Kong: Skull Island (2017) Review

Kong: Skull Island is directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts and is a reboot of the Kong franchise. It follows a team of scientists and soldiers venturing to an unexplored island during the Vietnam War, where they run into Kong and a whole host of other monsters. 

When I was watching this film, it struck me that it had many similarities to Warcraft (random I know, but bear with me on this.) Both films had way too many characters, in both films the humans were the least interesting characters, both films had boring action sequences, and Toby Kebbell turned in the best performance in both films. My opinions on this film are similar to my opinions on Warcraft. I didn’t hate it- but it was by no means good. 

There are no stakes because you don’t care about any of the characters. The two leads (Tom Hiddleston and Brie Larson) have no interesting qualities, no interesting dialogue and are just completely unlikable. They’re surrounded by a group of soldiers, who all blend into the background with their boring banter, and Samuel L. Jackson just being Samuel L. Jackson. The scenes with John C. Reilly attempted to lighten the mood, but most of his jokes didn’t land and just felt out of place. The Kong scenes were entertaining, but whenever the film was left to be carried by the humans, it just dragged. 

This is a mindless action film, which wouldn’t be so bad if the action was actually entertaining. But at most points it’s badly shot, poorly edited and consequently hard to follow- or find interesting. This could have been a stylised Vietnam war film; and it really does try, with its cliched, predictable CCR soundtrack and helicopters in the sunset. However, it just misses the mark in so many ways. It’s not an awful film, it’s just so, so boring. 

 5/10

The Last Jedi poster

Beautiful first poster for 

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Jeffrey Dean Morgan

After extensive research, I can conclude that Jeffrey Dean Morgan is in fact the child of Javier Bardem and Robert Downey Jr...

The bookshop from Pride

On my trip to London, I accidentally stumbled across the bookshop from ‘Pride’...

A different location was used for the film itself, but this is the actual headquarters of 'Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners’, where the events of the film took place

Split (2017) Review

 Split is directed by M. Night Shyamalan and follows three girls: Casey (Anya Taylor Joy)... and I can't remember the other girls names, as they are kidnapped by a man with 23 different personalities (James McAvoy), who is on a mission to unlock his 24th personality- The Beast. While the girls try to escape, his psychiatrist (Betty Buckley) senses that something is wrong and tries to unravel what he's up to before it's too late. 

This is a slow burn thriller. A lot of tension and a lot of build up. It's mostly interesting, putting together the pieces of the puzzle and learning why the girls have been kidnapped. Flashbacks to Casey's childhood help to flesh out her character and although seeming a bit boring and irrelevant, they do pay off at the end. There are some parts of the film though that drag, where the story almost comes to a complete standstill, but the performances of the two leads are good enough to keep it interesting. McAvoy's performance is a bit over the top at times, to distinguish between his different identities, but overall it's entertaining. He transitions between comic and sinister characters with ease and had wonderful chemistry with co star Anya Taylor Joy. Her performance was great. More nuanced than McAvoys, but very emotional and convincing- especially for an actress her age. 

The film loses it's way towards the end, when the build up finally pays off and McAvoy becomes 'The Beast'. I'll accept the idea that his different identities can have different physiologies and abilities, but the beast's almost supernatural abilities are just a bit too unrealistic. He appears crawling up walls, with veins bulging and superhuman strength and, the film just loses it's realism. There is a scene at the end, that kind of accounts for how his abilities are possible- but I still wasn't a fan. 

This is the best M. Night Shyamalan film in a long time. If The Visit was a sign that he was heading in the right direction, then this is proof that he's back on track as a director. It does drag in parts, but the excellent performances from James McAvoy and Anya Taylor Joy keep it entertaining most of the time, and the slow tension building makes it a very effective thriller. Oh, and if you're a fan of Unbreakable then you'll really appreciate the last 5 minutes of this film.

6/10 

Pictures released from Twin Peaks revival

Twin Peaks Returns...

Shelly and Norma

Denise Bryson

Gordon and Albert

Lucy and Andy

Hawk

Lynch and James Hurley

Thoughts:

-Lucy and Andy are still adorable, and I hope that their child is a genius.

-Denise looks amazing as always.

-Dale doesn't look as happy as he used to- but i guess 25 years in the Black Lodge will do that to you.

-Still massively dissapointed that Michael Ontkean isn't in the revival.

Beauty And The Beast (2017) Review

Beauty And The Beast is directed by Bill Condon and is the latest in what is shaping up to be a long line of live action Disney remakes. Belle (Emma Watson) is an ahead-of-her-time outcast in a small, French, 18th century village. In return for her fathers life, Belle is taken prisoner by a Beast (Dan Stevens), who needs true love to break his monstrous curse. Meanwhile, nefarious Gaston (Luke Evans), the most popular (and arrogant) man in the village seeks Belle's hand in marriage and will do anything to get it. 

There are some minor plot changes in this version, but none of them seem unnecessary. Small changes in certain scenes and characters, don't really affect the arc of the film in the long run, and bigger changes- such as the backstory of what happened to Belle's mother- are welcome additions, adding more depth to some key characters; especially Belle and Maurice. The father- daughter relationship between these two, is explored far more effectively in this film due to some new dialogue that really illustrates just how close they are. And thanks to some additional scenes between Belle and the Beast, the romance in this version seems less rushed than in the original and far more plausible on the whole.

Gaston and LeFou's relationship has a completely different dynamic in this film. Unlike his arrogant, but mainly idiotic animated counterpart, Gaston is pure evil in this version. He's vicious, scheming and far more dangerous, losing his role as a comic villain and becoming a truly threatening character. LeFou- as I'm sure you've probably read- is gay in this version. Unfortunately he's a stereotype, he's a camp, over the top, clichéd gay best friend and his sexuality is completely played for laughs. Is it a disappointment that the sexuality of Disney's first openly gay character is used as comic relief? Yes - but did we really expect a sensitive portrayal of an LGBT character from a big budget Hollywood movie, that's aiming to make as much money internationally as it possibly can. He has some of the funniest lines in the film (and he was possibly my favourite character) so at least he's memorable as a Disney milestone- but is he memorable for the right reasons? 

One problem with updating animated films into live action, is that while it might be great to see beloved main characters as real people, it also means that the more cartoonish side characters such as animals in the Jungle Book, or talking furniture in this case, have to be turned into 'realistic' CGI. When beloved characters such as Lumiere, Cogsworth and Mrs Potts are turned into CGI, they lose all of their charm. They just can't show any emotion like their animated counterparts can; so no matter how great the voice acting is from Ewan McGregor, Ian McKellen and Emma Thompson (amongst others), it just doesn't work when it's coming from a blank piece of wood or metal, that struggles to show any kind of expression. 

Obviously an important part of Beauty And The Beast- and of any Disney film- is the soundtrack. For fans of Disney musicals, the live action remakes up until this point have been a bit of a disappointment- Maleficent and Cinderella weren't musicals, and The Jungle Book only included a couple of choice songs. Beauty and The Beast however is a true musical with many songs from the original film, alongside some new ones. The new songs fit in well and feel as if they could have been part of the original film and the old songs retain their original feel, despite some line changes and differences in orchestration. Unfortunately (and I hate to say this, I really do) the weakest cast member in terms of singing was definitely Emma Watson. Her voice sounded completely auto tuned throughout the film. I still enjoyed it, because I'm personally not a fan of Paige O'Hara's performance (not a popular opinion I know- and no offence Mrs O'Hara). But there was just this inescapable computerised sound to her voice, which at times was a bit jarring; given the 18th century setting and the strong vocal performances (or at least less obvious auto tuning) of the other cast members. 

For lovers of the original animation, who hail it as their favourite Disney movie, this version will probably be an enjoyable experience that is either loved equally or just less than the original. For me- someone who enjoyed the original but didn't love it (always more of a Mulan person)- this version is a great improvement, adding more character depth, and a better overall story as a result. This was a great movie experience full of excellent acting, beautiful set design (far less garish than Cinderella, and far more real than The Jungle Book), and great musical numbers. Personally, I think that this is the best live action Disney remake so far.

8/10