depth to be mined from the complicated relationship between these three women, all affected by the actions of Michael in different ways and at odds with one another about how best to move forward. It feels truly great again to have Curtis back in the lead, and although we’ve seen her tackle the PTSD ridden survivor Laurie before, this time it feels more genuine; a fascinating and relevant story of a woman taking back her life.

As for Michael, he is as terrifying as ever and Green wisely utilises a slow burn approach to build that fear back up, focusing on the legacy of the man and the carnage he carried out in 1978. When the kills do start flowing, they are suitably gruesome (without the needless gore of the Rob Zombie films) and effective in conveying the pure strength and immovability of this murder machine – no stumbling, bumbling Michael here, he is all business. Carpenter’s return to the score also lends a huge helping hand in revitalising the franchise; delivering a revamped version of his iconic theme that is familiar but feels darker and heavier, perhaps indicative of the hatred bubbling away in Laurie for all these years. A perfect start to a new chapter in Michael’s history.

1. Halloween (1978)

Was there any doubt? Just about every aspect of John Carpenter’s Halloween cements it as a cinematic horror classic, from the introduction of Michael Myers (Tony Moran) and ultimate scream-queen Jamie Lee Curtis to the instantly recognisable score from Carpenter himself. Laurie Strode’s (Curtis) first encounter with evil itself is still the franchises’ high point, revolutionary in its chilling depiction of Myer’s relentless stalking which boils over into a bloodbath. Opting for a less is more approach, Carpenter rarely allows Michael to be seen, utilising shadows and other obstacles to obscure him and create the constant sense of dread that he could be lingering. One minute Laurie spots him ogling her from afar, when she looks back he is gone.

The only insight we get into the killer himself comes from a horrific point-of-view sequence that puts us in the shoes of a young Michael during his first murder, an inventive sequence that pulls the rug out under the audience by revealing the killer to be a fresh-faced six year-old Michael. Sure, there are gorier and more intense slashers that have released since, but Halloween is the defining titan, popularising the genre and providing the blueprint for everything from A Nightmare on Elm Street to Friday the 13th.

Tags Andi Matichak, Blumhouse, Daniella Harris, David Gordon Green, Donald Pleasence, Ellie Cornell, Halloween, James Jude Courtney, Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Rob Zombie, Tyler Mane

Movie Reviews

Lamb

Post author By Mark
Post date October 25, 2021

You’d be forgiven for seeing the trailer for A24’s newest self-proclaimed “horror” film Lamb and thinking the uber-popular indie studio had another Icelandic Midsommar on their hands. It had everything: the breathtaking scenery, moody atmosphere and strange hook in the titular lamb-human hybrid. In actuality Lamb is a beast of a completely different nature; an extremely metaphorical slow burn that may leave you with more questions than answers. Not a horror film so much as an intense exercise in keeping the audience guessing, a pair of powerhouse performances from Noomi Rapace and Hilmir Snær Guðnason just aren’t enough to overcome the needlessly glacial pace on the way to an all too abrupt conclusion.

Living on a remote farmland in Iceland are married couple Maria (Rapace) and Ingvar (Guðnason), alone except for their dog, cat and barnful of sheep, whom they care for day in and day out with nary a word said between them. This is clearly a couple with a lot of history and more than their fair share of baggage and you get the sense that their relationship has seen better days. Their somber existence changes for the better with the shocking arrival of Ada – a lamb borne of a sheep but with a human body – who the couple instantly adopt as their own child, never questioning her strange arrival or making much of a fuss about the fact that their “daughter” would happily eat grass instead of the human meals they feed her to feed their own illusion. Things take a turn for the fledgling family with the arrival of Ingvar’s brother Pétur, whose arrival threatens to unearth long buried secrets, not to mention the constant presence of an unseen malevolent creature stalking the farmland.

That premise on its own is tough enough for an audience to get behind, yet first-time director Valdimar Jóhannsson rarely steers his story into more palatable, mainstream territory. Take the opening 20 minutes for example. Largely wordless, they are a true test of an audience’s patience, as Maria and Ingvar simply go about their lives as usual before the arrival of Ada. It certainly shouldn’t take that long to set up the couple and their troubles but you can’t deny that the atmosphere Jóhansson sets isn’t effective, slowly building tension and doubt in your mind that something could go wrong at any moment. Once Ada does arrive we’re treated to another long stretch before she is shown in all her strange glory, a reveal perhaps not as effective as Jóhannson might like given the prominence of Ada in the film’s marketing.

From here the film’s structure becomes more evident, with Jóhansson treading water in between these pivotal moments that shift Maria and Ingvar’s relationship. You get the sense that each of these moment is moving the story towards something larger but to what you can never quite be sure, and the end result isn’t enough to justify the interminably long periods of nothing much at all happening between them. So much of the run-time is spent in these painfully self-indulgent sequences that by the time things begin to truly ramp up the film is over. It is one thing to subvert people’s expectations – and Jóhansson almost always takes a left when you expect a right – but to waste the audience’s time lingering on shots that don’t have any significance, simply to let them sit and stew in the confusion for a while longer doesn’t increase the profundity of the ending, it only makes people more exasperated by the journey.

Where the true balancing act is in Lamb’s tone. While largely billed as a horror film, the true genre lies somewhere between that and a fairy tale. There’s an inherent humour to the very concept of Ada that will have you chuckling at all her cute little mannerisms, but the heavy tone underlying all of this makes it so you never feel like this is intentional. It almost seems as if the film wants to have its cake and eat it too, finding physical humour in Ada’s weirdness before pivoting into a serious scene and expecting you to not view that scene through the same humorous lens, even though Ada is still waddling around in a ridiculous little outfit.

At its core Lamb is the story of Maria and Ingvar’s relationship and how grief has affected them both together and on an individual level. Ada’s significance isn’t so much in the fact that she is part human, part lamb, but in how her arrival allows for the couple to heal and reform their marital bonds. Ingvar is more than happy to move beyond their tragedy and throw himself into this new life but there is a lingering sense that Maria is still tortured by their past. She become’s fiercely protective of her new “daughter” and Rapace is fiery in the role, able to shift gears in an instant and raise the intensity. Guðnason is more restrained in his role, happy to be moving and seemingly oblivious to any goings on between his wife and brother or the fact that his adopted daughter is a lamb. It’s a pair of performances that play well both in the literal sense of the story and the deeply metaphorical, existential plane that the story steers into; worthy of revisiting even if the film itself might require masterful patience to do so.

Lamb is not an easily definable film, nor is it one that can be instantly understood. Valdimar Jóhannsson keeps the narrative small but goes thematically huge in his debut, crafting an intricately metaphorical modern fairy tale that is simply too slow to justify; the story ending just as it seems to really be kicking off. Rapace and Guðnason command the screen when the writing is there for them to do so but this is the slowest of slow burns, with a lot of the runtime filled with Jóhannsson meandering around the picturesque Icelandic farmland. It definitely won’t be to everyone’s tastes, but one thing is for sure: Lamb is no sheepish debut.

Lamb stars Noomi Rapace, Hilmir Snær Guðnason & Björn Hlynur Haraldsson – In cinemas now.

6/10

Tags A24, Björn Hlynur Haraldsson, Hilmir Snær Guðnason, Lamb, Noomi Rapace, Valdimar Jóhannsson

Movie Reviews

The Last Duel

Post author By Mark
Post date October 24, 2021

It’s been 24 years since Matt Damon and Ben Affleck last wrote together, with their efforts resulting in an Oscar win for the classic that is Good Will Hunting. Since that time the pair have gone on to find individual success in everything from acting in big budget blockbusters to directing academy award winning films. Their return to writing (alongside Nicole Holofcener) then, comes with big expectations – a medieval #metoo story doesn’t sound like an easy premise to crack – and who better to call upon to direct than Ridley Scott. The Last Duel might not be as impactful as Good Will Hunting – bloated at times with some questionable accents and prosthetics – but it is still an incredibly enthralling tale of a woman who struggled against an oppressive system in order to tell her truth; a premise which sadly still resonates today.

Told in three parts, each representing one of the central trio’s “truths”, the main conflict revolves around French knights Jean de Carrouges (Damon) and Jacques Le Gris (Adam Driver), friends through military service who grow distant upon their return from war. Carrouges’ temper has long held him in bad esteem with his overlord Count Pierre d’Alençon (Affleck) – cousin of King Charles VI (Alex Lawther) – who finds his behaviour ill befitting of the courts, seizing land and preventing Carrouges from assuming an entitled captaincy to spite him. Le Gris, on the other hand, found favour with the Count through his financial skills and diplomacy, landing him a prized position of counsel as well as all the knightly benefits denied to Carrouges.

When Le Gris forces himself on Carrouges’ wife Marguerite (Jodie Comer), violently raping her, she appeals to her husband to substantiate her claim in the courts; an embarrassing and shameful ordeal that ultimately results in the two men duelling to the death to determine the truth; conveniently ignorant to the fact that Marguerite will suffer more than either man should her husband fail to defeat his foe.

As a film about perspective, The Last Duel is largely successful. The overlap between the three individual’s stories means that the film spends a lot of its runtime revisiting moments, usually in order to present a new insight or – in some cases – an entirely new interpretation of a conversation or event. Through this, Scott is able to dig deep into the lies men tell themselves in order to retain their honour; regardless of the people it may hurt. The objectification of Marguerite by Le Gris and Carrouges draws obvious parallels with the recent #metoo movement within Hollywood, with the road to telling her truth paved with hardship and embarrassment. It isn’t the most deep examination, particularly given the largely male creative team behind the production, but it is effective in drawing outraged gasps and knowing groans at the injustices Marguerite suffers.

Where that repetition becomes tiresome is in the scenes that are replayed entirely to remind audiences that they occurred, without adding any new dimensions to the event or characters within. It doesn’t happen so much that you feel like you are watching the film in triplicate but it is enough to make the already gargantuanly long film feel bloated. That problem is somewhat compounded when you consider the film’s intent to give voice to the woman at the centre of this male conflict, yet we spend the vast majority of proceedings focused on these two men and their proverbial pissing contest. A well made depiction of the injustices women suffered at the time, no doubt, but one that offers little commentary on the strides made since or the sad lack thereof.

Key to the film not succumbing to the repetition is the casting, with stellar performances across the board keeping you engaged, particularly Driver and Comer. Driver is equal parts gentleman and sleaze bag as the cocksure Le Gris, who has bought into the status associated with his position to the point where you start to question whether he genuinely believes the lies he spews out to defend himself from Marguerite’s accusations. It’s is a performance that can turn on a dime from disarmingly charming to scum of the earth at the drop of a hat, further proving Driver as one of the finest, most under-appreciated actors of his generation.

Comer continues her rise following a completely different role in this year’s Free Guy with a quiet, measured and emotionally devastating performance as Marguerite. Largely silent in the presence of her husband or other men, majority of the character building during these scenes comes from facial expressions and small glances. When the time comes for Marguerite’s truth to be told, Comer capitalises on all of that pent up emotion, with a fiery performance that should land her in this year’s Oscar race.

Speaking of awards, The Last Duel absolutely deserves to be in the conversation for sound editing and mixing, with the terrifyingly loud clangs of swords against armour and squelches of flesh rending under sword sticking with you long after the scene has ended. The film isn’t particularly action-heavy until the titular duel, but the flashes of battles that are shown are brutally effective in their brevity, full of frenetic flashes of gore and quick cuts that disorientate the viewer in the same way as the combatants. Costuming is another area that shines with elaborate dresses and armour showing meticulous care and craftsmanship, but the less said about Damon and Affleck’s hair pieces and prosthetics, the better.

The Last Duel might not have the lasting legacy of Good Will Hunting but it is nonetheless an impressive sophomore effort from Damon and Affleck that effectively captures the brutality of medieval France, both on and off the battlefield. Bloated at times but more often deeply enthralling thanks to the efforts of a star studded cast and immersive costuming and sound design, Ridley Scott’s latest might not hit the level of commentary it aims for, but it still manages to leave you thinking even if it doesn’t offer much in the way of solutions going forward. Marguerite’s struggle might have resulted in the last duel at the time, but the problems she brought to light are far from over.

The Last Duel stars Matt Damon, Adam Driver, Jodie Comer, Ben Affleck, Harriet Walter, Nathaniel Parker, Alex Lawther & Martin Csokas – In cinemas now.

7/10

Tags Adam Driver, Ben Affleck, Harriet Walter, Jodie Comer, Matt Damon, Ridley Scott, The Last Duel

Movie Reviews

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Post author By Mark
Post date October 14, 2021

After crafting old-school spy thrillers, cosmic space adventures and box-office crushing event films, the MCU has had to shift in recent outings to new territory. The time jumping Loki and the television spanning Wandavision have shown how the long-running series has attempted to adapt to new mediums, and with their latest effort Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings Marvel has shown how their films are attempting to differentiate going forward, in this instance with a visual feast of martial arts excellence. The hero himself might be slightly undercooked on debut, but thanks to a brilliant supporting cast, a villain to rival Thanos and Loki and a rich appreciation for Asian culture, Shang-Chi triumphs; introducing yet another game-changing layer to the juggernaut franchise going into its 13th year.

Simu Liu is Shang-Chi, going by the name Shaun as he ekes out a living as a valet with best friend Katy (Awkwafina). When their usual bus ride is besieged by assassins hell bent on stealing a necklace from Shaun’s neck, Katy discovers that the friend she thought she knew so well has a dark past, thanks in no small part to his father Wenwu’s (Tony Leung) position as the leader of terrorist syndicate The Ten Rings (a proxy of which appeared before in Iron Man 3).

After scrambling to protect sister Xialing (Meng’er Zhang) from the same group of assassins the trio find themselves face to face with Wenwu himself, a shell of his former self following the death of his wife; an event which sent him down a dark path of devotion to the ten rings: ancient artefacts that grant the wearer eternal life and superhuman abilities. Now hearing his wife’s voice and desperate to save her from a dark hellscape, Wenwu launches an all-out assault against the mythical realm of Ta Lo, putting himself at odds with his children who understand that what is really calling out to Wenwu will destroy the world if unleashed.

The best thing Shang-Chi has going for it is just how much director Destin Daniel Cretton is able to bend the Marvel formula to conform around the Asian talent and culture rather than the other way around. This feels like a wholly unique (for the MCU at least) modern martial arts epic, drawing inspiration primarily from Chinese culture, with expertly choreographed fight scenes that looked like they could be outtakes from classic Wuxia films like House of Flying Daggers and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. These scenes are truly special – the bus scene heavily featured in the trailers is a particular highlight along with a vertigo-inducing skirmish on a high-rise scaffolding – full of carefully considered camera placement that allows you to take in the fluidity of the action; almost dance-like in a way that MCU action has never been before – no super-powered slugfests here.

That cultural examination flows through to the story, one of the best the MCU has seen in a long time. At the core of all the martial arts and epic action is a family drama, a long-gestating conflict between a father and his children that Cretton expertly manipulates to ensure that the audience feels for Wenwu as well as the heroes. Tony Leung is exactly the type of imposing presence necessary to portray the conflicted Wenwu, who found love through his wife and family but has lost that light following her untimely death; steeling himself against the world that he believes is responsible for his loss.

Reaching out to his children in an attempt to reassemble the family unit before going to war to save their matriarch is the last glint of goodness in Wenwu’s life, and watching his children reject his offer to rejoin their family organisation is both empowering and necessary to build our heroes, but also devastating to the fragile state of Wenwu; the last straw before he devotes himself entirely to his mission. We feel Wenwu’s pain through Leung’s eyes alone, full of hurt, regret and ultimately acceptance of what he must do; a fantastic performance that adds immensely to the film’s huge emotional centre.

Unfortunately that level of depth doesn’t quite extend to the film’s titular hero. While Liu brings an impressive physicality to the role of Shang-Chi, the character seems strangely devoid of personality; his story being driven largely through the interesting cast of characters he intersects with rather than the man himself. Part of this blankness is understandable as Shang-Chi is our guide into this world of the mystical new but his time as part of the cutthroat world of assassins as a child does not seem to have shaped his personality in any way other than some killer fight moves and monumental daddy issues. Where his character goes from here is anyone’s guess, but after this film it is safe to say that Shang-Chi as a character hasn’t found his hook yet; nothing about him promises the kind of crossover fun with the Avengers that the franchise relies on to stoke excitement.

Fortunately the excellent supporting cast makes up for any misgivings with Shang-Chi himself, filled to the brim with screen-stealing talent at every turn. Awkwafina is comedy gold as the awkward friend Katy, but beyond that has a nice little side arc as her character struggles with finding her place in the world; a relatable and empowering storyline that shows you don’t have to have superpowers or be the chosen one to be special in your own way. The always brilliant Michelle Yeoh brings a level of gravitas to her mentor role as the guardian of Ta Lo, guiding Shang-Chi and his crew on their journey. The most surprising discovery however is Meng’er Zhang as Shang-Chi’s sister Xialing, delivering an exceptional performance in her first on-screen role; her hard, menacing exterior giving way to a big heart and some extremely poignant and heart-wrenching moments as the member of Wenwu’s family most often forgot about.

Brimming with culture and character – outside of its lead – Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is a breath of fresh air to an MCU in desperate need of one, bringing an entire new style of filmmaking to the party without ever losing the superhero fun that Marvel does so well. The new supporting characters and world it introduces have a depth that will surely see them become a staple of the franchise going forward; steeped in culture without ever alienating audiences unfamiliar with their origins. Destin Daniel Cretton should be applauded for bringing his distinctive style to the series where other directors haven’t been as succeessful, crafting a film that is not only a successful Marvel film, but a successful celebration of Asian culture and the Asian experience throughout the world.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings stars Simu Liu, Awkwafina, Meng’er Zhang, Fala Chen, Michelle Yeoh, Florian Munteanu, Ben Kingsley & Tony Leung – In cinemas now.

8/10

Tags Andy Le, Awkwafina, Ben Kingsley, Fala Chen, Florian Munteanu, Marvel, Meng'er Zhang, Michelle Yeoh, Shang-Chi, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Simu Liu, Tony Leung

Movie Reviews

The Guilty

Post author By Mark
Post date October 7, 2021

Based on the Danish film of the same name, The Guilty follows Jake Gyllenhaal’s disgraced detective-turned-911 operator Joe Baylor on one slow night that evolves into a life-altering experience after receiving a terrifying call. Having previously worked with him on boxing drama Southpaw, Gyllenhaal enlists director Antoine Fuqua to helm what should be a completely edge-of-your-seat thriller; a film seemingly purpose built to showcase the incredible acting chops of its lead. While it absolutely delivers on that front, the story sags in the middle – the material not as engaging as the performance – on its way to a poignant and tragic finale that may not leave you as satisfied as you would like.

Following in the vein of films like Tom Hardy’s Locke, The Guilty takes place entirely within the confines of an emergency services operations centre – a device that works both to the film’s benefit and detriment – as Joe desperately struggles to locate distraught caller Emily (Riley Keough), who has seemingly been kidnapped by husband Henry (Peter Sarsgaard). All the action between Emily and Henry is played out entirely through phone conversations, as Joe attempts to extract as much information from the hostage as fast as he can under the guise of a call to her daughter (a thrilling sequence) amid furious denied requests to dispatch to have police sweep the area.

From the moment this phone call comes through Joe’s line there is a profound atmosphere of tension; we feel Joe’s desperation increasing with each passing moment and failed attempt to reconnect with Emily. Adding an extra wrinkle to the affair is the recent breakdown of his marriage and an ongoing mystery surrounding an appointment the next day that is clearly causing Joe a lot of stress. This is a man on the edge and Gyllenhaal completely owns it, his prickly demeanour growing into full blown rage and temper tantrums as he struggles to obtain control of yet another aspect of his life that is slipping through his fingers. It’s a career highlight performance for the star/producer to be sure; it is only due to Gyllenhaal’s charisma and commitment to the role that we’re kept invested in Joe’s story to the bitter end.

Unfortunately that story loses steam not long after the fateful phone call, as proceedings slow to what feels like an endless stream of fruitless calls; to fellow detectives, to Joe’s wife, to other emergency services. It serves to compound Joe’s frustrations but unfortunately puts the audience in the same boat, growing ever weary of the monotony and close to checking out. Thankfully the plot kicks back into gear with a breakneck final thirty minutes, as Joe’s personal and professional problems combine in a beautifully tragic yet cathartic way, but it doesn’t do much to hide the fact that this already short 90 minute film only has about an hour of story truly worth telling.

The Guilty without its star simply isn’t as compelling a film as it is with Gyllenhaal’s immense on-screen talents. Able to carry us through even the most tepid of telephone conversations, the journey through Joe Baylor’s psyche is wholly engrossing even if his immediate situation loses momentum at times. The supporting voice cast is stacked and Fuqua does what he can with interesting direction, but at the end of the day this is purely a performance piece for its star and in the question of “does Gyllenhaal nail it?” he can only be found guilty.

The Guilty stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Ethan Hawke, Riley Keough, Peter Sarsgaard, Christina Vidal, Adrian Martinez, Eli Goree & Paul Dano – Streaming on Netflix now.

7/10

Tags Antoine Fuqua, Christina Vidal, Ethan Hawke, Jake Gyllenhaal, Netflix, Paul Dano, Peter Sarsgaard, Riley Keough, The Guilty

Movie Reviews

Old

Post author By Mark
Post date October 4, 2021

M. Night Shyamalan is not the filmmaker he once was. Visually the director that gave us The Sixth Sense and Signs is as sharp as ever, with an incredible eye for detail and inventive ways to utilise the camera. But as latest film Old demonstrates, Shyamalan’s writing still hasn’t managed to recapture that same visceral shock and emotion that his early work electrified with. Based around a graphic novel that feels tailor made for his twist heavy style – a group of families on a beach struggling to figure out why time is rapidly moving forward – Shyamalan drowns the concept in godawful dialogue, one-note characters and his usual (of late, at least) nonsensical twists.

When struggling couple Guy (Gael García Bernal) and Prisca (Vicky Krieps) arrive at a glamorous beach resort (an online bargain Prisca happened upon) with their children Maddox (Alexa Swinton) and Trent (Nolan River), they are thrilled to be offered a trip to a private beach for the day. Discovering they share the large stretch of beach with a few other families – including doctor Charles (Rufus Sewell) and his wife Chrystal (Abbey Lee) and daughter Kara (Kylie Begley), rapper Mid-Sized Sedan (Aaron Pierre) and the epileptic Patricia (Nikki Amuka-Bird) and her husband Jarin (Ken Leung) – the group make the most of their relaxation until fun is disrupted by the discovery of a body laying in a nearby cove.

Attempting to make their way back to the resort, the group realise they are trapped on the beach, an inconvenience further complicated by the fact that their cells are ageing rapidly, with the children becoming teens in mere minutes. Racing against the biological clock, the adults must carefully balance the complicated personalities on the beach in hopes of finding a way out before they expire, while the children struggle to come to terms with their changing bodies.

There’s a lot of characters at play in Old – a film that relies solely on the interactions between them – and almost all of them are hollow caricatures of actual people; painful stereotypes that never seem to behave or communicate in a realistic way. Shyamalan’s script seems the prime suspect, reducing each character to a single defining trait. Take García Bernal’s Guy for example. We’re told early on that he works as an actuary, assessing risk and calculating the likelihood of accidents. Now that we know that, Shyamalan constantly feels the need to remind us by having Guy blurt out statistics at the most callous of moments – when everyone else is reacting to a death Guy is denying the accident that caused it. Nothing about the setup of Guy’s character suggests that this warm family man would suddenly behave like this, but Shyamalan needs to convey just how crazy the situation is and sacrifices any goodwill the audience might have for Guy by changing his character in order to further the mystery.

The premise itself is intriguing on the surface. The potential for playing with the body horror aspect of rapid ageing alone could provide enough substance for an entire movie but Shyamalan never capitalises on the promise of the concept, simply hurrying from one shocking moment to the next. The body the group found turns to dust minutes later? No time for that, a 6 year-old has suddenly aged and become pregnant and… we’ve moved onto the next catastrophe.

M. Night seems so obsessed with cramming as many time-based ideas into the film as possible that nothing is given the time it needs to breathe and have an impact. That rapid pregnancy scene should be the highlight of the film: a tense build towards an ultimately tragic and painful outcome. Instead it lasts a total of four minutes in a two hour film. Time may be moving fast on the beach but there’s no reason that Shyamalan couldn’t have spent a little more to craft moments that feel earned.

Then there’s the inevitable twist – no spoilers here – which really doesn’t alter the film at all other than allowing it to have some kind of half-baked conclusion. Shyamalan’s films have built this inherent audience expectation for twists over the years that the filmmaker now feels the need to have one, regardless of whether or not it works in the story. The information the twist provides here doesn’t enhance or detract from what we have already watched, instead putting it into a rather generic context that doesn’t clearly convey whatever half-baked message Shyamalan is shooting for, only raising more questions that are never answered.

Old is yet another misfire from M. Night Shyamalan that places concept above story, introducing an intriguing mystery that never lives up to its premise. Bad writing, bland characters and a lack of any truly inspired horror sequences overshadow any inventive camerawork that Shyamalan employs, wasting his cast of talented newcomers and veterans in search of the next rushed shock moment that fails to shock. You might go in thinking it can’t be that bad, but sooner or later you’ll be begging to join the poor souls trapped on the beach just to get through Old that little bit faster.

Old stars Gael García Bernal, Vickey Krieps, Rufus Sewell, Alex Wolff, Thomasin McKenzie, Abbey Lee, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Ken Leung, Eliza Scanlen & Aaron Pierre – Coming to Digital, Blu-Ray and DVD soon.

3/10

Tags Abbey Lee, Alex Wolff, Eliza Scanlen, Embeth Davidtz, Gael García Bernal, Ken Leung, M. Night Shyamalan, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Old, Rufus Sewell, Thomasin McKenzie, Vicky Krieps

Ranked TV & Streaming Reviews

RANKED – Star Wars: Visions

Post author By Mark
Post date September 28, 2021

Star Wars is in a strange place at the moment. One of the biggest film franchises of all time, the series has seen its movie endeavours come to a temporary halt after the disappointment of 2019’s sequel trilogy-capper The Rise of Skywalker, whilst its efforts in other mediums like The Mandalorian and video game Jedi: Fallen Order show that fans are desperate for more galactic adventures that feel different and take advantage of everything the wider world of Star Wars has to offer.

Disney+’s latest offering, Visions might just be the property’s most out-there Star Wars content to date, handing the treasured reigns over to seven Japanese animation studios and tasking them with crafting unique stories in the galaxy far, far away. The results are largely successful, with striking animation across the board drawing from all corners of classic to modern stylings, emotional, impactful stories and some of the best interpretations of those classic Star Wars elements since the original trilogy.

Rather than review the series as a whole, we’ve decided to tackle each episode individually, ultimately ranking them. Whilst you should definitely watch the entire show if you have the chance, if you are short on time or just looking to dip your toe into these anime interpretations of Star Wars then this is the way.

9. The Village Bride

While none of the Visions episodes are bad, The Village Bride is the least successful in coalescing its myriad of big ideas into something that works both as a story and an expansion of the Star Wars universe. Following rogue Jedi, F (Karen Fukuhara) who finds herself in the middle of a small village where tradition dictates a young girl must be handed over to separatist warlords as a protection payment, the episode simply tries to juggle too much; throwing cross-cultural commentary and an examination of nature on top of an otherwise unsurprising story.

Fukuhara tries her best to instill some life into proceedings through her voice work and there are attempts to flesh out F’s backstory but the character is too bland to win us over; the supporting characters too familiar and the story too safe to elicit much of a response from the audience.

8. T0-B1

On its face T0-B1 may appear eerily similar to Japanese cartoon icon Astro Boy, sporting a similarly stunning style of animation and a very child-friendly tone – almost like a Chibi version of Luke Skywalker. Couple this with a Pinnochio-esque story of a robotic boy who must fend for himself after his master his eliminated by a Sith lord and the short can feel a little throwaway. But as the story encroaches into darker territory on its way to delivering a fist-pumpingly heroic finale, its purpose becomes clearer. This is one of the most simple, purest forms of Star Wars storytelling and, for someone, it will potentially be their introduction to this world.

On that level, T0-B1 is successful in delivering that visceral Star Wars thrill of watching a character go from humble nobody to hero, all wrapped up in an incredibly stylish package. It might not be very dissimilar from Luke Skywalker’s story, but it is inspiring and enraptures you in the world of T0-B1, and to some young person out there, that might be enough to create a lifelong Star Wars fan.

7. Tatooine Rhapsody

Easily the most unique of all the stories told within Visions, Tatooine Rhapsody follows the exploits of Jay (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), an outcast Jedi following the fall of the Jedi Order who finds belonging within a band of miscreants, together forming a literal rock band. When their leader Geezer (Bobby Moynihan) is taken prisoner by Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison) and brought to Tatooine to fulfil a debt to iconic crime lord Jabba the Hutt, the band springs into action to rescue their bassist, endearing themselves to a whole new fanbase in the process.

The episode wins points on the strength of its premise alone, leaning into the weirdness that the galaxy has to offer and away from the conventional Jedi vs Sith storytelling that the rest of the series favours. It wears its anime influences on its sleeve; full of zany, over-the-top characters and larger-than-life musical moments, a lot of which will have you wincing from the cringe-inducing lyrics. If you can get past this however, you will be rewarded with a simple but touching story of friendship that offers a glimpse into the ground level stories of regular people within the galaxy.

6. Akakiri

An ode to a more old-school form of Japanese animation, Akakiri presents the stylish hand-drawn adventure of Jedi Tsubaki (Henry Golding), who returns to his childhood planet to aid long-lost love Misa (Jamie Chung) in recapturing the planet from Sith ruling. Traditional in its form as well as art-style, Akakiri is largely a road movie, following the pair and two goofy, overly superstitious guides (George Takei & Keone Young) as they travel across the planet and sneak into the Sith’s castle, narrowly avoiding capture at every turn.

The simple premise works thanks to terrific voice-acting, especially Takei and Young, who bring the most humour to the entire series with their oafish guides’ constant babbling about the events transpiring. Golding and Chung have excellent chemistry, their dialogue hinting at a complicated past, without the need to dig too deeply into it before a shocking ending twists the narrative on its head, unafraid to leave you without a happy resolution in favour of forcing you to think about the complex moral choices that are so often glossed over in Star Wars.

5. The Twins

The Twins could easily function as one of Marvel’s recent What If episodes, telling the story of a set of twins (not dissimilar from Luke and Leia) born through the Dark Side of the Force and tasked with subjecting the galaxy to their rule. One of these twins Karre (Neil Patrick Harris) defects from the pair’s evil plan, stealing a necessary component to a Death Star style weapon and sending sister Am (Alison Brie) into a blind rage, culminating with the siblings thrown into all-out war with each other.

On its face this is essentially “what if Leia went to the Dark Side” but what makes The Twins so fascinating to watch is the way it embraces the craziness of anime such as Dragon Ball Z and Gundam with a battle for the ages; full of explosions and over-the-top twists. A normal lightsaber fight? Try a robotic suit of six lightsaber whips against an entire X-Wing out in the vacuum of space. It is this total commitment to full-tilt insanity that makes the episode so enthralling, with each new development in the battle a showcase of the creativity and inventiveness that the franchise helped inspire in the first place.

4. Lop & Ochō

Another hand-drawn tale – this time from Japanese studio Geno – Lop & Ochō blends not only its in-episode worlds, with a small, heavily Japanese-influenced city overrun by an Imperial regime, but its story influences, drawing on the original trilogy’s fondness for found family storylines and the political overtures of the prequel trilogy to particularly potent effect. Alien slave Lop (Anna Cathcar voices the anthropomorphised rabbit) is rescued by Ochō (Hiromi Dames) and her village-leader father Yasaburo (Paul Nakauchi), and adopted into the family as a sister to Ochō, who is next in line to lead the clan. When an Imperial occupation divides the clan from within – with Ochō choosing to join the Empire in order to stave off her village’s destruction and Yasaburo opting to fight for their freedom – Lop is forced to step in to stop the Empire and reconcile her broken family.

The stakes are certainly epic in scope, but Lop & Ochō favours a more focused approach to the storytelling, detailing the ground level struggle of the village and the particularly tough situation it finds itself in: desperate to be free of Empire rule but unable to function without it thanks to years of resource mining. It’s a high concept wrapped up in the distinctly human struggle of Yasaburo’s clan and the emotional beats between the central trio hit home, despite the relatively short runtime. Lop, Ochō and Yasaburo are all given enough time to let their ideas breathe and you can understand each party’s viewpoints, making Lop’s ultimate decision that much more emotionally impactful, as only the the best Star Wars stories can be.

3. The Ninth Jedi

When young Jedi Ethan (Masi Oka) answers a mysterious beacon from the shadowy Juro (Andrew Kishino) offering him one of the ancient weapons of the Jedi – a lightsaber – he finds he is part of a large group of outcast Jedi who have answered the call. As the group debate over the true identity of their host, young Kara (Kimiko Glenn) is forced to go on the run after bounty hunters storm the house she shares with her father, murdering him in an attempt to steal the lightsabers he has created for Juro. Seeking shelter at the only other place she knows, Kara finds herself on a course to interrupting the Jedi’s gathering, with her arrival setting off an unpredictable chain of events.

The Ninth Jedi is one giant exercise in challenging iconic Star Wars preconceptions, steadily building tension towards a reveal that throws the audience for a loop but never feels like a cheap trick. Instead it invites us to look at how we view the franchise as a whole, at how we have been conditioned to think a certain way about how certain characters look or behave and how that behaviour pigeonholes them as a certain type of character. That might sound overly political or preachy but The Ninth Jedi never feels that way, with its slow burn of intrigue and action-packed side story intersecting in an explosive finale.

2. The Elder

A simple but extremely effective episode, The Elder focuses on a master Jedi and his Padawan as they investigate a disturbance on a nearby planet, plunging them into a deadly battle with an ancient Sith enemy. Immediately the animation grabs you; an intricately detailed and polished style that sets the scene for a more mature episode than what has come before. Once the duel swings into full effect it is stunning to behold: a dimly lit, rain-soaked affair brightened only by the vivid greens, reds and blues of the participants lightsabers, with fight choreography as impressive as many of the franchise’s best.

The relationship between Jedi’s Tajin (David Harbour) and his apprentice Dan (Jordan Fisher) will be instantly familiar to fans of Obi-Wan and Qui-Gonn’s bond in The Phantom Menace, creating an immediate connection to the characters that adds to the tension of the final showdown. It might not pack the heavy thematic notes of other episodes but The Elder is a fine example of how the fundamentals of Star Wars can create something engaging and investing without the need for complex worlds or backstory; how the choreography and movement of a fight alone can tell a compelling and gripping story.

1. The Duel

George Lucas has long spoken about the influences he drew on when creating Star Wars and like Lucas’ original films The Duel wears those influences of Japanese samurai culture and Westerns on its sleeves, combining them with a visually striking, black and white art style to create something wholly unique to the Star Wars canon. We follow our largely silent Ronin hero (Masaki Terasoma) as he wanders into a small village seeking shelter and sustenance. When a group of Stormtroopers, led by a mysterious Sith warrior, arrives to subjugate the village, a group of bounty hunters employed by the villagers bravely fight back unaware of the power of their Sith opponent. Overpowered and on the brink of the defeat, the village must place their faith in the shadowy Ronin to defend them.

As with the best Western stories, The Duel challenges the morality of its hero, not staying beholden to the dichotomy of Jedi and Sith as the episode presents the possibility of the Ronin being tuned to both the Dark and Light side of the Force. Visually he appears to be a Jedi, but as events unfold you understand that, unlike the art style, this world isn’t that black and white. Exploring the murkier underbelly of the Star Wars galaxy is something fans have long been clamouring for, and The Duel shows that Jedi and Sith exist without being wholly good or evil like heroes and villains of the past.

The visuals are, simply put, stunning; resembling a living painting with the way the line work of the hand-drawn style shifts as characters move. Vibrant blue laser bolts and vivid red beams of lightsabers pop against the muted background, creating scenes so visually stunning they could be hung as artwork. As the first episode in the anthology, The Duel is tasked with setting the tone for things to come and it succeeds the most in balancing all the elements at play, from the Anime craziness of the Sith’s umbrella lightsaber, the classically Japanese Ronin hero to an R2-D2-like droid that provides some much-needed humour. A perfect introduction to an exciting new chapter in Star Wars.

S

Star Wars: Visions stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Alison Brie, Neil Patrick Harris, Henry Golding, Jamie Chung, David Harbour, Jordan Fisher, Masi Oka, Kimiki Glenn, Anna Cathcar, Hiromi Dames, Paul Nakauchi, George Takei, Bobby Moynihan, Temuera Morrison & Karen Fukuhara – Streaming on Disney+ Now.

8/10

Tags Alison Brie, Bobby Moynihan, Disney+, George Takei, Henry Golding, Jamie Chung, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Karen Fukuhara, Keone Young, Lucasfilm, Neil Patrick Harris, Star Wars, Star Wars: Visions

Movie Reviews

Candyman

Post author By Mark
Post date September 20, 2021

It may take saying his name five times to summon Candyman, but it only took his film franchise two mediocre sequels to seemingly spell his doom. That is until now, with Nia DaCosta’s sequel reviving the franchise in spectacularly bloody fashion. Retaining the original film’s moody, sullen tone, DaCosta has crafted a sequel that is sufficiently spine-tingling and gory whilst packing in enough biting indictment of the struggles of the African-American experience to really make an impact on the horror genre, rather than the hollow cash-grab it could have been. Favouring that social commentary instead of an all-out orgy of violence for its finale may leave some viewers wanting, but a star-making performance from Yahya Abdul-Mateen II ensures that Candyman’s revival is as glorious as it should be.

Taking a page from 2018’s Halloween reboot, Candyman acts as a direct follow-up to the first film, forgoing the mediocre sequels in favour of a story set 30 years after Helen Lyle’s tumultuous investigation into the urban legend of Candyman in the Chicago housing projects of Cabrini-Green. Here local artist Anthony McCoy (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) struggles to find inspiration for his next project, fixating on the local legend of Candyman and setting off on an investigation into his reign of terror that leads him to Burke (Colman Domingo), a local resident who considers himself an expert on the subject. As mysterious murders begin to mount around Anthony, he finds himself disconnecting from the world, experiencing strange visions of violence that drive a wedge between him and girlfriend Breanna (Teyonah Parris). As his obsession turns to fear, Anthony sets out on a desperate attempt to end the curse he feels he is under, but is it too late for his salvation?

Candyman has kills aplenty: throats slashed, innards spilled and limbs severed. The gore is sufficiently stomach churning for a modern horror film, but what sets it apart is the tone Nia DaCosta establishes – thanks in no small part to Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe’s chilling score – that ensures you are never truly comfortable as you watch. You might not be out of your mind terrified at all times but there is a constant dread lingering in the back of your mind that the Candyman may strike from anywhere. DaCosta wisely builds her big set-pieces around this, knowing when to hold back to build suspense and when to go balls-to-the-wall crazy.

In this same way she and co-writers Win Rosenfeld and Jordan Peele build the social commentary into the script: rarely loud and in your face, preferring that you make your own conclusions rather than holding your hand to find the social message at its centre. That message isn’t particularly subtle but it is powerful, the gentrification of the Chicago suburb of Cabrini-Green has always been at the heart of the Candyman story, and DaCosta presents a new perspective, questioning Anthony’s contribution to that very problem by purchasing a new apartment in the traditionally low-income suburb and his profiting off of the suffering of Candyman’s victims by way of his art. DaCosta digs a little deeper in her exploration of gentrification, with a discussion of art and the artist’s role in the social problem, but it is somewhat lost in the film’s larger commentary, with the powerful finale choosing to focus on the problem in a very literal way instead.

The star of the piece, however, is undoubtedly Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. He is simply impossible to turn away from, bringing a charisma and energy to Anthony that is fascinating to watch slowly chip away as Candyman’s influence spreads. Moments when he experiences these dream-like states of unawareness are incredibly unsettling to watch, as Abdul-Mateen II’s eyes slowly lose focus, with DaCosta often choosing to shoot him looking directly at camera, as if Candyman is lingering over your very shoulder. Whilst more time could have been spent developing the relationship between Anthony and Parris’ Breanna, particularly the complicated dynamic between partners and gallery owner/artist, this is a minor gripe and a testament to the strength of the performances that you want to spend more time with these characters. Parris’ character isn’t the focus for much of the film but still gets some standout moments, easily conveying the pure terror she experiences through widened eyes alone.

Nia DaCosta clearly has a lot of love for the 1992 original Candyman, linking Anthony’s story to Helen’s in genuinely surprising ways and maintaining a tone that feels consistent with that film but which still manages to be its own dread-filled beast, with social commentary that is smart and biting, but never enough to draw the attention away from Candyman himself, who is represented here in a truly spine chilling way. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II’s performance is a standout in a year full of horror standouts, a haunting examination of one man succumbing to obsession and the dark forces it brings with it. You might not be able to utter his name in front of the mirror more than once, but you’ll be dying to see Candyman again and again.

Candyman stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Teyonah Parris, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett & Colman Domingo – In cinemas now.

8/10

Tags Candyman, Colman Domingo, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Nia DaCosta, Teyonah parris, Vanessa Williams, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II

Ranked

RANKED – Spider-Man Films

Post author By Mark
Post date September 19, 2021

2021 seems to be the year of Spider-Man, with the trailer for the web-head’s latest outing No Way Home shattering records and the announcement of the sequel to 2018’s Insomniac-produced game blowing fans’ minds with the imminent arrival of series favourite (not always, as you’ll see below) Venom. With that we thought it was the perfect time to swing through the web-slinger’s filmography – Avengers appearances and Venom spin-offs notwithstanding – to come up with the definitive ranking of Spidey films.

8. Spider-Man 3

The film that tanked Sam Raimi’s otherwise perfect trilogy, Spider-Man 3 will long be remembered as one of the most unintentionally hilarious superhero films. Emo Peter Parker? Already an odd choice. Having him strut his stuff through a crowded New York street shooting finger guns at horrified women? It’s the stuff of ‘so bad it’s great’ legend. But apart from these moments of unintentional levity, Spider-Man 3 is a largely dull affair, taking the characters we loved from the first two films and finishing their arcs in haphazard, unlikeable ways across the board.

James Franco’s Harry Osborn should be the big bad that the series was building toward, stepping into his father’s legacy and forced to make monumental choices between family and friend. Instead he loses his memory like a bad episode of an 80’s soap opera and does the twist while making omelettes with Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst). Enter Topher Grace’s woefully miscast Eddie Brock (AKA Venom) and an actually decent Thomas Haden Church as the Sandman to fill that villainous void. It all descends into an incomprehensible mess of a final action scene but the brief glimpses into Sandman’s sweet relationship with his daughter hint at the emotional connection Raimi excelled at in earlier instalments.

7. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)

The image really speaks volumes about The Amazing Spider-Man 2, taking the solid groundwork laid in Andrew Garfield’s introduction as the character and cluttering it with villains and downright stupid creative decisions. The relationship between Garfield’s Parker and Emma Stone’s Gwen Stacy continues to be the highlight of these two films, with an easy, natural chemistry between the pair and some solid obstacles thrown at them that forces Peter to confront that fundamental Spider-Man issue: balancing his wants and needs as an everyday teen (now college student) and the larger responsibilities of Spider-Man.

Gwen’s death (spoiler alert) might just be the most heart-wrenching moment out of all these films but for every step it takes in the right direction, Amazing 2 counters with scene after scene of Jamie Foxx’s Electro muttering about his birthday through weirdly blue teeth, Dane DeHaan’s painfully annoying Harry Osborn and so much forced setup for a Sinister Six film that never came that Peter Parker gets buried in his own film.

6. The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

Andrew Garfield’s first outing as skater-boy Peter Parker announced him as a far superior version of Spider-Man whilst under the mask, firing quip after quip alongside the webs as he took on the villainous Lizard (Rhys Ifans). His Parker might have been a little too good-looking and charming for the usually reserved and awkward nerd audiences knew from the Raimi trilogy and comics but made up for it with great chemistry with Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone). Far more than the constant damsel-in-distress Kirsten Dunst’s MJ found herself as, Gwen gets a lot more to do in the fight against the Lizard and endears herself to the audience in a much bigger way because of it.

Martin Sheen and Sally Field shine as Uncle Ben and Aunt May but the film stumbles in its over examination of Peter’s parents, tying his origin as the web-slinger to a scientific conspiracy further expounded on in the sequel. It never quite clicks together in expanding Peter’s character; positing his desire for a father figure as the basis for a friendship with Ifans’ cold-blooded scientist is a clunky way to bring the pair together. Ifans, for his part, isn’t given a whole lot to do other than whine about his missing limb and provide a physical opponent for Spidey; a wasted opportunity for one of the all-time greats from Spider-Man’s rogues gallery.

5. Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)

The burden of carrying the first post-Endgame MCU film falls on Spidey’s shoulders in Far From Home and it largely works despite the drastic shift in scale from the world-ending threat of Thanos. The film takes a while to get going, walking us through Peter’s (Tom Holland) desire for a break from web-slinging and a chance to declare his affection for MJ (Zendaya) on an upcoming European school trip. Things pick up with the arrival of Jake Gyllenhaal’s Mysterio, a worthy foil who plays upon the teenagers naivety to gain access to Stark-level weaponry and present himself as Earth’s new defender.

Gyllenhaal and Holland’s bro-ish chemistry is fun to watch, with Peter leaning heavily on another potential mentor after Tony Stark’s recent passing, and the big reveal of Mysterio’s evil intentions provides a big moment to drive his character forward. By the end of it all there’s lessons learned, tears shed and the fully confident Spider-Man we all knew Holland could be taking centre stage as he defeats his greatest enemy to date. Still it’s hard to ignore the significant chunk of what feels like filler as we move through what is largely a stopgap on the way to the more MCU significant crossover in the upcoming No Way Home.

4. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

Fans waited a long time to see Ultimate comics’ Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) take up the mantle of Spider-Man and it turned out to be worth the wait, with Sony Animation delivering a visually stunning film that looks as though it as been pulled straight out of the pages of a comic. Miles’ origin story on its face isn’t hugely different from that of Peter Parker, but the way in which the film fundamentally understands Spider-Man on a character level ensures that this origin story is anything but unoriginal, delivering the message that anyone could be under the mask; that it is the fundamental goodness he brings to life that enables Miles to succeed as the web-slinger – a universal lesson for audiences young and old.

With strange new takes on iconic characters and a phenomenal voice cast all around – Jake Johnson’s schlubby Peter B. Parker and John Mulaney’s hilarious Spider-Ham are particular highlights – this is Spider-Man for a new generation: a bold new direction that we can’t wait to see where it heads.

3. Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

Having won audiences over with his unexpected debut in Captain America: Civil War, Tom Holland cemented himself as the next great Spider-Man for the MCU generation with solo film follow-up Homecoming. Being the first Peter Parker to actually look like they belong in school turns out to be one of Holland’s greatest assets, as the film is able to believably tackle the homework vs. hero angle, whilst still leaving plenty of room for MCU-sized action. Downey Jr.’s supporting turn as Iron Man is able to further Peter’s developmental arc, strengthen that father-son bond on the way to the devastating “I don’t feel too well Mr. Stark” payoff and provides some real stakes to Peter’s antics other than the always present threat of death.

Michael Keaton’s Vulture joins the pantheon of great on-screen Spider-Man villains along with the next two to be named, gleefully turning a profit cashing in on the fallout from Avengers level incidents before a certain Spider proves a thorn in his side. That pivotal twist – that the Vulture is actually the father of Peter’s crush – is a perfect Spider-Man story beat, seemingly insignificant in the larger scheme of things but completely shattering Parker’s world. But the defining moment? Peter psyching himself up to shift a pile of rubble; the kid from Queens and the audience joining together in chants of “Come on, Spider-Man” as he steps into the responsibility thrust upon him and becomes the hero we know and love.

2. Spider-Man 2 (2004)

A somewhat controversial placement, Sam Raimi’s beloved middle film in the trilogy takes all that he built in the first film and doubles down, adding another iconic villain in Alfred Molina’s Doc Ock, more complications to Peter’s (Tobey Maguire) relationships with Harry (Franco) and MJ (Dunst) and the quintessential representation of the struggle between Spider-Man duties and the yearning for a normal life. Maguire builds upon his iconic performance to include layers of exhaustion and jealousy as Peter must watch the woman he loves marry someone else all the while knowing he could never give her the life he feels she deserves.

The “I am Spider-Man no more” line hits like a ton of bricks as you actually feel like this could be the end, that Peter has finally had enough, and while this may all sound like a dour, overly serious Spidey adventure, Raimi is able maintain that balance of heavy, real stakes with camp and humour, whether that be Bruce Campbell’s hilarious cameo or the memed-to-death ‘pizza boy’ scene. Dock Ock is the perfect mix of over-the-top maniacal villainy and affecting backstory, his turn to evil borne out of tremendous grief and suffering. He might even be the best of Spidey’s foes, if it weren’t for…

1. Spider-Man (2002)

The Green Goblin. We’ll get to the webhead himself in a minute but let’s take the time to recognise one of the best superhero villain performances of all time in Willem Dafoe’s gleefully unhinged performance as Norman Osborn, AKA Green Goblin. It’s a performance that simply couldn’t exist in today’s film landscape, so whacky and hilarious whilst being downright terrifying at the same time. Raimi presenting Norman’s development into the big bad in tandem with Peter’s only adds to the audience investment; making his turn into Spider-Man all the more courageous when you can see the dark path that sudden increase in power could have sent him.

But as for Spider-Man, this is the definitive telling of his origin story, filled with iconic scenes that have stood the test of time within the superhero genre. That first wall-crawl. The upside-down kiss. The first glorious swing through the buildings of New York. Tobey Maguire became a superstar off the back of his performance as the dorky teen living out every dorky teen’s fantasy and even if his Spider-Man didn’t have the most personality, his Peter Parker has yet to be beaten, hopelessly pining over the girl next door and coming into his own through sheer determination. This is the reason that superhero films exploded into the mainstream culture and for good reason: Spider-Man is spectacular.

Tags Sony, Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man 3, Spider-Man: Far From Home, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, The Amazing Spider-Man, The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Movie Reviews

Malignant

Post author By Mark
Post date September 13, 2021

What does a superstar director turn his attention to after reviving and mastering the demonic possession film and helming a giant superhero epic? Well, if you’re James Wan you set your sights on the campy supernatural slasher films of the 80’s, with the absolutely insane new offering Malignant. Heading in a completely different direction from his Conjuring films, Wan proves once and for all that his talents behind the camera translate to any genre, embracing the weird and whack to terrifying effect in one of the most jarring (in the best possible way) and outright fun horror films of the year.

Let’s get one thing straight, Malignant’s plot is definitely a case of “the less you know the better” and to get too into the plot would be to spoil half the fun of its central mystery. On a very basic level the film follows the heavily pregnant Madison (Annabelle Wallis), a woman trapped in an abusive relationship with no hope of a way out. When a particularly bad encounter with husband Derek (Jake Abel) leaves her unconscious, Madison awakens only to find him horribly mutilated and a mysterious figure waiting to attack. Now more alone than ever having lost the baby in the ensuing chaos, Madison returns home intent on not giving in to the eerie presence she feels stalking her at every turn.

It would be easy for Wan to fall back on his laurels and construct another riff on the same sub-genre as his career-defining Conjuring films – the reason they were so big is due to just how well Wan is able to control the scares and audience’s expectations, leading you down the beaten horror path before pulling the rug out when you least expect it. He still employs these techniques to typically scream-inducing effect, but Malignant falls more in-line with campy slasher films of the 70’s and 80’s, with a heavier focus on gore and the whodunnit mystery at the centre which he pulls off without a hitch – remember, this is the man who gave us Saw, the very film that coined the term “torture porn” – he can do gory.

That’s not to say that the film sacrifices story for the sake of violence, with a tour de force performance from Annabelle Wallis holding the entire plot together. Slowly watching her unravel and question her every waking moment is its own form of torture – with the viewer desperate to get to the bottom of things – as each new clue chips away at what remains of Madison’s sanity; her face becoming more gaunt and harrowed as the horrors increase. George Young and Michole Briana White’s cop-centric side story is less involved, if still essential, as they strive to uncover the identity of a killer they believe to be Madison’s attacker before he strikes again. Becoming somewhat formulaic at times, their chemistry offsets whatever fatigue might have set in, with White providing a lot of the humour as the stereotypically pissy ‘bad cop’.

Tone is where Malignant will undoubtedly divide fans of Wan’s previous work, eschewing the more grounded, realistic tones of his earlier horror in favour of a campy, oftentimes over-the-top style. Madison’s attacker leaps and scrambles around with over-exaggerated gusto; Wallis locks into her inner scream-queen, constantly emptying her lungs at the smallest disturbance; and the police investigating communicate in the most intentionally clichéd dialogue. It won’t be for everyone, to be sure, and Wan does go too far at times – peppering a jarring (in the worst way) electronic cover of the Pixies’ “Where is My Mind?” into Joseph Bishara’s otherwise sublime score – but those that do latch onto the vibe Wan is shooting for will find it endearing in the same way as other horror films of this ilk, with each new quirk inching the film further to becoming a cult classic.

Malignant is a fascinating new chapter in James Wan’s increasingly diverse filmography, mixing in enough tried and true Wan-ism’s to satiate longtime fans whilst presenting a strikingly different turn for the oftentimes subdued and grounded filmmaker. The tonal shifts from his earlier horror films might not be to everyone’s tastes but the talent behind the camera and the proficiency through which the horror maestro delivers bone rattling scares and huge swing-for-the-fences curveballs in the plot cannot be denied: Wan’s latest is anything but benign.

Malignant stars Annabelle Wallis, Maddie Hasson, George Young, Michole Briana White, Jake Abel, Jacqueline McKenzie & McKenna Grace – In cinemas now and streaming on HBO Max in the US.

9/10

Tags Annabelle Wallis, George Young, James Wan, Maddie Hasson, Malignant, Michole Briana White