Tag: Netflix

Enola Holmes

Post author By Mark
Post date September 29, 2020

Sixteen year old star Millie Bobby Brown is arguably one of Netflix’s most important assets, having risen to superstardom with the smash hit Stranger Things and cementing herself as a teen celebrity powerhouse outside of the show. As her adventures in Hawkins continue to chug along season after season, Brown has attempted to branch out into movies, with a supporting turn in last year’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters and now a starring role in Netflix’s own Enola Holmes. The film follows the relatively family-friendly adventures of the infamous Sherlock Holmes’ little sister – created by author Nancy Springer years after the works of original author Arthur Conan Doyle – as she travels across England in search of her mother, crossing paths with her famous family and a host of characters on the way. In a year deprived of summer blockbusters, Enola Holmes just might be the closest we’ll get to replicating that unbridled fun and joy of going to the movies, even if it is rather disposable at the end of the day.

Enola Holmes’ biggest strength and weakness lies in its tone. The film clearly owes a lot to the likes of Deadpool and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, with the youngest Holmes sibling constantly breaking the fourth wall and addressing the audience directly. It works for the film’s opening scenes when it is used as a clever device to humorously breeze through mountains of exposition and establish all the key players in the case to follow, but it quickly devolves into tedium when Enola starts shooting you looks every five minutes as if she’s checking to make sure you haven’t drifted off. At some points it gets so bad that it almost feels like a Victorian episode of Dora the Explorer with Holmes asking us the audience how we should navigate the plot of the film. The annoyance of these scenes is alleviated greatly by Bobby Brown’s natural charisma and charm as Enola and the fact that the film spends a good chunk of its opening minutes establishing the impact of the mystery on the young detective and getting you along for the ride.

The ride in question isn’t a terribly interesting one to be fair and functions as a sort of light version of a classic Sherlock Holmes case as Enola must unravel the mystery of her mother Eudoria’s (Helena Bonham Carter) sudden disappearance whilst on the run from her oppressive older brother Mycroft (Sam Claflin), who wishes to send her to boarding school to receive a traditional education. Along the way, Enola is entangled with the young Viscount Tewkesbury (Louis Partridge), who is hesitant about taking his father’s position in the House of Lords in order to pass an ambiguous bill that will “change the future of England”. What begins as an intriguing mystery with puzzles and clues for Enola to solve takes a shift into the mundane once Tewkesbury’s involvement becomes more prominent and the film becomes a more generic whodunnit investigation into a mysterious assassination plot on the young politician. It is a shame given the rather interesting mix between Deadpool and the Robert Downey Jr. Sherlock Holmes films that is established early on, which wraps you up and makes you think you’re about to experience something truly different. As it devolves into more generic action set-pieces, the film does retain its sense of fun – arguably shedding its family friendly image with some pretty intense late game violence – but that twinkling of something special is missing and it never really manages to recover, stumbling towards a fairly messy and abrupt conclusion that wraps everything up far too conveniently.

Once again Netflix has spared no expense with their original content, bringing in an absolute smorgasbord of great British talent, from Henry Cavill and Sam Claflin to Harry Potter veterans Fiona Shaw and Helena Bonham Carter. Cavill in particular shines as the legendary detective; giving Sherlock Holmes a far more laidback, less idiosyncratic feel than previous iterations as he watches Enola slowly unravel the clues laid before her, doling out sage wisdom where necessary. It’s such an interesting performance in fact, that I would happily sit through an entire film of Cavill as the sleuth, provided Sam Claflin also returns as his uptight, hilarious brother Mycroft. Claflin, like a lot of the cast, really hams it up as the high-class aristocrat with some serious self-doubts, screaming and carrying on about Enola’s lack of ladylike behaviour in stark contrast to Cavill’s quietness. It’s a brilliant pairing which really serves to flesh out the supporting cast and take some of the weight off of Bobby Brown’s shoulders – not that she can’t carry it. If Stranger Things hadn’t already done it then Enola Holmes certainly establishes Millie Bobby Brown as one of the finest young talents working today, carrying this giant studio picture with ease, hitting all the right emotional beats and really making you care about her, to the point where I welcome the inevitable sequel just on the promise of seeing her on-screen again as Enola.

Enola Holmes might not be the best or most memorable film of the year, but it is a whole lot of fun and that is something that is in high demand during the pandemic this year. It easily stands above the vast majority of content Netflix has released this year, with Millie Bobbie Brown cementing her status as a teen acting powerhouse in the fun, if sometimes uneven romp. Surrounding her with an eclectic British cast with brilliant turns from Sam Claflin and Henry Cavill really adds to the fun factor here and if you find yourself in search of a quick jolt of energy and enjoyment then turn to Enola Holmes for some solid sleuthing adventures.

Enola Holmes stars Millie Bobby Brown, Henry Cavill, Sam Claflin, Louis Partridge, Fiona Shaw, Burn Gorman & Helena Bonham Carter – Streaming on Netflix now.

Tags Enola Holmes, Helena Bonham-Carter, Henry Cavill, Millie Bobby Brown, Netflix, Sam Claflin

Movie Reviews

Project Power

Post author By Mark
Post date August 20, 2020

Netflix is thriving in the current pandemic-ridden environment, capitalising on the closure of cinemas worldwide to secure millions of eyeballs on their seemingly endless torrent of original content. Within the myriad of original films that have hit the service during the pandemic, a curious little sub-genre has emerged: the Netflix action movie. First we had Chris Hemsworth’s Extraction; a relatively straightforward hostage thriller with some extraordinarily choreographed fight scenes and mind-blowing action. This was followed by the Charlize Theron led The Old Guard: an absolute waste of a promising sci-fi premise which devolved into tedium with middling action scenes which failed to excite alongside endless streams of exposition. The latest of these is the Jamie Foxx and Joseph Gordon-Levitt starring Project Power, a somewhat inventive spin on the sci-fi genre which falls somewhere in between these two films with only its star power to rely on to get you through the poorly paced plot and boring set-pieces. Despite a solid performance from newcomer Dominique Fishback, Project Power is an utterly forgetful film which may offer a few hours of relief from crippling boredom, but does nothing to spark excitement or a desire to ever go back and explore this world.

Fishback plays Robin, a high-school teenager forced into slinging a particularly powerful drug in order to care for her ailing mother and ultimately pay for a life-saving surgery. The drug in question is “Power”, a pill that grants the user 5 minutes of superhuman abilities specific to that person. What powers does the person get? Well that’s the risk with “Power”; you don’t know until you try it. Maybe you’ll become a Human Torch-like walking wall of flame or maybe you’ll explode instantly and paint the walls red. Needless to say the drug appeals to a vast majority of criminal personalities and Robin has been working undercover with local New Orleans police detective Frank (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) to identify the source of the drug and put a stop to its spread. Elsewhere in New Orleans is Art (Jamie Foxx), a mysterious man hell bent on finding his kidnapped daughter, whose fate is inexplicably tied to the creation of “Power”. When the trio’s paths cross, they are forced into joining together to find Art’s daughter and put an end to the spread of “Power”.

On paper the plot of Project Power sounds pretty compelling. It’s a relatively original concept for a superhero film; something of a cross between the Bradley Cooper film Limitless and recent Netflix hit Code 8. It’s reasonably well produced and shot, not coming close to anything Marvel or DC have come out with, but with a decent amount of polish to pass it off as a mid-tier summer blockbuster in regular pre-COVID times. The chief problem with Project Power – and one that I’m starting to realise stretches to most of these Netflix films – is that it is so ridiculously unremarkable and forgettable. The somewhat interesting premise is completely wasted, with the film devolving into a series of cookie cutter set-pieces before culminating in a finale that resembles the Scooby Doo scene where the gang is chased through a series of doors. So intense was the blandness that I found myself forgetting what I had seen only minutes before, and don’t even get me started on trying to remember the plot a few days later to write this review. Netflix is throwing increasingly large sums of money at these sub-par scripts without actually caring about the final product and my mental exercise to try and list all the memorable quality films in the service’s catalogue took far too long to came up with barely a handful of titles. That’s not what you want to hear after attracting top-tier talent to the service and investing hundreds of millions of dollars on films that no one will remember existing after a week. Perhaps that is the business move? Make the films so utterly forgettable that you forget you’ve seen them and rewatch them over and over again. It’s not a particularly consumer friendly approach but hey as long as it increases Netflix’s bottom line, right?

Bringing in A-list stars to these projects almost acts as a double-edge sword in a sense, as the lead trio are quite literally the only good thing about Project Power and their natural charisma carries the audience through the film; not because their characters are well developed (they aren’t) but because you know Jamie Foxx and Joseph Gordon-Levitt and you like them in other things. Having said that, simply having Jamie Foxx in your movie doesn’t make it good. I should care about Art because his character is appealing and his motivations make sense to me and make me care about his plight, not because he is played by the man who sang “Gold Digger” and I love that song and therefore him in the film. This is a man who has had his daughter ripped away from him and doesn’t really seem all that concerned about it whatsoever. Sure he keeps telling you he’s going to rip through New Orleans to get her back, but then seems perfectly content to sit back and listen to Dominique Fishback’s character rap for what felt like an eternity. This little rapping sub-plot is just one of many that stop the film’s momentum dead in its tracks and while they provide a laugh every now and then; in a film that is struggling to keep my attention as is, any break from the main plot just makes you forget things faster. Despite the film’s problems, Fishback does give a fairly compelling turn as the down-on-her-luck Robin and has the only complete story-arc in the film. She is clearly a talent destined for a bright future, hopefully away from films like this that threaten to waste that talent.

You may be thinking from what I’ve written that I don’t care for Netflix. This isn’t true; I feel it is an amazingly powerful service that gives often unheard talents a platform to have their stories told. There are some truly wonderfully films on the service; just look at last year alone with Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman and Noah Baumbach’s superb Marriage Story. Clearly the service is capable of putting out good products. When it comes to this particular action genre however, Netflix needs to pick up their game severely and give some proper care and attention to genuinely good scripts, not just interesting ideas. Extraction worked with its limited scope and focus on action and choreography; it knew what it was and did it well. The Old Guard and now Project Power do not. Simply attracting A-List talent to a potentially solid idea without fully fleshing it into a script that takes advantage of that talent is a giant waste. Sure Project Power will be seen by millions of viewers around the world (not recommending you be one of them) but if nobody remembers it even exists, then what is the point of making it?

Project Power stars Jamie Foxx, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Dominique Fishback, Rodrigo Santoro, Amy Landecker, Machine Gun Kelly & Courtney B. Vance – Available to stream on Netflix now.

Tags Dominique Fishback, Jamie Foxx, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Netflix, Project Power

Movie Reviews

Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga

Post author By Mark
Post date June 30, 2020

Among the many events the Coronavirus has robbed us of in 2020 is famous annual song contest Eurovision, a colourful collection of performances from representatives of each country in Europe; all vying for fame and glory, with the winning country hosting the following year’s celebration. Given that the 2020 competition has been cancelled for the first time in 64 years, it seems almost too good to be true that Netflix had been working on a Eurovision comedy written by and starring Will Ferrell – the very literally titled Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga. Unlike his more recent starring vehicles like Holmes and Watson and Daddy’s Home however, Eurovision (if you think I’m typing the full name out every time, you’re crazy) is something of a return to form for Ferrell, an overly long yet frequently hilarious look at an aspiring Icelandic singing duo who dream of winning the famed contest. It may drag in sections and get overly corny at times but the majority of jokes hit like a freight train and Ferrell shares the laughs with a pair of excellent supporting turns from Rachel McAdams and Dan Stevens.

Ferrell stars as Icelandic native Lars Erikssong, a 40-something dreamer who lives in the picturesque village of Husavik with father Erick (Pierce Brosnan). Together with childhood friend and potential lover Sigrit Ericksdottir (Rachel McAdams) the pair are Fire Saga, a folk duo who yearn for stardom but who have found themselves confined to busting out old folk songs (like “Ja Ja Ding Dong”, an absolute banger) at local bars. Each year, Lars unsuccessfully submits a Fire Saga song for admission to Eurovision until (you guessed it), their submission is accepted through sheer luck and they are thrust into round after round of competition to vie for the title of Eurovision champion. In order to prove their critics wrong and take home the title, Fire Saga must deal with government conspiracies, their own tenuous internal dynamic as well as numerous devious competitors, including flamboyant Russian contestant Alexander Lemtov (Dan Stevens) – all of which threaten to tear the duo apart before they can realise their dream.

It’s not that Eurovision is a particularly different role for Ferrell. It isn’t. He’s playing an over the top character similar to almost all of his other roles, but what might be helping in this particular scenario is the fact that Ferrell himself has written the script, alongside Andrew Steele. Most of Ferrell’s great comedies – Anchorman, Talladega Nights, Step Brothers – have been written by the man himself and he clearly reserves the best material for his own starring roles. Whilst Eurovision certainly isn’t on the level of those comedies, (I’d liken it more to a Blades of Glory in scope and quality), it does deliver enough consistent gags to win you over. Ferrell’s Lars toes the line at times of being downright annoying but he always manages to pull it back just before you get truly sick of him with a witty one-liner. Unlike some of his bigger, more commercial comedies, there are quite a few subtle jokes here that will fly past you if you aren’t paying attention. The experience is made all the more richer if you are even somewhat familiar with the Eurovision contest’s many varied and, in some cases, completely insane artists and songs which the movie definitely leans into. A particular standout – the Fire Saga song “Volcano Man” – had me howling on the floor with laughter from the sheer absurdity of it and the fact that it could actually pass for a half decent entry in real life. Apart from the contest itself, Ferrell and company play a lot with European stereotypes and culture, with Iceland the brunt of many of these. Some are hokey and never really catch on, like the constant references to elves and Icelandic people’s belief in them, whilst others – like the aforementioned “Ja Ja Ding Dong” – are an absolute winner and will have you quoting and singing along for days after. Despite the constant barrage of jokes, the pacing is all over the shop and drags in the middle quite a bit. The film is just over two hours and you feel every second of it, with a few chunks going without more than a chuckle-worthy moment at worst. The ratio still manages to lean towards more funny moments than not but be warned: there will be times you will be checking your watch.

Outside of Ferrell are a pair of performances that manage to surpass the man himself at times, from two of the unlikeliest of actors – The Notebook star Rachel McAdams and Dan Stevens. Stevens may be a relatively new find to most audiences, having cut his teeth on Downton Abbey before moving across to more gritty action in the excellent thriller The Guest and more recently as the Beast himself in Disney’s live action version of Beauty and the Beast. Eurovision shows him in a completely different light and proves that the man has some serious comedy chops. He completely owns his scenes as the extravagant Russian competitor Alexander Lemtov, who takes a particular shine to Rachel McAdams’ Sigrit. It’s such a hammy, over-the-top performance that is almost too ridiculous to take seriously but Stevens has so much raw charisma and talent that watching him surrounded by shirtless men in leather pants climbing on top of him while he belts out his hit song “Lion Lover” with a whip in his mouth is both absolutely hilarious and perfectly believable for this character. It’s a character that is hard to explain and almost has to be seen to be believed but if you haven’t guessed that this is a solid recommendation by now then know that it is. It’s hilarious. Similarly Rachel McAdams, fresh off a great turn in 2018’s Game Night, gets to go even whackier here as Ferrell’s partner in crime Sigrit. She doesn’t get as many chances to shine here as Ferrell and she unfortunately gets saddled with the silly Elf storyline but when she does get her moments she completely owns them, presenting Sigrit as an idiot at times, but one with genuinely good intentions and affection towards Lars. Her storyline is the heart of the film and goes beyond the jokes, giving an emotional aspect for the audience to latch onto and she plays it well, never delving into the dirty tricks of Lemtov or Lars as she tries to win the contest through sheer artistry and love for music.

Will Ferrell comedies have largely been misfire after misfire in recent years but Eurovision marks a return to glory for the superstar, giving you enough laughs and emotional moments to carry you through its uneven, somewhat sappy story. With solid support from Rachel McAdams and a comedy-star making performance from Dan Stevens, this is an easy, enjoyable watch to laugh away some of the time in this pandemic ridden world. Whilst it may not replace Eurovision, it will give you just about the next best thing: all the pageantry and over the top performances, with some ridiculously catchy songs to boot. I know I’ll be singing “Volcano Man” in my head for weeks to come.

Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga stars Will Ferrell, Rachel McAdams, Pierce Brosnan & Dan Stevens – Streaming on Netflix now.

Tags Dan Stevens, Eurovision Song Contest, Netflix, Pierce Brosnan, Rachel McAdams, The Story of Fire Saga, Will Ferrell

TV & Streaming Reviews

Space Force – Season 1

Post author By Mark
Post date June 4, 2020

Space Force is the latest offering from television comedy mastermind Greg Daniels, superstar creator of shows that frequently enter the discussion for best series of all time including Parks and Recreation, animated classic King of the Hill and the US version of The Office. With such a prestigious back catalogue, the hype that surrounded his latest military-centric workplace comedy was more than warranted. If that wasn’t enough, Space Force assembled an amazing array of comedic talent as development went on including series lead Steve Carell (who co-wrote the show with Daniels), Lisa Kudrow, Ben Schwartz, Jimmy O. Yang, Fred Willard and the incomparable John Malkovich. All these excellent pieces make it all the more disappointing when the final product is as bad as Space Force is. When you can count the number of genuinely funny or even mildly chuckle-worthy moments on one hand you know that your comedy isn’t doing its job and it seems that the writing is to blame here, with Carell and Daniels unable to really decide on what Space Force is supposed to be. Is it a kooky workplace comedy like The Office? Is it a political satire, as the series’ Trump-inspired title and premise suggests? The answer is somehow both at times but mostly neither, with the resulting product a hellishly unfunny slog to get through. Strap me to a chair and force me to watch all of Adam Sandler’s Jack and Jill on repeat for 10 hours and I’d have a better time than one episode of Space Force.

Right off the bat the show seems like a misfire in its intent. Cracking a joke about Donald Trump definitely isn’t a new concept and many shows and movies have been doing it since his election in 2016 – to admittedly mixed results – because while the man is a ridiculously easy target, jokes need to still hit the right notes with some finesse to stand out. Space Force lives and dies on the idea that Trump’s admittedly silly idea to create a new branch of the military dedicated to conquering space is the funniest and most ridiculous thing anybody has ever said, enough that they felt the need to make an entire show to prove to the man just how ridiculous he is (as if he’s not constantly watching replays of himself on The Apprentice). Carell and Daniels have seemingly been so swept up in the absolute hilarity of this practical joke that they forgot to give any thought to whether Space Force actually works as a show. Spoiler alert: it doesn’t. It’s not clear if the assembly of its fantastic comedic cast is simply to double down on the joke (let’s get one of the best working actors in John Malkovich to do something in this Trump roast) or whether they were all very interested in the idea. Either way, they’re all completely wasted. But I digress; let’s get to the plot.

Space Force revolves around Mark Naird (Carell), a recently promoted 4 star General who has been tasked with heading up the newest eponymous branch of the military. To the other branch heads (Jane Lynch, Patrick Warburton, Noah Emmerich & Diedrich Bader), Space Force is a joke, a mockery of the military that will surely be the downfall of Naird, but the man himself is determined to turn the ragtag group into a legitimate military force on par with the Navy and Army. Surrounding himself with a cast of colourful characters including Chief Scientist Dr Adrian Mallory (Malkovich), Mallory’s assistant Dr Chan Kaifang (Jimmy O. Wang), Head of Social Media F. Tony Scarapiducci (Ben Schwartz) and his trusty assistant Brad (Don Lake), Naird deals with the day to day problems of not only getting to and establishing a base on the moon and but dealing with constant advancements by rival countries China and India. Add to that the added stress of being a single father to teenage daughter Erin (Diana Silvers) since Naird’s wife Maggie (Lisa Kudrow) is in prison for an undisclosed reason and you have yourself a tightly wound man (and remember this is supposedly a comedy) who is in desperate need of shenanigans.

Unfortunately for Naird, those shenanigans are awful. It’s plain to just about everyone with a set of eyes and ears that Donald Trump is something of a deviant, but a 3 episode story arc about the President incentivising Mark to catch a spy within his Force by inexplicably denying him a conjugal visit with his wife is just overkill. There’s no subtlety to it at all and that applies to just about every joke. There’s a joke about all Asian people liking K-Pop; a joke about Trump’s dislike for the African-American community and a joke about people from the South having learning disabilities; and believe me, I use the term “joke” loosely. More often than not, the show just forces these jokes down your throat without a punchline or any comedic value at all: a man from Alabama speaks in a stereotypical drawl and says some stupid things, implying people from the South (AKA Trump supporters to the writers) are stupid. It’s offensive and crass and perhaps worst of all: not funny. It’s simply ridiculous that the man who co-wrote and starred in The 40 Year-Old Virgin has written jokes this unfunny. Hell, the conjugal visit storyline is almost a cut-copy of that film, with Naird being separated from his wife for 6 months. Give me old good jokes rather than terrible ones. Daniels also struggles to produce anything special too, with the man responsible for some of the greatest comedies of all time unable to crack a smile let alone draw genuine laughs here. Sure, the first seasons of both The Office and Parks and Recreation weren’t spectacular, but they at least showed potential, whereas I will (thankfully) never allow myself to view this atrocity again.

It’s clear that everyone involved can and have done good things, and that’s not to say that anyone involved here isn’t trying. It’s simply that the show’s premise is such a huge misfire and everyone was so smitten with the idea that they forgot to write decent characters or jokes. Malkovich and Ben Schwartz are really the only standouts to be found. Malkovich simply can’t do anything wrong and brings a dry sarcastic wit to the Chief Scientist, with his exhaustion at Naird’s incompetence almost a surrogate for the audiences complete disinterest in the show itself. Nevertheless there are a few moments that attempt to flesh out Mallory’s character and Malkovich pulls them off with ease, making you feel ever so slightly for him as he is constantly shouted down and generally mistreated. Schwartz, who is now the voice of the highest grossing video-game film icon Sonic the Hedgehog, is clearly drawing on his other Daniels’ created character from Parks and Recreation: Jean-Ralphio Saperstein. The man simply oozes energy and charisma and no amount of terrible jokes can stop him from giving his all in the delivery, creating a few laughs simply from his actions and general body language, rather than the words themselves. He is a huge boon to the series and is criminally underused in the first season, however I would much rather see him lead his own series than return for the (unfortunately) inevitable second season.

From the preceding words you may have come to the conclusion that I hate Space Force and I’d have to say you’re pretty close. It’s hard to pinpoint another comedy series with this much potential and hype which has misfired so totally, so completely, that I’d rather scratch my eyes out than watch another frame. Steve Carell has graced us with easily his worst performance here, right alongside the abysmal Dinner for Schmucks and Daniels has unfortunately broken that winning television streak he has spent years cultivating. If there is a lesson to take from Space Force, however, it is surely that your central idea needs to come from a place of genuine love for comedy and a desire to make people laugh; not to aggressively and badly roast a political figure in a way that only serves to turn people off your work, rather than a man who half the known world already despises.

Space Force stars Steve Carell, John Malkovich, Diana Silvers, Lisa Kudrow, Jimmy O. Wang, Don Lake, Patrick Warburton, Jane Lynch, Noah Emmerich & Ben Schwartz – Streaming now on Netflix.

Tags Ben Schwartz, Greg Daniels, John Malkovich, Lisa Kudrow, Netflix, Space Force, Steve Carell

Movie Reviews

Extraction

Post author By Mark
Post date May 9, 2020

Chris Hemsworth isn’t unfamiliar with action. As Thor he has seen his fair share of it. However it has never been as brutal as in his new Netflix film Extraction, which sees Hemsworth re-grouping with many members of the Avengers team, including veteran stunt coordinator Sam Hargrave – who makes his directorial debut here – and Avengers: Endgame co-director Joe Russo, who pens the script. Hargrave’s experience in Hollywood as a stuntman and stunt director on countless films is the film’s biggest strength here, outside of the popularity and likability of Hemsworth. The focus is really on the action and in that regard, it absolutely delivers, bringing intense, extremely well-shot destruction and hand-to-hand combat to the screen. Outside of that however, Extraction doesn’t have much else to offer from a narrative and character development perspective, relying on its extremely swift pace and endless madness to propel you through its 2 hour run-time. It’s a case of what you see is what you get, and if you’re in the mood for a good action flick that’ll keep you entertained, then look no further.

Extraction‘s relatively straightforward story follows Tyler Rake (Chris Hemsworth), a mercenary for hire with a troubled personal history and a pretty heavy drinking problem to boot. When a job comes his way to rescue Ovi (Rudhraksh Jaiswal), the son of an international drug kingpin in Dhaka, Tyler agrees, thinking it will be a stock standard procedure and a welcome distraction from his painful existence. Tyler’s world is quickly thrown upside down when he realises the importance of Ovi in an ongoing turf war between rival gangs in Bangladesh and Mumbai – including the terminator-like presence of Ovi’s former bodyguard Saju (Randeep Hooda) – testing his ability to trust those around him as he attempts to get Ovi to safety, leaving a path of destruction in Dhaka as he goes.

Let’s address the elephant in the room here: Extraction doesn’t have much depth to it. The story isn’t groundbreaking or particularly well done. It’s serviceable and given a welcome shot in the arm by the presence of Hemsworth. The man just oozes charisma and is a foreboding and charismatic presence, believably mowing down hordes of goons in his path to salvation, and I could watch him as this character for hours. It’s such a tonal shift from the character of Thor, less boisterous and jokey and more stoic and reserved. When things do hit the fan, Hemsworth goes into overdrive; a caged beast set free as his survival instincts kick in and the bodies pile up. There’s tremendous amounts of physicality to the performance and from reports of behind the scenes the film was much more taxing than any of his previous work, with Hemsworth performing a lot of the stunts himself (more on those later). The backstory to Tyler Rake, however, is about as bare bones and clichéd for an action hero as you can get, giving you just enough to feel for the man but not enough for you to really understand how he has processed the tragedy and channels it into his work.

Besides the brief flashes of Tyler’s history, that’s pretty much it in terms of backstory or development for the characters in the film. Stranger Things star David Harbour makes an appearance as an old friend (and co-worker of sorts) of Tyler’s who tries to assist him but who may also have his own motives. Harbour tries with what he is given – which admittedly isn’t much – but his presence and performance ultimately ends in a clichéd, forgettable footnote lost in the shuffle of the far superior, and thankfully more frequent, action scenes. Arguably the character who should have been given the most development besides Tyler is Ovi ,who spends almost the entire film attached to Tyler’s hip but who never really makes much of an impact other than an annoying whiny presence that distracts from the action at the worst of times and fades into the background at the best. There’s no attempt to dig into how Ovi deals with being the son of an international criminal or even if he is aware of his father’s business, with the story reducing the character to a series of visual tics meant to denote his fear and his eventual overcoming of them. It seems like a missed opportunity given the obvious potential for a more “buddy-cop” like relationship which could have brought some levity to the otherwise gritty proceedings.

No, what you come to and stick with Extraction for is the action, and boy does it fire on all cylinders, with Hargrave emptying his bag of tricks that he has accumulated over the years to create some of the most jaw-dropping, intense and realistic fight scenes in recent memory. Hargrave is obviously incredibly comfortable behind the camera, with long fluid shots that really allow you to see and appreciate the incredible stunt work in all its glory. There are no quick cuts here to simulate intensity; rather the intensity is brought through the expertise of the choreography, some of which is impressive in its length, with blurringly fast hand-to-hand fight scenes often going on for several minutes at a time. Of particular note is a 12 minute-long simulated “one-shot” scene, which follows Hemsworth as he weaves a car through the crowded streets away from the pursuing police, through to a high speed foot chase through a crowded apartment complex, encountering multiple adversaries along the way. It’s awe-inspiring stuff, and the behind the scenes videos of how they shot it are almost as impressive to watch as the scene itself. Hemsworth is present through almost this entire scene, performing most of the stunts himself, which makes it all the more immersive as he exhibits some serious gun-fighting and martial arts skills that would give John Wick a run for his money.

Extraction isn’t going to change the game for the action genre when it comes to story or character development, relying on many tried and tested clichés to get you through to the next action scene. The film really does shine when these scenes do hit, with Sam Hargrave showing a real aptitude for constructing intense, incredibly well-shot action scenes which keep you locked in and on the edge of your seat. Hemsworth does a lot of the heavy lifting, both physically in these scenes and story-wise, as he anchors the film and provides a charismatic leading man that the audience will follow. If you are interested in seeing some of the best action scenes put to film in recent memory or are just after an exciting flick to pass the time in quarantine, you can’t do much better than Extraction.

Extraction stars Chris Hemsworth, Rudhraksh Jaiswal, Randeep Hooda & David Harbour – Streaming on Netflix now.

Tags Chris Hemsworth, David Harbour, Extraction, Netflix, Sam Hargrave

Movie Reviews

Code 8

Post author By Mark
Post date April 16, 2020

Superhero movies are everywhere nowadays. Every year we seem to be inundated with big budget releases from Marvel and DC; well made action films of a generally high standard (Suicide Squad not withstanding) which make boatloads of cash for the studios, prompting dozens more to go into development with higher budgets and effects. Enter the rise of the low budget superhero film. We saw it last year with Brightburn; an interesting spin on a decades old origin story that didn’t quite hit like it should have and now we see it done with much more success in Jeff Chan’s Code 8. Set in a gritty world where powers are despised by society and those with them are hunted, the film is less standard superhero film than it is a sci-fi heist thriller with a lot of heart. Whilst it borrows some concepts from other films and the plot loses its place in spots, the endearing lead performances from cousins Robbie and Stephen Amell combined with solid action, terrific world building and a swift pace make this one enjoyable, easy watch that I would be happy to spend more time with.

Set in the futuristic Lincoln City, built by the same superpowered humans that are now under strict restrictions, we follow Connor Reed (Robbie Amell), a down on his luck handyman working odd jobs to make ends meet and to provide for his mother Mary (Kari Matchett). When his mother’s cancer worsens, Connor is forced to look into other means to earn money for her treatment, taking a job with Garrett (Stephen Amell) – a high level enforcer for drug kingpin Marcus Sutcliffe (Greg Bryk) – and his team. Connor learns to embrace his power here as an “Electric” – allowing him to manipulate and create electrical fields around himself – forming a bond with Garrett and putting his morality at risk as they engage in increasingly illegal jobs for larger and larger pay checks. When the screws begin to tighten around the crew however, Connor must reassess the life he has chosen and take control of his destiny in order to save his mother.

Sound like something you’ve seen before? Code 8‘s story is not exactly the most original, sticking pretty closely to the standard hero’s journey, with a few twists and turns thrown in to mixed results. What pulls you in as a viewer is the world building: think a cross between the gritty, grounded world of Chronicle and the heavily regulated, robot police force patrolled streets of District 9 or Chappie. There is clearly a lot of lore here that the film teases you with, providing few answers as to the origin of the powered humans or the drugs pulled from their spinal fluid that now fill the streets. Rather than rely on exposition heavy dialogue the film finds creative ways for the audience to experience the world, with a montage of construction workers using their powers to assemble a house of particular note. It might not sound like the best use of budget, especially when there isn’t much to begin with, but it is just one example of a subtle way to show the world and is just plain interesting to see from a street level view – this isn’t Thor swinging his hammer or Iron Man blasting bad guys, it’s a real-life portrayal of these powers in an everyday setting. Speaking of budget, the film does a lot with a little; making the powers less flashy but more deadly brings real life consequences to using them and as a result the characters tend to rely on more traditional weapons, using the powers for utility. Most of the budget goes to the robotic police force of “Guardians” and drones which carry them and they all look spectacular, as if they had been plucked from something with Marvel’s budget.

Beyond the flashy world building and powers is an engaging story that hits with some powerful emotional beats, centered on two key relationships between Connor and his mother and Garrett. The mother-son relationship is central to the overall story, acting as the incentive for all of Connor’s actions throughout the film and Robbie Amell and Kari Matchett do a great job selling this bond. Connor struggles with the weight of compromising his moral code to help her, and her insistence that he let her go and move on with his life and Amell captures this internal tug of war exceptionally well. We see real conflict in Connor as he learns to utilise the powers his mother has insisted he hides, knowing they are the only thing that can provide him with the means to save her in time. This conflict carries over to Connor’s relationship with Stephen Amell’s Garrett, a man with whom he is fundamentally, morally at odds with, but who allows him to embrace his abilities and ultimately use them for good, even if it means using them for nefarious purposes first. The older Amell has cultivated an image for himself as the boy scout superhero Oliver Queen on the popular DC series Arrow and is clearly relishing the chance to play a heel for a change. Whilst Garrett is more of an antihero than a fully fledged villain there is some darker material to work with here and Amell more than proves he has the chops, making the action look easy with his stunt-heavy background on television.

Outside of these two central relationships however, things are bit more rough around the edges, with side plots thrown in centered around a detective (Sung Kang) hot on the heels of Connor and Garrett and a woman (Kyla Kane) with the ability to heal people who has been indebted to Sutcliffe and forced to keep him alive. The police investigation story doesn’t really go anywhere and doesn’t get the screen time to do so, with an attempt to flesh out Sung Kang’s character coming too late in the piece to really do much to endear him to the viewer. Similarly Kyla Kane’s character isn’t really given anything to do outside occasionally healing Sutcliffe and hurling abuse at Connor, with Kane’s performance coming across as boring and wooden. Greg Bryk does what he can with the character of Sutcliffe, giving him something of an energy reminiscent of a Miami drug lord, but without any of the swagger or charisma needed to really pop on screen. Thankfully the action makes up for these poorer aspects, drawing the story away from these less developed areas with some tight, focused scenes of brutal violence, utilising the powers in some inventive ways outside of the usual close quarters hand-to-hand combat.

Code 8 is a surprisingly engaging and effective spin on the superhero genre told from a gritty, realistic world set somewhere in the future. While it might not be the most original or nuanced film ever made, it hits where it needs to; with inventive world building, intriguing powers, solid special effects and a pace that keeps you locked into the story. Outside of a few meandering side plots the film fires on all cylinders, hitting all the right emotional beats with great performances from Robbie and Stephen Amell. If you’re looking for a fun, interesting flick to keep your attention as you while away the time in isolation you couldn’t ask for much more than Code 8.

Code 8 stars Robbie Amell, Stephen Amell, Kari Matchett, Kyla Kane, Greg Bryk & Sung Kang – Streaming on Netflix now.

Tags Code 8, Colony Pictures, Jeff Chan, Netflix, Robbie Amell, Stephen Amell, Sung Kang

Movie Reviews

The Platform

Post author By Mark
Post date March 27, 2020

Recent years have seen the rise of the mid-budget sci-fi film; human level stories that forego lightsabers and outrageously expensive special effects and utilise their sci-fi aspects to enhance rather than detract from the relatable narratives at their centre. Films like Arrival, Ex-Machina, and Annihilation that leave you thinking about your own experiences and society long after you leave the theatre. Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia’s debut film The Platform (or El hoyo as it is known in his native Spanish) falls into this category; presenting a powerful social commentary about classism and the perpetual struggle between the rich and the poor told against the backdrop of a vertical prison where food is delivered from top floor to bottom, forcing its inhabitants to adapt to survive. While it does take a while to get going and is far too heavy-handed with its message, a stellar performance from Ivan Massagué and terrific production design keep it chugging along until its bloody conclusion.

We follow Goreng (Massagué), the latest arrival in “The Hole”, a futuristic vertical prison reaching down hundreds of levels into the earth where prisoners change levels at random every month. Waking up on floor 48 of the prison he meets his new floor-mate Trimagasi (Zorion Eguileor), a disgruntled old man months into his sentence and with little patience for Goreng and his endless questions about his surroundings. These questions are interrupted by the arrival of the platform, a levitating concrete slab filled to the brim with all sorts of fine food and drink, which fills the hole in the centre of each floor once a day to provide the inmates with sustenance. Attempt to keep anything to stave off the hunger later and the temperature on the floor rises to boiling point or drops to freezing. After befriending fellow inmate Imoguiri (Antonia San Juan), Goreng finds himself drawn into her crusade to create equality within the Hole and ensure each prisoner receives their ration of food, riding the platform deeper and deeper and encountering savagery beyond his wildest nightmares.

The premise of The Platform is an extremely clever one, offering some intriguing possibilities for action scenes and story beats. Sadly, the film never really embraces this premise fully, thinking it is much deeper than it is, content to beat the audience over the head with its extremely obvious metaphor for classism. The long monologues from Trimagasi grow more and more tiresome as he rehashes this metaphor, and I found myself checking my watch mid-way through waiting for some action. There’s also a recurring narrative of Goreng being some kind of Christ-like figure with multiple people believing he will bring equality to the Hole. This makes sense to us as a viewer because we’re aware Goreng is our protagonist but in the world of the filmhow do these people know anything about him, let alone enough to speculate he is their saviour? Fortunately, once the action kicks in it kicks in hard, moving at a break-neck pace while necks are broken. The Platform is an extremely violent and gory film, just like the struggle of classism, and nothing is held back as inmates become more desperate and violent, where cannibalism and cracking skulls are commonplace.

Mirroring the film’s pace is the character of Goreng; arriving in the Hole a quiet, measured man who believes he can use the opportunity to better himself and catch up on some reading. His character is tested on all fronts – physically, psychologically and morally – and Massagué gives an incredibly nuanced and emotionally charged performance as we literally watch this man break apart in front of our eyes and have his world views shattered. This is where the real representation of classism lies as we see the struggle of Goreng cycling through both the rich and poor mindsets; hoping for more as he struggles to survive in the lower levels only to have that hope ripped away when his time higher up ends. Whilst relatively unknown to audiences outside of Spain, Massagué’s excellent performance should put him on the map on an international scale as he delivers one of the best performances so far this year. Accompanying him in the Hole is Zorion Eguileor as Trimagasi, who gives a wonderful, layered performance as a frail yet violent man who opens Goreng’s mind to the harsh reality of the prison and social inequality in general. His extremely negative outlook on life casts a shadow of doubt over Goreng and Eguileor’s menacing presence is felt throughout the entire film even when he is not on-screen.

Whilst it isn’t the next sci-fi masterpiece many were expecting, The Platform is a promising start for director Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia, who comes to the party with an extremely clever idea but falls just short of making it all come together. The over-explanation of the metaphor of the prison and the lack of connective tissue between plot points sadly robs the film of much of its life and causes it to drag in the middle. Whilst the action that follows keeps you going to the bloody conclusion, it isn’t particularly well shot or choreographed and relies on gore and violence to extend the metaphor about the violence of classism rather than entertain the viewer. What holds it all together is some wonderful performances across the board, particularly Ivan Massagué who excels as Goreng. If you’re looking for a violent, dystopian sci-fi film that will also make you think a little, then give The Platform a go; just don’t expect anything as deep as the prison itself.

The Platform stars Ivan Massagué, Zorion Eguileor, Antonia San Juan, Emilio Buale & Alexandra Masangkay – streaming on Netflix now.

Tags Antonia San Juan, Ivan Massagué, Netflix, The Platform, Zorion Eguileor

TV & Streaming Reviews

Stranger Things – Season 3

Post author By Tydus
Post date July 7, 2019

Television’s pop culture icon Stranger Things has just launched its third chapter into the world – to understandably high expectations – following the brilliant sci-fi adventures of season one and season two. We’ve followed our favourite characters through all the drama that’s come their way, and so we were all eagerly awaiting what the next instalment would bring to the table. Stranger Things Season Three succeeds in giving us all that we’ve come to love and expect from the series: brilliant interactions between its many characters, flashy 80’s nostalgia, horrifying demons and unapologetic nerdiness. Despite this however, the latest season doesn’t quite meet the impossibly high mark set by its predecessors, due mainly to some broad narrative decisions and a complicated plot that results in quite possibly the strangest season yet.

Note: While we don’t delve too deep into the finer plot details, we will be discussing key characters and high-level developments. If you’re looking to go into the season completely unaware, make sure you watch it first before reading on.

First things first, season three is intense. With a much darker and horror-focused run of episodes than ever before, this season doesn’t hold back when it comes to violence and gore. While the series has a history of some pretty hostile encounters (such as the finale of season one or the Demodogs of Hawkins’ Lab in season two), expect to see much more blood, beatings and death throughout this one. Horror has always been a key aspect of Stranger Things – the previous seasons were filled with slow-burn, high tension scares – but this time around the horror is far more in-your-face. In keeping with the 80’s charm of films like Nightmare on Elm Street and The Terminator, you’ll find the scares delivered through some nasty looking monsters and relentless chase scenes that aim to keep you on the edge of your seat. This is a refreshing direction for the series as a whole to take, proving that the show is evolving and maturing along with its characters and time period. Our leads are no longer kids playing board games in the basement and we’ve watched as they’ve all grown despite the dangers of the Upside-Down, so it only makes sense that the villains have grown bigger and more sinister as a result.

Speaking of growth, Stranger Things‘ fantastic young cast have come a long way since we last saw them. Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), Will (Noah Schnapp), Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and Max (Sadie Sink) are all firmly in their teens now, and this brings with it a number of changes to the group’s dynamic. Mike and Eleven are continuing where they left off at the close of season two, with their relationship and its effect on those around them being a constant theme throughout the season. Both young actors turn in another set of great performances this time around, with Millie Bobby Brown again delivering another stand-out performance as the complex Eleven. Like Dustin and Steve (Joe Keery) last season, we get a great new pairing between Max and Eleven as the two girls form a strong duo in what was originally an all-boys club.

With even Dustin managing to (apparently) find love while away on summer camp, this all leaves Will feeling isolated and separated from the core group – even more than usual. Schnapp’s character has less of a central role here compared to prior seasons, however he still does great work in showing the audience just how far the group has come while simultaneously longing to gain back the time he’s lost to the Upside-Down. Season three goes hard on the aspect of growing up and moving on, so it makes sense that each of the kids begin forging their own paths – ultimately weakening the tight-knit brotherhood we’ve come to know and love in the process.

Our other Hawkins favourites have also been busy during the break, with some faring better than others. Joyce (Winona Ryder) continues to mourn her loss from the most recent Hawkins’ disaster, managing to keep her mind occupied by looking into some strange occurrences around town during the summer. Ryder is an absolute gem here as always, and is able to deliver some powerful scenes which really highlight her growth over the course of the show. While she does play the curious, conspiracy-theorising single mother well, her character spends a large portion of the season following some highly questionable breadcrumbs and jumping to conclusions that seem far-fetched, even by her standards. While this has been done to keep the plot moving and give her something to do, it’s hard not to notice that Joyce has very little stakes in the game this time around. Without any real motive or genuine urgency, her story arc can almost feel a bit watered-down at times.

Police Chief Hopper (David Harbour) is again along for Joyce’s ride, if only as an excuse to spend more time with his not-so-secret crush. Harbour reprises his role as the iron fist of Hawkins, playing him harder and more aggravated than usual this season, and he spends most of his time taking the law into his own hands and knocking some heads together. Even though he plays something of a brute for majority of the show, Hop does get a chance to show some raw emotion in the scenes he shares with Joyce and his adoptive daughter Eleven. It’s a good thing that both Harbour and Ryder continue to have such great chemistry, as their charm is what carries us through some of the more far-reaching sections of the plot.

While his mother is off with Hopper, Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) begins interning at the town’s local newspaper – the Hawkins Post – alongside his now-official girlfriend Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer). Dyer’s character struggles to make a good impression in the male dominated workplace, and this drives an interesting arc for her and Jonathan as they aim to break a big story that will put her critics in their place. It’s all well and good until their plot-line is completely tossed aside when something bigger comes along, and is never spoken of again.

Similarly, Nancy’s mother Karen (Cara Buono) is given much more to do at the start of the season than ever before, looking set to lift her character into a more prominent role alongside the other leading names. However her storyline is also left by the wayside before too long, and her very minimal appearances later in the season have her revert to the oblivious housewife she played in season one. While these characters are still fantastic and a joy to watch throughout, their individual story arcs highlight the general plot issues with this season. While the show has previously managed to organically link the narrative threads of its characters neatly in time for the finale, season three appears happy to cut ties with loose ends in order to hit certain story beats for the central and, quite frankly, farfetched plot-line.

Without spoiling too much, Stranger Things Season Three plays heavily on the 80’s hysteria of the threat of Russian invasion. The show attempts to shake things up by moving away from the usual US government conspiracies, however in doing so it loses much of its plausibility and logic. Whilst a fictional sci-fi adventure riddled with psychic powers, alternate dimensions and nightmarish monsters doesn’t exactly scream believability, Stranger Things has always been grounded when it came to actually delivering these stories. However the Russian angle is never really explained at all, and what the audience is expected to believe has been done by the foreigners in the space of a year is pretty outrageous.

Thankfully the majority of scenes on this side of the plot are carried by the brilliant ongoing pairing of Dustin and Steve, along with a couple of new companions. Steve has recently started working in an ice-cream store in Hawkins’ new Starcourt Mall, alongside former classmate Robin (Maya Hawke). Hawke is a great new addition to the cast, and she plays another strong, smart and layered character that has great chemistry with Keery and Matarazzo. Rounding out this group in season three is the left-field addition of Erica (Priah Ferguson), Lucas’ wildly outspoken younger sister who briefly appeared in previous seasons to spit fire on her brother and his friends. The young Ferguson is great in her role as the no-nonsense character who knows exactly what she wants, and the group of four are more than enough to keep each episode afloat – even when they’re dealing with what may just be the most bumbling and useless military unit we’ve ever seen.

Rounding out the cast of season three is Dacre Montgomery, who returns as Max’s step-brother Billy Hargrove, easily receiving the most development of any of the show’s characters this year. Having relatively minimal screen-time, yet an important role in season two, he becomes centre to many of this season’s events and a person of interest for most of the cast. Montgomery does excellent work in bringing the conflicted Billy to life once again – especially when he’s conveying the fluctuating emotions and actions that his role demands. We’re shown quite a bit more of the troubled character’s motives through some haunting interactions with Eleven, as well as through his relationship with step-sister Max, which has been greatly expanded following season two.

It’s also around Billy that we see much of the show’s phenomenal special effects work and monster designs, with the growing budget and resources being put to good use here. The creatures on show look like modern day adaptations of the ugliest monstrosities from 1982’s The Thing, and the grand finale is just as flashy and explosive as we’ve all come to expect. In ending the season with such a bang – as well as with some reflective and touching closing moments – season three does come some way in redeeming its fairly average central plot, and it helps to remind us that Stranger Things is first and foremost about its brilliant characters, their complex relationships and the bonds that tie them all together.

The third instalment of Stranger Things is ultimately another wild ride with our favourite Hawkins characters, weaving a compelling sci-fi tale while revelling in 80’s nostalgia and monster movie madness. While areas of the plot certainly require some grand leaps of imagination and logic, the darker tone and ongoing relationships between the talented cast have made the Duffer Brother’s latest outing a success. It’s almost certain that we’ll see a fourth chapter in the Stranger Things story, and at this point all we can do is wait and see where the next one will take us. With an ensemble of characters larger than ever before and a willingness to take the series to dark new places, Stranger Things Season Three has proven that it’s not afraid to challenge our expectations – and that it’s still the toughest kid on the block.

Stranger Things Season Three stars Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Dacre Montgomery, Joe Keery, Natalia Dyer and Charlie Heaton – streaming now on Netflix.

Tags Caleb McLaughlin, Charlie Heaton, Dacre Montgomery, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Joe Keery, Maya Hawke, Millie Bobby Brown, Natalia Dyer, Netflix, Noah Schnapp, Stranger Things, Winona Ryder

TV & Streaming Reviews

Stranger Things – Season 2

Post author By Tydus
Post date July 3, 2019

The second season of Stranger Things had some high expectations leading up to its release. Following the runaway success of the first season was always going to be a challenge, but the young cast and the Duffer Brothers managed to pull off another home run on their second outing. In reaching the seemingly impossible heights set by its predecessor, Stranger Things Season Two provides another chapter of one of the finest and well written sci-fi offerings on TV. So with the hotly anticipated third season releasing in time for this weekend, there’s never been a better time to make sure you’re all caught up on everything that’s gone down in Hawkins.

Series two begins a year after the conclusion of the last, with everyone adjusting to normal life again after their chaotic search for Will Byers (Noah Schnapp). The four leading lads have returned to school, however it’s quickly obvious that things aren’t quite the same. Mike (Finn Wolfhard) is still struggling to move on after losing his psychic companion Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), who hasn’t been seen since the closing battle of Season One. The friction this creates between him and the other characters is an underlying theme for most episodes of this season, especially as it seems his friends were able to move on much quicker than he has been able to. His combative nature and defeated attitude does tend to wear a bit over time, however Mike isn’t as central this time as he was in the opening season – allowing the fantastic supporting cast a chance to shine as well. For instance, Will picks up a much larger amount of screentime this time around, given he played a lost victim for just about all of the show’s first outing. His transition back into normal life is certainly the hardest, as he tries to slip back into a community that pronounced him dead not too long ago. Will also suffers from intense flashbacks and dark visions of the Upside-Down – a consequence of his time lost on the other side. Noah Schnapp’s character certainly gets put through the ringer this season, however his great performance and full range of believable emotion is just another example of the top-level talent within Stranger Things’ young cast.

That’s not to say that the more experienced actors are lacking here though. Winona Ryder reprises her role as Will’s mother Joyce Byers, somehow hitting a new level of protective parenting after the events of season one. While her actions can come off as pretty overbearing at times, you can’t help but feel as if it’s warranted after all she went through to get her son back a year prior. To this end, Joyce and Will continue to make visits to the Hawkins’ Lab in order to monitor his condition – and to keep the lab central to the overall plot running through this second season. Balancing Joyce’s stress out slightly is her old classmate and new lover – the ever-pleasant Bob (Sean Astin). Astin’s character is almost an antithesis to the entire show, shying away from scares and Hawkins’ rough nature to instead be the calm and placid rock Joyce desperately needs. It makes sense then that Joyce continues to rely on the gritty and no-nonsense police chief Jim Hopper (David Harbour) to help her and her son for much of the season. Harbour puts on another stellar performance as he did in the show’s first outing, given some great scenes to flex his acting and emotional chops. Season two places Eleven in Hopper’s care, with Jim quickly becoming a surrogate parent to the wayward teen – seeing in her the daughter he’d lost years ago. Hopper attempts to give Eleven a normal childhood whilst being acutely aware the danger she in at all times while Eleven, for her part, is trying her best to slip into everyday life which, naturally for a teenager, includes some pushback against the authority figure. It’s this kind of innately human everyday situation, spiced with a healthy dose of government conspiracy and mental powers that makes the dynamic between the two so fantastic and infinitely watchable, and the duo represents just one of the second season’s unlikely – yet hugely successful – character pairings.

It’s impossible to talk about this season’s teamups without mentioning the dynamic duo that is Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) and Steve (Joe Keery). Having next to nothing to do with each other in the previous year, the two certainly aren’t the first characters that audiences were expecting to see pairing up this season – but the two just work. There’s some sort of younger/older brother vibe that the duo tap into, with Keery’s character acting as a mentor to the younger Dustin – when the two aren’t trading insults and banter at every other opportunity. When he’s not parading around Hawkins with his charismatic offsider, Steve acts as one third of the ongoing love triangle between himself, Nancy (Natalia Dyer) and Jonathan (Charlie Heaton). Dyer and Heaton offer up another great turn as their respective characters, torn between their feelings for each other, the plights of their younger siblings and Nancy’s mission to avenge the death of a friend lost during season one. A strength of this season is certainly the increased screentime it allows for these characters, shifting focus from the core young cast to create a number of intertwining and interesting stories that stand strong in their own right.

This broader approach also opened the doors for some new characters to shake things up this season – namely red-headed skater Max (Sadie Sink) and her older step-brother Billy (Dacre Montgomery). The two enter the scene after moving with their newly married parents from California, and both have big impacts on the characters and events across the season. Max quickly catches the interest of Dustin and Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) with her high arcade scores and fierce attitude, creating some competition between the two boys as they do their best to catch her attention. Her attempt to slide into the core group creates tension between the existing members, which in turn provides for some dramatic confrontations and fractures within the team alongside their bigger problems. Max’s initial stand-offish nature comes back to her tenuous relationship with new step-brother Billy Hargrove. Billy is a few years older than Max, and quickly begins a move to knock Steve off of his perch as alpha at Hawkins’ High. Australian actor Dacre Montgomery does fantastic work as this complex character, capturing all the worst archetypes of young guys in the 80’s as his womanising, racist and narcissistic personality clashes with just about everyone he meets. A character that you’ll just love to hate, Billy’s behavior is explored a little during the later episodes of the season – not long before a standout scene between him and Mrs. Wheeler (Cara Buono) in the final episode.

It’s strength to strength for the most part on the road to the terrific finale, however there is one episode that is particularly divisive. During the second half of season two, an entire episode is devoted to Eleven and her past – with mixed results. While an interesting look at her powers, family and mysterious history, the way that the show presents these isn’t done particularly well. Introducing a number of new characters solely for the episode, it feels like a big mix of ideas that don’t quite gel together or produce anything noteworthy. We’re presented with a group of generic punks, each feeling like they were pulled from an afternoon cartoon show, led by a slightly unhinged girl that has powers similar to Eleven. A connection between the two is clumsily put together through flashbacks, despite there being no other reason for the new girl and her group to exist at all. While the episode is somewhat necessary for Eleven to grow as a character and develop her powers, it feels as though it could have been done in multiple better ways that wouldn’t have felt so out of place. Luckily the episode comes and goes before the main plot ramps up into the finale, however it still creates a bit of a speedbump for an otherwise fantastic run of episodes.

Outside of this, the road to the finale follows a similar path as the first season – reuniting our favourite characters for some great battles and emotional scenes. There’s a sense of urgency that runs beneath each episode, hooking you into every interaction as just about every scene plays a part in the grander scheme of things. This is achieved once again through two of the Duffer Brother’s biggest strengths – strong writing and smart characters. No matter how difficult the puzzle or complex the solution, characters always connect the dots as quickly and as logically as we would expect them to. There are never moments where someone inexplicably sits on key information just to stretch out the runtime, with the cast often developing a plan or solution that we as viewers had yet to even consider. This approach means that we’re constantly surprised and excited for the next moment, a design that’s perfect for the show’s bingeable Netflix design.

Stranger Things Season Two manages to raise the standards raised by the first, and in doing so it manages to create new, interesting characters and engrossing plotlines that flesh out Hawkins as its own little world. An outstanding cast and top-quality direction from behind the scenes come together to deliver several hours of gripping sci-fi drama, cementing the series as one of the greatest on modern TV. We don’t have long to wait until season three arrives to pull us through the Upside Down once more, and who knows what they’ll spring on us this time. New monsters? More characters? Joyce’s third attempt at some offbeat interior decorating? We don’t know yet, but if the past adventures in Hawkins are anything to go by – we’re in for something good.

Stranger Things Season Two stars Winona Ryder, Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Joe Keery, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton and David Harbour – streaming now on Netflix.

Tags Caleb McLaughlin, Charlie Heaton, Dacre Montgomery, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Millie Bobby Brown, Natalia Dyer, Netflix, Noah Schnapp, Sean Astin, Stranger Things, Winona Ryder

TV & Streaming Reviews

Stranger Things – Season 1

Post author By Mark
Post date June 26, 2019

Few could have imagined the worldwide pop-culture phenomenon Netflix’s original series Stranger Things turned out to be. The Duffer Brother’s unassuming Spielberg-like series set in the small town of Hawkins, Indiana struck a chord with viewers due to its endearing everyday characters, intriguing central mystery and retro 80’s setting and was one of the streaming giant’s first smash hits – a certifiable television event. Featuring an ensemble cast led by a career resurrecting performance from Winona Ryder, the show made household names of David Harbour and Millie Bobby Brown who have both gone on to feature in some of the biggest blockbusters in recent memory. So with the third season of the hit series set to arrive on Netflix soon, it’s time to return to the Upside-Down and talk about just what makes this series so great.

The series centres around four school friends living in Hawkins: Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) and Will (Noah Schnapp) – typical nerds, for the time, who spend their time in an AV club and playing Dungeons and Dragons. Hawkins is a town with a lot of history and connections, so when Will suddenly disappears the town is left reeling, none more so than Will’s mother Joyce (Winona Ryder) and brother Jonathan (Charlie Heaton), who team up with police chief Jim Hopper (David Harbour) to solve the case and get Will back. The ensuing search for Will creates more for the boys to contend with as they stumble upon Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), a mysterious girl with a shaved head and a unique set of abilities, who unwittingly involves them in a dangerous game with a shadowy government organisation who may or may not have something to do with Will’s disappearance. Meanwhile, Mike’s sister Nancy (Natalia Dyer) is dealing with a similar situation with the sudden disappearance of her friend Barb (Shannon Purser), compounded by the stress of a new relationship with the most 80’s named school jock ever, Steve Harrington (Joe Keery). All these character’s paths eventually converge on a collision course to the Upside-Down, a shadowy realm hidden within ours; a kind of parallel universe where Will finds himself being stalked by an evil creature, dubbed by his friends as the Demogorgon. With the government hot on their tails, the kids and their families must band together with the help of Eleven to rescue Will and save Hawkins from being opened up to the creatures of the Upside-Down.

What makes Stranger Things so addictive and enjoyable to watch is the way every character and storyline is balanced. Each main storyline is so fleshed out that it’s almost impossible to not find something to like about a particular arc. Whether that be the intriguing Goonies-type interplay between the kids, the descent into madness that Joyce embarks on as she gets more and more desperate to find her son, or just some good old fashioned high-school drama with the Nancy/Steve/Jonathan love triangle. Whilst it may not seem like high school dating drama would have anything to do with the overarching plot of Will’s disappearance and Eleven’s powers, the show is developed so that every detail factors into this central mystery. Every character gets their moment to shine meaning audiences can invest in whoever they most relate to or find entertaining – they’ll surely be pleased by the payoff of that characters big moment. This broad appeal definitely helped the show become such a cross-cultural hit; despite its rating (the show isn’t technically for kids but we all know they watch), it manages to appeal to almost every major demographic.

Another, and perhaps the most recognisable, part of the charm of Stranger Things is the nostalgia. From the clothes and hairstyles to the classic rock soundtrack and synth-heavy score, the show oozes with early 80’s charm, another layer to the story that puts it in something of a bubble: a modern sci-fi horror story told through an old school lens. It comes as no surprise then, that in a show filled to the brim with retro film, music and pop culture references that the creators, the Duffer Bros have paid tribute to perhaps the greatest filmmaker of the decade: Steven Spielberg. The show pays homage to a number of the iconic filmmaker’s movies and combines them in a manner that feels familiar without beating you over the head with it. The connection Mike and to a lesser extent, his friends, develop towards Eleven is akin to Elliot and his siblings connection to the friendly alien in E.T. The Extra Terrestrial. Where ET was able to make bicycles fly, Eleven is capable of launching vans over bicycles as they ride by and murdering a room full of soldiers with her thoughts. Similarly, the lights hung by Joyce which act as an improvised ouija board to contact Will is a play on the musical tones used by the aliens in Close Encounters of the Third Kind to communicate with mankind. Where those tones signalled the aliens’ peaceful intentions however, the lights are used to a more sinister effect, a warning about the impending horrors to be unleashed on Hawkins. It’s these familiar beats that draw us in as viewers and the dark, killer twists on them that sink their hooks into us and capture our attention.

Hooking the viewer in with nostalgia alone is not enough to make a cohesive show and the Duffer Bros have wisely recognised this on a narrative level as well as on the technical side of things. The series is shot wonderfully, the intimate moments captured up close and personal, with longer takes where necessary to give us the full effect of the actors performance. One shot in particular comes to mind of Joyce clutching the bundle of christmas lights which Will has contacted her through for the first time. The camera slowly pulls back from Ryder’s face buried in the lights as we see her sob silently and more of the house is revealed. It’s a subtle device that makes the audience feel like the scene is still moving whilst we are transfixed on Joyce; it’s not that we’re expecting some big event to happen and in fact nothing monumental to the story is happening at all, but it’s an important moment for the character of Joyce, one that really makes the audience empathetic and puts us on her side for the rest of the series. On the flip side, the action heavy scenes are handled in their own unique way; often relying on flickering lights or scenes shot at night to hide some of the pretty terrible visual effects on the Demogorgon. It’s a smart choice that, when combined with the eery synth laden music really adds to the atmosphere of the scene; tying in with the Upside-Down’s distinct visual style: a nightmarish mirror image of Hawkins in perpetual night, where frost and slime reminiscent of the Alien films covers everything.

The true strength of Stranger Things is in its cast and without this group of actors there is no doubt that the series would have been a different beast altogether. Everyone is pitch perfect, each playing something of an 80’s archetype with a twist; there’s the alcoholic police chief with a troubled past, the school jock suffering from an identity crisis, and the young girl with telekinetic powers who has spent her life locked up in a government facility forced to kill mice with her mind – ok maybe that last one isn’t your conventional 80’s character. Winona Ryder is the standout of the ensemble and the emotional heart of the show. Her drive to find her son and unshakeable belief that he is still alive provides some truly heart-wrenching scenes as her desperation increases. Ryder perfectly encapsulates the heartache and panic of a mother separated from her son; the scene in which she communicates with Will through a set of Christmas lights allows her to show a remarkable range as she cycles through desperation, overwhelming joy and sheer terror all within a few minutes. David Harbour shines as Chief Hopper, something of a slow burn of a character, who the audience unravels more and more each episode. Whilst he starts the series as an aggressive, somewhat jaded man who clearly has experienced some trauma, his connection to Joyce’s struggle begins to tear away at this hard exterior and allows for Harbour to deliver a very nuanced performance building towards an emotional breakdown in the final episode; in which Hopper’s backstory is revealed and the reason for his personal interest in Joyce’s situation is uncovered.

Not to be outdone, the younger portion of the cast delivers stellar performances across the board. The trio of Mike, Dustin and Caleb in particular have a difficult task in that they represent the audiences introduction to this wider world of monsters and powers and are the only characters that really have a complete picture of everything going on. Wolfhard leads the charge here, given the most to work with in the sense of the overarching plot, his relationship with Eleven becomes key to empathising with both characters. The somewhat imbalanced parallel of Mike learning to talk to a girl whilst Eleven learns about life outside the government facility is played for laughs at times, but each is significant for the individual and the series perfectly captures the feeling of discovery and frustration children experience when change forces them to grow up. Matarazzo plays the somewhat stereotypical “funny kid”, given free reign over majority of the comedy and he absolutely excels, with a charm and comedic sensibility not often seen in child actors. Whilst not a major part of the plot, he has some quality moments and offers the respite of a laugh when the story around him gets a little too dark. Without a doubt the breakout star of the series is Millie Bobby Brown, following her terrific turn as Eleven. In what would be a difficult role for even the most competent adult actor, Brown is exceptional as the damaged young girl who must recover from her traumatic past and adapt to the world around her and learn what it means to really be a child. The slow progression of her character is fascinating to watch, with Brown often conveying complex emotions and discoveries with facial expressions alone.

Stranger Things is one of those series that comes along and leaves an indelible mark on television history; a true pop-culture phenomenon and a litmus test for just how high a Neftlix property can soar. The Duffer Bros have crafted a truly compelling mystery wrapped up in 80’s nostalgia filled with excellent characters and performances all working together to form something truly special that audiences around the world have swarmed to. With such critical and audience fanfare, we’re likely to see many more seasons of the hit show beyond the impending season 3, and I for one am willing to spend as much time in the Upside-Down as I can get.

Stranger Things Season One stars Winona Ryder, Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Joe Keery, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton and David Harbour – streaming now on Netflix.

Tags Caleb McLaughlin, Charlie Heaton, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Joe Keery, Millie Bobby Brown, Natalia Dyer, Netflix, Noah Schnapp, Stranger Things, Winona Ryder