VOD: Extraction (dir: Sam Hargrave, 2020)

"You hit him with a truck!"
"Yeah...."

On the face of it, Chris Hemsworth's first film for Netflix seems a fairly standard actioner - the impossibly-named Tyler Rake is a mercenary-for-hire  who has to rescue an Indian drug lord's kidnapped son from a rival gang- and the opening does little to dispel that idea.  It does not take long, however, for Extraction to develop into a very well-made and extremely entertaining genre entry, which has a lot going for it. The time-frame is short, giving the story great momentum, and the circular narrative plays well.   Played straight, the script is tight and well-written by Joe Russo, with small touches working well such as Hemsworth's world-weary and humorous  responses to sudden obstacles.  The dialogue is sweary, the violence is bone-crunching, squelchy and brutal, and the body count is outrageous.  The location filming looks terrific, and the very effective and much-trumpeted central extended action sequence (made to look continuous) is extremely engaging, creatively constructed and pays off well, as does the surprisingly-affecting big finale.  This is very much The Chris Hemsworth Show, and he absolutely delivers, from his on-screen commitment in the action scenes to some nice character work, especially with the boy he rescues (some good work also from Rudhraksh Jaiswal).  If you like your action films with full-on violence and fewer wisecracks, Extraction delivers very well indeed.

VOD: Dark Light ( dir: Padraig Reynolds, 2019)

"You ain't going nowhere."

This very contained potboiler feels like a throwback to one of those bottom-shelf unknown VHS titles in your video store's horror section that you would take a chance on but would not be rewarded by for doing so.  Apart from revealing its hand too early - story-wise no need to watch after the first third - there are many things that distance the viewer.  The fragmented timeline is presumably meant to make the viewer feel the protagonist's disorientation and questioning of what is happening (is it supernatural or something else?) but is very clunky to follow.  The four main performances do not gel - the mother is mostly ramped up to nine throughout, the sheriff stridently one-note, the father bewildered and the daughter frustratingly bland - and the writing is thin.  If you can get through the first third (and that will depend on your tolerance for lots of whispers off, doors that open/close by themselves and random bright lights), there are some sparingly-used but well-realised special effects, and the finale does liven up somewhat, but overall this is a very minor sci-fi thriller.

VOD: Snatchers (dirs: Stephen Cedars and Benji Kleiman, 2020)

"DEFINITELY not a baby!"

If you are in the right frame of mind, this energetic daft blast of retro-inflected silliness is great fun.  Reminiscent of the 80s output of the likes of Stuart Gordon and Frank Henenlotter (but in a souped-up and manically silly take), this little comedy-horror finds its tone and nails it consistently, and with a uniformly game cast, cracking rapid-fire dialogue and a knowingly arch sense of humour, Snatchers has great momentum and is very entertaining indeed.  The short post-credits scene even paves the way for a sequel, which is no bad idea.

VOD: Code 8 (dir: Jeff Chan, 2019)

"Normal people have always hated us.  They just used to do it with a smile on their face."

The fact that any crowd-funded movie reaches completion is usually to be applauded, but this near-future superpowers/actioner proves to be routine to the point of dull.  The limited effects are realised on-screen satisfactorily, and the idea that superpowered people are the underclass resorting to illegitimate and criminal activity has potential interest, but with only one central plot-point (effectively, a heist) it is drawn pretty thinly.  The reliably adequate Amells (Stephen and Robbie) do surprise by keeping their shirts on and competing to see which one can drop the most f-bombs, but really there is little of interest in this standard fare.

VOD: Child's Play (2019) (dir: Lars Klevberg, 2019)

"Right - totally not weird at all..."

If only all remakes/reboots could be of this standard.  This surprisingly effective updated re-imagining is robustly made and performed well throughout.  The key to its success is a very engaging and strongly acted performance by Gabriel Bateman as Andy which sells the premise enormously, with Aubrey Plaza finding a good balance between her trademark deadpan delivery and single-mother dramatics, and Mark Hamill works well as the new voice of Chucky.  Bear McCreary delivers an thoughtful and effective music score, there are some sparingly-used but full-on and well-placed gore gags, and there are some nice contemporary comments made on automation/AI, abuse and consumerism.  Far better than expected, Child's Play 2019 is a well-made and entertaining horror.

DVD: Rocketman (dir: Dexter Fletcher, 2019)

"You write songs that millions of people love, and that's what's important."

Hot on the heels of the success of Bohemian Rhapsody comes this very entertaining and well-made account of the Elton John life story.  Whilst the Queen-based film was more Channel 5 compressed-events quasi-documentary style, this time out Dexter Fletcher's vision is a creatively satisfying blend of reality and fantasy as he employs every stylistic trick in the book that is never less than interesting, from the kitchen-sink dramatics of life as a child through to the full-blown music-video recreation finale.  Powered along by a massively engaging performance by Taron Egerton and the irresistibly indestructible Elton John hits playlist, the film might not shed any real new light on the well-worn story, but it certainly entertains mightily along the way.

VOD: Men In Black - International (dir: F. Gary Gray, 2019)

"Let's try this again, shall we?"

Kicking off the series of 2019 disappointing reboots/remakes is this underwhelming attempt to kick-start the MIB franchise without Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones (or even Josh Brolin), an enterprise that seemed doomed just by that fact alone.  Add into the mix a dull script, uneven effects and - apart from some scenic globe-trotting - nothing new and no surprises, the end result is quite a chore to sit through, even with the reliable Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson doing their best with very little.

VOD: Shanghai Fortress (dir: Hua-Tao Teng, 2019)

"Isn't the bar you set for yourself a bit too high?"

In the vein of The Wandering Earth, this year's big-scale Chinese fantasy/sci-fi blockbuster certainly delivers on scale and spectacle.  Once you get past the oddly videogame-looking first attack sequence, the effects and story improve considerably and are both sustained well over the whole film.  To say that Independence Day is the touchstone here would be a massive understatement, but there is plenty of big-scale action on display here to entertain genre fans sufficiently.

VOD: 6 Underground (dir: Michael Bay, 2019)

"I am feeling f***ing car-sick!"

To be reductive, yes, this is Michael Bay-does-a-Fast & Furious/Mission: Impossible mash-up, but my goodness it delivers entertainment in spades.  The film looks glossy, shiny and beautiful, both the location and effects work are superb, the cast is solid and completely game, and the physical and virtual elements in the action sequences are delivered superbly.  If Netflix is thinking franchise, another outing would be very welcome on this basis.

VOD: X-Men Dark Phoenix (dir: Simon Kinberg, 2019)

"By the way, the women are always saving the men around here.  You might want to think about changing the name to X-Women!"

Kinberg said that he wanted this film to atone for the short shrift given to the Dark Phoenix story in X-Men - the Last Stand, but it falls very short indeed.  Whilst First Class and Days Of Future Past offered relatively real characterisation and depth, both Apocalypse and now this film almost feel like featherweight characters grinding through the mechanics of the story, with a lot of on-screen bluster amounting to seemingly very little, with Dark Phoenix ironically feeling like a padded out version of the story from The Last Stand, rather than the epic emotionally transformative comic book story.  Just as we have started to see an evolution in superhero movies, Dark Phoenix seems stuck on delivering kiddie-friendly entertainment rather than the more adult-orientated approach that the source material perhaps might merit.

DVD: Godzilla - King Of the Monsters (dir: Michael Dougherty, 2019)

"It's gonna kill them both!"
"Well, that's not the worst idea..."

Michael Dougherty has come a long way from the small-scale chills and thrills of the wonderful Trick 'r Treat, and he almost manages to find the humanity in this epic monster smackdown.  The human cast go through the plot motions almost as an irrelevance, and too much of the action is set in murky gloomy darkness, but in terms of the monsters the film does deliver pretty well.  It is not quite Destroy All Monsters, but the creatures are effectively realised and there is plenty of huge-scale kaiju action to keep the fans entertained.

VOD: Brightburn (dir: David Yarovesky, 2019)

"You sure you want kids?"

This unexpected low-budget gem asks a straightforward question - what if a superhero was born bad? - and then takes great delight in exploring the idea and also has fun exploding some superhero expectations along the way.  Brightburn punches above its weight in terms of writing, performances, direction and ideas, with a forgivable standard of occasional gore effects that are nevertheless wittily deployed, and there is always an entertainingly comfortable sense of understanding the genre at play throughout.  Now, if only they had gone the whole way and made a truly 18-rated version...

VOD: Annabelle Comes Home (dir: Gary Dauberman, 2019)

"What is happening?"

After a vaguely promising upswing in quality and ideas in the first sequel (Annabelle Creation), Annabelle Comes Home brings us firmly back down to earth with this dull, silly franchise entry.  With the Warrens summarily absent for most of the film, what we are effectively left with is a babysitter-in-peril bottle show that is hampered by some very weak performances and over-extended sequences that would test anyone's patience.  There may be an interesting tale to tell with this possessed doll, but Comes Home certainly is not that tale.

VOD: Girl On The Third Floor (dir: Travis Stevens, 2019)

"You might end up regretting it."

We have seen the story of bargain-house-with-dodgy-past slowly inflicting supernatural unpleasantness on its new owners so many times, but Girl On The Third Floor makes The Amityville Horror look convincing by comparison.  There is very little to surprise or scare here, and C.M. Punk as the renovating husband is rarely more than adequate, which is unfortunate as he is on screen throughout.  There are early moments that suggest a grounded feel of Barker's original Hellraiser, but even if you keep patience to the end, that promise is not delivered.

VOD: Joker (dir: Todd Phillips, 2019)

"It is certainly tense."

When word got out that Joker would offer a very different take on the DC Universe, no-one was quite prepared for this extraordinarily bold take on the Joker concept.  Not only does it succeed in delivering Todd Phillips's uniquely harsh extrapolation of mental illness and urban violence (a Taxi Driver for the modern age?) in a powerful and shocking way, but it is also a hugely entertaining masterclass in technique - direction, cinematography, music/sound and editing are all masterful and superbly realised.  The depth of Joaquin Phoenix's characterisation here truly delivers one man's compulsion and helpless mental destruction which is hauntingly painful and utterly entrancing to watch.  This brutally powerful film resonates long after its provocative conclusion.

DVD: Terminator - Dark Fate (dir: Tim Miller, 2019)

"When this is all over, I am going to kill you."

So much promise - Cameron producing, Hamilton returning, a retro-wiping of the timeline to create a true sequel to Terminator 2 - and whilst Dark Fate has much to be commended, and certainly improves on both Salvation and Genisys (the latter suffering as a proposed trilogy opener that was never developed enough), the latest franchise entry sees a welcome return to leaner, meaner storytelling and a fresh setting.  However, Dark Fate also suffers from two fundamental flaws that prove the undoing of many of Hollywood's recent remakes/reboots, i.e. it tells the same old story expensively and fails to advance the mythology in an interesting or significant way, and in its final third a bloated (and frustratingly dark) big-budget action sequence is all CG-style over substance.  For the first half at least, there are a couple of strong, zippy set pieces, and Linda Hamilton is a strong and welcome returning presence, but otherwise the film is simply an updated remake of old ideas that sadly did not connect with a wider audience other than the die-hard fans.

VOD: Midsommar (dir: Ari Aster, 2019)

"Holy s**t, right?"

Aster follows up Hereditary with an equally unsettling tale, set in an isolated Swedish commune's midsummer festival.  The conceit of delivering a tale of terror in full sunlight is mostly well realised, as a group of young visitors gradually discover more and more about what is happening and their part in it.  Performances are generally strong (Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor and Will Poulter shine in particular), Aster pulls off a couple of signature shock moments effectively, and the micro-world-building is nicely put on screen, even if it is a tad long.  Older viewers may see the film as essentially The Wicker Man with added drugs, but coming to Midsommar with a fresh pair of eyes might prove to be an interesting and challenging experience indeed.

VOD: Knives Out (dir: Rian Johnson, 2019)

"This machine unerringly arrives at the truth.  That's what it does."

Knives Out is an extremely enjoyable whodunnit that not only delivers on the genre tropes superbly but also has a knowing wit at play throughout.  Writer/director Johnson excels here in both roles, from the construction and unfolding of the storytelling to some clever deployment of camera and sound.  The story is always engaging and will keep you guessing for a long time (my theory was wrong!), but the real draw of the film is the excellent cast who are clearly having an absolute ball with the relationships and dialogue - in particular, look out for background reactions from Toni Collette and Jamie Lee Curtis, for example.  This is a sympathetic and hugely effective updating of a classic genre that is extremely good fun to watch,

VOD: Gemini Man (dir: Ang Lee, 2019)

"Everybody's just targets - and you're just a weapon."

Whilst this story has waited years for cinematic special effects technology to advance sufficiently for it to be properly realised on screen, the end result is somewhat underwhelming.  Without doubt, the money has been spent on the technology to bring a convincing young CG Will Smith to digital life  and pit him against the older real actor - and, to be fair, this aspect of the film is at times impressive and clearly paves the way for CG human characters in the future - but the rest of the film is surprisingly small-scale, in terms of a small cast, fairly standard action sequences and a very narrow story.  Both incarnations of Will Smith are solemnly introspective and unexpectedly dull here, meaning that this expensive film has little real emotion or spark.  Like Lee's misfire of a Hulk movie, it may be an interesting take on the genre, but it does not make it an exciting film to watch.

VOD: Doctor Sleep (dir: Mike Flanagan, 2019)

"Wakey, wakey!"

Hot off the success of the Netflix serial version of The Haunting Of Hill House, Flanagan's adaptation of Stephen King's sequel novel to The Shining for the most part works well.  Flanagan's use of camera and tension-building are again evident and successful here, as the film picks up with Danny Torrance (the child from The Shining) now an adult, alcoholic drifter, who forms a mental link with a young girl who 'shines' even more strongly and is being pursued by a murderous cult group which feeds on psychic energy.  It takes great pains to touch on The Shining's greatest hits very early on, as if trying to reassure fans through iconic sounds, visuals and moments that are recreated faithfully, even if the retro-fitting 1980s-set opening with re-cast characters is not entirely convincing.  Here lies the film's main problem: it falls between two stools, trying to fulfil the commercial need to be a straight sequel (albeit to a well-regarded but fairly niche Kubrick film) with the opening and the final act in particular, and also tackling King's focus on the adult Danny, with neither aspect totally realised.  Doctor Sleep is nevertheless a solid outing, with as  expected strong performances by Ewan McGregor, Rebecca Ferguson (as a coolly wicked cult leader  Rose The Hat) and effective work by young Kyliegh Curran as the gifted girl.

VOD: The Knight Before Christmas (dir: Monika Mitchell, 2019)

"I believe in you, Cole."
"Never were there four little words that managed to wrap my weary heart into a warm blanket."

Starting off as stereotype-touching and generically-Christmas-movie as you can expect, The Knight Before Christmas is hardly a significant film, but it rapidly turns into something unexpectedly engaging and at times touching.  Served well by the goofy steadfastness of Josh Whitehouse's fish-out-of-time titular knight and a nice mix of sassiness and softness by Vanessa Hudgens as his modern-day foil, the film has a surprising amount of good (festive) humour and warmth amongst its well-worn tropes.

VOD: Holiday Rush (dir: Leslie Small, 2019)

"Testing!  Testing!"
"Yeah - testing me is right..."

One of Netflix's big seasonal offerings for 2019 is this inoffensive and lightweight tale of spoilt rich kids having to downsize and downscale just before Christmas and eventually learn the true meaning of family and the festive spirit.  The best reason for watching this is to see the glorious Darlene Love in action as the down-to-earth aunt into whose regular-sized house the family have to move in and share (and yes, she gets to sing at the end), otherwise this is a mildly engaging but inconsequential festive diversion if you are in the mood.