FILM: Avatar The Way Of Water 3D (dir: James Cameron, 2022)

"The way of water has no beginning and no end."

Thirteen years on from the box-office-record-breaking Avatar, Cameron unleashes the first of four proposed sequels.  The original film rode the crest of the late 2000s resurgence of 3D with its ambitiously immersive experience, and The Way Of Water uses 3D to similar effect here, with its opening act based largely in familiar jungle territory before moving on to more sea-based adventures.   It goes without saying that the technical level of CG effects on display is nothing short of astonishing, not just in its levels of scale and detail but also in delivering many truly beautiful moments that look incredible on the big screen and - like the first film - even though it mostly looks like the world's most expensive videogame, there are some truly almost-photo-realistic shots where you forget for a moment that you are watching computer-generated tall blue people with tails.  This is more of the same but bigger, with a number of familiar shots and story beats that echo the first film, but the two major differences both work very well: moving forward in time, Jake and Neytiri are now parents of four children (three teenage, one younger) who are engaging, integral to the plot and future-proof the series, and the move from the jungle to a sea-based people - with whom the Sullys seek refuge from a younger cloned version of Quaritch hell-bent on revenge - opens up a whole new palette and CG-playground.  The overall template remains the same: the first act is set-up, the second act is all about learning to adapt, and the third act is a barnstorming huge-scale action finale that is an extraordinary technical feat.  The Way Of Water feels more emotional than the first Avatar, probably owing to the big themes of family and acceptance having much more impact this time round, and whilst the second act may feel a little indulgent with its meandering but impressive set pieces, it is to the film's credit that it holds attention and engages for over three hours.  It will be interesting to see if this sequel busts blocks similar to the original in the post-pandemic box-office or if the numbers determine that the series concludes as a trilogy with the third film, but the set-up for Avatar 3 proves to be a welcome and enticing prospect.
 

Hellraiser (dir: David Bruckner, 2022)

"So, if I solve it, do I get a prize?"

Hulu and Spyglass bring us this latest attempt to drag the Hellraiser franchise back to some level of respectability following its descent into bankrupt sequel hell, and this 2022 take is definitely an improvement on the recent entries.  The arresting and well-shot opening sequence shows promise, the classic Clive Barker themes of pain, sex and addiction are spelt out quickly, and the focus on recovering addict Riley as a female protagonist provides a good angle on the concept.  Production values are strong - the film looks and sounds great - and the attractive cast generally delivers well.  The power and pull of the Puzzle Box is restored, and the Cenobites have their sense of menace restored to a fair degree.  A two-hours run-time may seem ambitious, but it pays off in character grounding and development; sadly, the film does lose some momentum in the final act, but overall this is a positive step forward in resurrecting a classic property.
 

VOD: Warriors Of Future (dir: Ng Yuen-Fai, 2022)

"Now is the time for mankind to pay the price."

Hong Kong delivers this blockbuster sci-fi/action genre Greatest Hits in a vision of mankind trying to repair catastrophic environmental damage, only to be faced with the arrival of a meteorite carrying a fast-growing huge alien plant life-form, with a 'suicide squad' sent to plant a virus to harness the plant's power in order to purify Earth's atmosphere, but as the mission goes awry, three of the soldiers fight for survival in the ruined city - making sense is not the film's strong point.  There is little character or story development, as the movie is all about the machinery and technology and its string of action sequences.  The CG special effects are ambitiously detailed and large scale and a very lively to watch, but they often have a flat videogame sheen.  A lot of the action with the alien creatures is standard Jurassic Park/Aliens/Robocop/terminator/Transformers-influenced fare, but if you are a genre fan there is plenty of spectacle to enjoy.

VOD: Slumberland (dir: Francis Lawrence, 2022)

"School is not a prison!"
"Can I leave whenever I want to?"

This Netflix CGI-fuelled fantasy epic about dreams and storytelling focuses on 11-year-old Nemo, who lives in a lighthouse with her father, but a life-changing tragedy sees her moving to the big city to live with her estranged uncle.  One night, her toy pig and her bed come to life, setting in motion a set of fantastical adventures in the dream world Slumberland with a larger-than-life character Flip from her father's bedtime stories.  Jason Momoa plays flip with a gruff relish, but this very simple story is dragged out for over two hours as it lurches from one pointless and empty set piece to the next in a rather emotionally unengaging manner in this expensively hollow spectacle.
 

VOD: Bully (a.k.a. Pesktop) (dir: Sjoerd de Bont, 2017)

"Makes me look pretty stupid, doesn't it?"

This micro-budget Dutch teen movie oddly transplants the bones of the story of A Christmas Carol into a modern-day high school, with Scrooge being replaced by Danny, a handsome, charismatic but troubled bully who particularly picks on a shy young lesbian student and is afforded glimpses of the past, present and a dark future 'trial' courtesy of a fortune teller.  The story is told in very simplistic broad terms, but the youngish cast appear invested in the material.  The sudden late about-turn and self-realisation redemption arc is triggered in a shockingly-realised moment, but whereas Dickens just about got away with his unconvincing character shift in a sentimental Christmas tale, here it rings very untrue indeed. 
 

VOD: Disenchanted (dir: Adam Shankman, 2022)

"Does anyone in Andalasia ever just SAY stuff?"
"Not if we can help it!"

Following a nifty animated recap and set-up at the start, Disney's belated sequel to the delightful Enchanted finds time moved on with Giselle and Robert now parents to a stereotypically sarcastic teen daughter and a baby moving to a new life in rural suburban Monroeville, with a wishing wand MacGuffin and Giselle's desire for a fairy-tale life quickly unravelling and corrupting and pitching her against the local queen bee, played here by Maya Rudolph.  Some of the strengths of the original film are evident here - Amy Adams again charms magnificently, James Masters's Prince still blusters preposterously (but is criminally underused this time around), and the juxtaposition of fairy-tale and real-life values has some effective moments - and the freshness of the first film is here tempered with more maturity and an interesting character arc for Giselle as she moves into antagonist territory.  However, the other characters have little to do other than to grind through the plot mechanics (even Robert's fairy-tale character growth segment feels shoehorned in), Rudolph's character feels underwritten, and the industrial-strength songs feel more like a commercial Frozen necessity than integral to the plot.  Nevertheless, Disenchanted runs with its inherent silliness, written and delivered with a largely effective lightness of touch and sense of playfulness that overall does not match the original.
 

VOD: Nope (dir: Jordan Peele, 2022)

"It's the dream you never wake up from."

Jordan Peele writes, produces and directs his third success in a row with Nope, in which the excellent Daniel Kaluuya plays a down-at-luck Hollywood horse wrangler dealing with very strange goings-on at his isolated desert ranch.  Clues are as usual seeded cleverly into the long slow-burn first two acts, in a film which doesnot necessarily go quite where you expect.  At times gloriously disorientating and with some striking images, Nope is also a masterclass of sound and visual composition, with excellent building of tension and suspense.  Kaluuya gives another perfectly-pitched performance, with Keke Palmer having real presence as his more open and sassy sister.  The film never goes full-tilt horror as a couple of sequences suggest it could, and the finale seems a little low-key - in keeping with the film as a whole, however (this is more Arrival than Independence Day) - but the overall concept works well and the movie entertains and impresses.
 

VOD: The Noel Diary (dir: Charles Shyer, 2022)

"Are you ready for this?
Absolutely not."

Another Netflix Christmas 2022 offering sees the ever-reliable Justin Hartley playing a successful single jazz-loving crime author with a tragic past who returns to the family home after the passing of his mother and gets involved with the adopted daughter of his former nanny looking into her true background.  Together, they embark on a backwoods road trip to find Hartley's estranged father for answers.  Unlike most festive-themed films, here Christmas almost provides an unnecessary backdrop to this heartfelt but very restrained film that rarely strays beyond one-note but which nevertheless quietly unfolds its quite intimate and adult tale with sincerity and clarity. 
 

VOD: Christmas With You (dir: Gabriela Tagliavini, 2022)

"Okay...I'm not feeling it."

Conveyor-belt Christmas movies tend to tread a very fine line between whimsical feel-good and crass nonsense, and this latest 2022 Latin-inflected Netflix festive offering falls firmly in the latter category, as a pop singer is under threat from upcoming talent and being dropped by her label unless she delivers a hit Christmas song.  Landing with a teenage fan and her music-teacher father when snowed in at a small town, unlikely romance and that elusive song inevitably follow.  With an unlikeable lead character and an ageing Freddie Prinze Jr as the musician/widower trying to charm, the general lack of warmth, sincerity and basic credibility do not help to sell the film, and neither does the simplistically unrealistic portrayal of the music industry.

 

VOD: Terrifier 2 (dir: Damien Leone, 2022)

"Something really bad's going to happen tonight..."

The cult hit that had Americans fainting in the aisles sees maniacal serial killer Art The Clown mysteriously resurrected to wreak further havoc on Miles Grove one year on, trading up the cheap grindhouse aesthetic of the first film for a more shiny and ambitious 80s Elm Street vibe.  The selling point here is obviously the showstopping practical gore sequences which punctuate the story, which viewers will either find revolting or spectacular.  Right from the opening sequence, Terrifier 2 takes Grand Guignol to excess with the swift, sharp and impactful scenes of carnage that are very well realised and given a nastier twist with Art The Clown's childishly gleeful disregard for human suffering.  The film is unpleasant and unapologetic - and yes, the bedroom murder scene is as grimly unpleasant as its notoriety suggests - but the film is not remotely scary, having at times an hypnotic hallucinatory style that feels like David Lynch meets early Sam Raimi.  The film is surpisingly effectively structured, touching on internet influence on a young boy who becomes obsessed by Art's previous rampage, and an early Clown Cafe sequence plays like a demented version of Pee-wee's Playhouse.   Perhaps in terms of the overt violence it is no more extreme than some of the 70s and 80s Italian genre classics, and Terrifier 2 is ultimately little more than an ultra-cheap slasher done well, but to its credit it has punched through to provide a new horror icon for our times.
 

VOD: Falling For Christmas (a.k.a. Christmas In Wonderland) (dir: Janeen Damian, 2022)

"What we need is a miracle."

Netflix's first big Christmas offering of 2022 sees the much-trumpeted return of Lindsay Lohan as a spoiled privileged woman at an elite ski resort, who loses her memory after an accident that brings her into the orbit of a nice handsome widower who runs a failing hotel and she slowly learns the meaning of life and true love.  True to the genre, the film is full of broad stereotypes (obnoxious self-absorbed influencer boyfriend, cute young girl missing her mummy, wise grandmother, etc), eye-rolling very simplistic slapstick comedy and absolutely no subtlety whatsover.  The film lurches along in an unconvincing and uninteresting manner, which thankfully does not make many demands of Lohan's talents, with Chord Overstreet twinkling appropriately in the widower role.  Lazy cynicism even extends to a 'comedy' moment when Lohan switches on a TV to be greeted by the Netflix ident and another of their Christmas movies and the sudden end gambit taken from It's A Wonderful Life.  At least the film has real snow and the scenery is very pretty in this otherwise gaudy, obvious and insincere film.
 

VOD: My Policeman (dir: Michael Grandage, 2022)

"Nothing happens unless you dream of it first."

Amazon Studios brings us this poignant but restrained love triangle that sees a later-years married couple taking in a now-stroke-afflicted old friend, juxtaposed with extended flashbacks to the 1950s that sees the early years of their relationship/marriage and the husband's secret affair with the male friend.  With a similar feel and use of locations to 2020's Hope Gap, the big selling-point is Harry Styles as the young policeman drawn into a clandestine affair with the more-secure museum curator before settling down to marriage, and he gives a charming if adequate performance appropriate to the character, overshadowed by other more experienced players such as Rupert Everett as the older version of the friend.  The film captures the Sussex Coast beautifully, from wintry modern day to sunnier times past, and a 'business trip' to Venice conveys a nice sense of release for the two young men, but in terms of the overall story the two halves both feel underwritten and neither fully developed, with two films seemingly vying for attention within the same space in this worthy if slightly unremarkable presentation.
 

VOD: The Takeover (dir: Annemarie van de Mond, 2022)

"Not all of us understand this stuff."

This inexplicably-popular Dutch cyber-thriller follows eco-warrior/ethical hacker Mel, who uncovers unexpected malware during a routine software check that leads to a global conspiracy and finds herself out of her depth and on the run with an unexpected ally in the form of a former failed date.  The film feels somewhat quaintly old-fashioned and has a decidedly mixed tone that veers from taking a children's-TV-level approach to its topic that rings somewhat simplistically to adults (even servers make bleepy generic sci-fi noises), yet it also has moments of unforgiving on-screen violence.  Unconvincingly linking a global threat to - er - Rotterdam's first self-driving bus system, this gloomy and underpowered TV-style drama is a rather vapid and unengaging affair overall.  
 

VOD: Enola Holmes 2 (dir: Harry Bradbeer, 2022)

"If you stay true to yourself, your path will always find you again."

Quite literally hitting the ground running, this delightful sequel is thankfully a case of lightning striking twice, as we find Enola Holmes with her own failing detective agency but quickly becoming embroiled in a missing person mystery that threads through this interesting tale.  The sequel takes everything that worked in the original film and goes larger: it is bright, breezy, funny, solidly-written and tightly-constructed, and the self-aware/fourth-wall-breaking moments are played very nicely indeed.  Enola Holmes 2 is very efficient lightweight entertainment, but it does an extremely good job of engaging and maintaining interest and drawing in the viewer - even its movie-world vision of 19th Century London is not too distracting.  Again, Millie Bobby Brown and Henry Cavill (as Sherlock again) really sell the story with aplomb through their own performances and their excellent partnership, and even Louis Patridge as Enola's love-interest seems to have a better hang of the style this time.  With the excellent Himesh Patel set up as Watson right at the end, a third film is a must.
 

VOD: Wildhood (dir: Brettan Hannam, 2022)

"It's hard to do things alone."

As Link and his younger brother flee their violent, abusive alcoholic father and hit the road in search of their long-estranged mother, the brutal and jarring domestic/child abuse opening scenes soon give way to the more familiar road-trip/coming-of-age format and a much quieter and gentler journey of self-discovery follows, as they hook up with a young guy on their journey and Link tentatively starts to trust and find love.  This Canadian indie is unhurried and beautifully-lensed, with an enormously sensitive and appealing performance by Phillip Lewitski at its heart that drives this understated and pleasantly engaging movie.
 

VOD: Firestarter (dir: Keith Thomas, 2022)

"I hoped this would've gone better."

Another Blumhouse remake/reboot, this time of a not-so-classic 80s horror originally penned by Stephen King, sees a father (who underwent experiments by a shady government corporation as a student, leading to special abilities) and a mother shielding their daughter and her emerging psychokinetic powers from being tracked down by a ruthless mercenary to bring them back into the company fold.  The film kicks off with a couple of interesting and dynamic opening scenes, but it quickly turns into a very soft and underwhelming affair that never really takes off.  Zac Efron acquits himself acceptably in the father role, and there is a suitably menacing score from the reliable Carpenter/Carpenter/Davies trio, but ultimately an awkward mix of underbaked telekinesis/mind-control/firestarting concepts and a very thin story undermine the promising start. 
 

VOD: Grimcutty (dir: John Ross, 2022)

"If it's trendy, Amir, kids will do just about anything."

Working with the hardly-revolutionary idea that mobile phones, social media and videogames can be addictive and bad for the youth of today, Grimcutty is a very basic bargain-basement thriller with dull dialogue, slow pacing and flat presentation.  As the Grimcutty meme drives teens to self-harm and somehow finds physical form (via an unconvincing large-scale animatronic puppet), and paranoid parents try to take away their children's tech and cut off their internet access, the theme is terribly laboured, acting certainly won't trouble the Oscars voters, and with most of the film limited to an ordinary-looking family home, there is little here to hold interest.  There is an unexpected attempt at sincerity in the final moments, but it is unclear whether this is a genuine moment of reflection on real-life teenage problems or an attempt to give the film some sort of credibility and validity.
 

VOD: The Black Phone (dir: Scott Derrickson, 2022)

"I want this to really hurt."

This Blumhouse release of Scott Derrickson's adaptation of a Joe Hill short story pitches an ordinary community terrorised by a series of child abductions and murders, and the latest victim trapped in his abductor's basement plots to escape with the assistance of the spirits of past victims by that black (disconnected) phone.  Set in the late 1970s, the retro-stylings contribute greatly to the grimy feel, and the ever-present threat and reality of both high-school and domestic violence is openly and unflinchingly well-handled - and on top of that the masked child-snatcher becomes a horrible part of everyday life for the community and its children.  The nerve-jangling soundscape is very effective, and the confined space of the kidnapper's basement is shot very effectively.  The film makes great demands of its young cast who perform admirably, especially Mason Thames in the lead role, and Ethan Hawke gives an eerily controlled performance as The Grabber.  The Black Phone is a simple and solid idea which is executed very well here.
 

FILM: Black Panther Wakanda Forever (dir: Ryan Coogler, 2022)

"We are home."

In Wakanda Forever, Ryan Coogler has created a sequel under difficult circumstances that is superior to the first film and also somewhat different to the usual Marvel fare (rather more complex than the standard superhero/antagonist formula).  The loss of T'Challa/Chadwick Boseman runs deservedly deeply through the film, not least in the powerful and emotional opening and closing scenes that had some audience members audibly weeping.  Surviving grief is indeed the overwhelming theme here, but the interesting thread of responsibility and consequences of choices (developed from the first film) drives the well-constructed narrative in interesting and compelling ways.  With T'Challa gone, Wakanda Forever belongs to the female characters, who are formidable talents to watch in this film: Angela Bassett is simply extraordinary, Danai Gurira is an utterly magnetic presence, and Letitia Wright steps up absolutely in her expanded and more mature central role that displays an excellent blend of lightness and depth.  It is interesting to use this closer to MCU Phase Four to look back at the first phase of the Infinity Saga; if this group of films has drawn criticism for its lack of evident cohesion, it functions in a similar way to that first MCU batch by introducing new key players that will (most likely) form the next planned Avengers ensemble.  However, here the introduction of new antagonist Namor in this final and solo outing Phase Four film is a bold move that pays off, with Tenoch Huerta giving real substance to the character, not just in his physicality and power in the role but also the excellent moments of calm, measured and understated menace as a somewhat more nuanced villain than usual.  The introduction of Namor also allows for a new and creative visual palette (for the underwater kingdom and its denizens) to be utilised together with the addition of its South American heritage perspective.  It pushes towards three hours but never feels overlong, taking its time to allow the characters and plot developments to breathe in a careful way but always engaging in its storytelling.  The film is inevitably more serious and calmer than Black Panther but it still has some well-placed wry moments, and the action sequences are again sharp and energetic, leading to an epic concluding battle that still manages to focus on very personal choices and emotions.  To nit-pick, some weak CGI Wakanda backgrounds in particular are distracting like in the first film, but by confronting the sad circumstances of real life head-on, Waklanda Forever is an admirable and very worthy sequel indeed.  Note: there is one mid-credits scene (after the beautiful Rihanna song) that is significant for the (presumably very long-term) future of the MCU! 

 

VOD: The School For Good And Evil (dir: Paul Feig, 2022)

"Probably best to keep good and evil apart.  Less messy."

This YA novel adaptation is essentially an unashamed two-for-the-price-of-one Hogwarts at which young good and evil future fairy tale students are trained to maintain the balance of those forces; two village friends are transported to the titular academy but separated into (seemingly) the wrong factions and the battle to define what is good/evil commences as well as a battle against an emerging ancient enemy.  Ultimately, the film is a somewhat charmless and strained affair, with performances pitched at the hysterically arch level that is wearing over the film's ridiculously long run-time.  Fantasy/fairy tale references are stuffed in at every opportunity, the puberty/sexual metaphors are blunt, and for a female-led-and-targeted film the gender stereotyping is jaw-dropping.  Not even Charlize Theron and Michelle Yeoh save this one, which might appeal to very young girls but will prove quite a chore to anyone else.
 

VOD: Blackout (dir: Sam Macaroni, 2022)

"How many six-foot-three Ken dolls just show up with bumps on their head, within a hundred-mile radius of Toussaint, south of north of the border?"

Josh Duhamel wakes up in a Mexican hospital with post-traumatic amnesia (but soon discovers he has 'special skills') and finds himself being hunted down in the hospital by a local Cartel as he tries to find his identity, the truth and also survive in this underpowered action-thriller.  Essentially, the film is a rather basic  extended fight sequence set in various locations within the hospital; Duhamel growls his way through the bone-crunching fights and sells them quite effectively, Nick Nolte barely makes it through his lines, and the film offers nothing beyond its low-bar remit.  John Wick and John Woo hang heavy over this film which does not come anywhere close to these but delivers straightforward uncomplicated action for undemanding genre fans.
 

VOD: The Curse Of Bridge Hollow (dir: Jeff Wadlow, 2022)

"This is so going on TikTok!"

A family moves from the big city to a home-with-a-past in a small safe rural town just in time for Halloween and its local Stinky Jack festival, and as the unhappy teenage daughter hooks up with some local misfit/paranormal high-schoolers, spooky events are triggered, Halloween decorations become animated (bats, front-lawn witches and zombies, etc) and havoc ensues.  This is a very-young-teen by-the-numbers inoffensive comedy-horror (uptight father, bad-cook mother, one-dimensional comedic townsfolk) that clearly strives for a Goosebumps vibe but has neither the lightness of touch - dialogue scenes often feel laboured - nor any real thrills.   A couple of moments land well - reactions to an animated Grim Reaper figure appearing in an old people's home, Wayans chainsawing his way through a skeleton football team - but overall the idea is stronger than the adequate execution here.

 

VOD: George Michael Freedom Uncut (dirs: David Austin and George Michael, 2022)

"Music was my very controlling lover."

Originally a TV documentary in 2017, this was the project that George Michael was working on shortly before his untimely death, now expanded to feature film length.  Bookended by beautifully elegiac versions of Fastlove and A Different Corner, this is a classy and considered documentary that is polished but has occasional candid moments.  With unusually sincere personal talking-heads comments from stars who worked with Michael (including Naomi Campbell, James Corden,  Liam Gallagher, Elton John and Stevie Wonder), the early/Wham! era is dispatched in the first ten minutes, but what the film then goes on to do particularly well is put the global megastardom brought by the Faith album into context, notably in America and its ensuing backlash, and the personal crisis that prompted the bitter wrangle for musical independence from Sony.  The personal tabloid-fodder journey through the years is by now familiar, leaving the viewer wishing for more about the creation of the music itself, but Freedom Uncut is a poignant reminder of an extraordinary talent that does its job well.
 

VOD: X (dir: Ti West, 2022)

"What's your American Dream?"

X is Ti West's latest unapologetically old-school in-your-face horror from the A24 stable that opens with the police finding a number of bodies in a remote farmhouse back in 1979, before the film loops back to tell the story of an ill-fated bunch who set off to make a sex film on location at the aforementioned farm in Texas owned by a very odd elderly couple.  West is a confident film-maker, and X is meticulously crafted in storytelling and execution to nail the 70s/Chainsaw Massacre/giallo vibe, making for a simple and efficient horror-thriller.  The kills are presented in an unsettlingly understated and controlled manner on screen, giving the film a distinctive weird off-kilter feel as the mix of religion, sex and death becomes increasingly uncomfortable and events spiral out of control in what is a well-made straightforward horror piece.
 

VOD: Mr Harrigan's Phone (dir: John Lee Hancock, 2022)

"We didn't read that book.  Maybe we should have."

The familiar Stepehen King setting of Maine is the location for earnest and worthy Netflix short-story adaptation.  From the outset, the film is comfortably familiar King territory; here, an elderly billionaire (played with a still gravitas by Donald Sutherland) befriends a young church reader Craig (sensitively portrayed by Jaeden Martell) and hires the boy to read to him, but after the senior's death, iPhone messages seemingly from him continue to appear.  This is a gentle, sombre and contemplative meditation on the more emotive King themes of separation, death and emerging technology (placed at the dawn of modern smartphones) set to a melancholy rites-of-passage story.  It is a simple tale, told elegantly, that does not resort to sensationalism or chap theatrics, which may test the patience of some viewers, but this film is a thoughtful and engaging if somewhat obvious piece overall.

FILM: Halloween Ends (dir: David Gordon Green, 2022)

"What have you done?"

The obvious question about this David Gordon Green trilogy-closer is: trick or treat?  If 2018's Halloween was seen as a triumph, and Halloween Kills problematic for some fans, Halloween Ends is likely to prove even more divisive, but as the film that has finally got me back into a cinema post-pandemic and as a decades-long fan of the franchise, I thoroughly enjoyed it.  It is easy to see why the Friday-night-popcorn crowd will not give it much love: for the most part the film uses both Laurie and particularly Michael sparingly (but purposefully), legacy characters that had been re-introduced from the original films get little to do, it does not go full slasher until the (relentless) final act, and occasionally the editing/storytelling feels a little choppy (trimmed in final edit?).  However, Halloween Ends needs to be seen in the context and themes of this particular trilogy as a whole, fully embracing its themes of survivors, guilt, community impact of a tragedy and the making of monsters by focusing on a different story four years on from Kills which is then gradually and smartly intertwined with the main familiar narrative.  Pleasingly there are times when it is difficult to see where the film is heading as opposed to a typically formulaic genre film, and there are nice nods for fans to films in the Halloween franchise that are non-canon to this trilogy (notably 4, 5 and 7) as well as the original two films.  The whole affair is bolstered by a terrific performance from the ever-reliable Jamie Lee Curtis, excellent work from Andi Matichak as Laurie's granddaughter (who arguably has the most interesting character arc in the film) and solid support from Rohan Campbell as key newcomer Corey.  Halloween Kills certainly does wrap up this trilogy of films, and David Gordon Green's interesting and sometimes bold choices have shown that with smart storytelling and an investment in character and thematic development it is possible to breathe new life into a seemingly limited genre and franchise.  As they say, evil never dies, and a personal preference would be for a contemporary adrenalised reboot of the Myers story along the lines of Snyder's Dawn Of The Dead, but for now Halloween Ends brings fitting closure to the original Laurie/Michael story.
 

VOD: Hocus Pocus 2 (dir: Anne Fletcher, 2022)

"Quick! To the Forbidden Wood!"
"But it is forbidden!"

This belated Disney+ Original sequel to the beloved 1993 Halloween favourite kicks off in 17th-Century Salem with the Sanderson sisters' backstory, hitting the ground running with an energy and lightness of tone right from the start, before moving swiftly onto our new trio of modern-day high-school protagonists as they inadvertantly resurrect the legendary witches, whose mission is to survive beyond sunrise and gain ultimate magic powers.  The level of constantly-present panto-style camp is just about acceptable - even a slightly eye-rolling parody of an Elton John favourite raises a wry smile - and like the original film it captures the spirit of Halloween effectively for the youngsters but with subtle updating that works well, such as the witches' early visit to a superstore.  The return of the three original actresses as the Sanderson sisters (Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy) is the real selling point here, and the actresses are clearly having a (slightly over-the-top) whale of a time.  The female-centric approach in the film is clear, and the new trio of children are acceptable enough, but this film misses the innocent charm of the originals.  Ultimately, this is a reasonable modern upgrade to the original Hocus Pocus; it does not match the fun or sweetness of the original, but it is a solid family-friendly sequel that does its job effectively.

 

VOD: Jurassic World Dominion (dir: Colin Trevorrow, 2022)

"You never get used to it."

With Trevorrow back at the helm, this second-trilogy closer is definitely an example of how to go out with a bang.  Evident from the start, this film largely eschews the popcorn entertainment approach - although there are certainly plenty of blockbuster action thrills on offer - for something more dramatic and character-driven, making it feel much more weighty and impactful, with issues, emotional ties and often a sense of real jeopardy to the fore.  Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard (the stars of the previous two World films) here are seen to play more realistic and credible characters with aplomb, and of course it is an absolute joy to see Laura Dern, Sam Neill and Jeff Goldblum reunited and thankfully being integral to the film rather than providing nostalgic cameos, enabling their strength as actors to really contribute to the film's success.  Storywise, Dominion is an interesting synthesis and advancement of characters and ideas from across the whole series, cleverly setting up the present character worlds from the two separate series before bringing them together triumphantly: like The Force Awakens and Top Gun Maverick, this film manages to create an effective link between old and new casts.  Whereas Fallen Kingdom felt like two mini-movies stapled together, Dominion interleaves its stories to mostly good effect, even if some characters and situations feel a little underserviced owing to the sheer weight of content being juggled here.  This film is also notable for its extraordinary integration of high-quality CGI creatures into lively and complex action sequences and a range of landscapes not previously seen in the series - the Malta/raptors sequence in particular is fantastically well-realised on screen.  Dominion may not be as pure and streamlined as the first Jurassic World movie, but it provides a fitting end to the (whole?) series and is hugely entertaining on both a visceral and nostalgic level.
 

VOD: My Best Friend's Exorcism (dir: Damon Thomas, 2022)

"We love scary things!"

Welcome to the movies' version of the late 1980s, so expect A-ha and Tiffany to play in the opening minutes in this lightweight teen comedy-horror from Amazon.  Two best friends with differing home backgrounds go for a lakeside weekend with their two mates (and a token stereotypically gauche boyfriend in tow), mess with a Ouija board, try drugs, go skinny-dipping...and one of them happens to get possessed by a local demon of legend.  Cue Exorcist-style vomit, skin lesions, levitation and inappropriate language/behaviour as the possessed girl becomes increasingly taken over by the malevolent spirit, the friendship falls apart and all can only be saved by the titular exorcism by a religious bodybuilder called - yes - Christian and the power of being BFFs.  It is decently played and made, touching on issues of importance to teenage girls such as body image and friend relationships with some sensitivity (including possession as a metaphor for sexual assault, which is handled surprisingly well).  If there is a problem, it is that the film nails the serious horror and drama moments, and the occasional comedic line lands to good effect, but the two do not seem to fit well together, seeming as if it should have focused on one direction.  Nevertheless, My Best Friend's Exorcism is a small film that delivers quite well.

 

VOD: Anything's Possible (dir: Billy Porter, 2022)

"You're perpetually nice.  There's nothing wrong with that."

Playing like the trans equivalent of Love, Simon, Anything's Possible is one of those films in which a pair of older-looking, good-looking privileged (here, non-white) students and their friends negotiate senior year and college applications alongside their own developing relationship, as a cis guy (Khalid) and trans girl (Kelsa)  fall in love.  It covers all the expected YA tropes - social media, first date, first kiss, friendship fallouts, etc. - led with charm, thought and sensitivity by Eva Reign (as Kelsa) and Abubakr Ali (Khalid) and a notably strong performance by Renee Elise Goldsberry as Kelsa's mother.  Any negative issues feel slight and glossily resolved, but ultimately the film is sweet and low-key, with a heartwarmingly sentimental ending to a pleasant and unsensational story.

VOD: Blonde (dir: Andrew Dominik, 2022)

"I'll be any way you want me to be."

This controversial Netflix film about the life of Marilyn Monroe is bold and ambitious, and it is certainly no standard film-star biography, more of a feminist-filtered critique of the Hollywood star system and a deconstruction of the relationship between personality identity and the construction of a star.  Starting on a particularly traumatic birthday in 1933, with Norma Jean as a young girl living with her disturbed and unstable mother, an unflinchingly dark and violent tone is set from the outset as we follow her through her difficult childhood through to her early casting-couch exploitation, her breakout stardom and beyond. With its shifting aspect ratios, changing use of colour/black-and-white and its unsettling score and placement of sound, Blonde is very effectively designed to reflect the unease and lack of control in the actress's personal and professional life, also seen in its blurring of actuality and fiction both in the constructed narrative and in Marilyn's mind in an hypnotic, almost hallucinatory manner.  This is a long film (pushing towards three hours) that is relentless and often difficult to watch, portraying an unflinching depth of unhappiness and sadness, where Marilyn in assaulted, exploited and demeaned at every turn.  With its key themes of identity, objectification and parent-child relationships constantly thrust to the fore, the film does feel as if at times it over-intellectualises the narrative at some points through stilted dialogue and odd emotional distancing, and whilst Ana de Armas undoubtedly gives a bravura performance, the actress is mostly (and somewhat repetitively) required to portray Marilyn in one of three ways: child-like, as the iconically-recognisable screen-star persona, or on the edge of tears.  There is brave film-making on display here, making Blonde an interesting if flawed film that exploits Marilyn Monroe in its singular perspective perhaps as much as it suggests Hollywood did.
 

VOD: Top Gun Maverick (dir: Joseph Kosinski, 2022)

"Put that in your Pentagon budget!"

The opening of Top Gun Maverick sets the tone for the whole movie: respectful to the past with plenty of fan-pleasing, absurdly familiar but with some good self-awareness, with a shiny and impressive 2020s upgrade and enough new ideas to keep it interesting.  Indeed, the integration of old and new/next generation is pretty seamless and it is handled sensitively and very effectively, with the juxtaposition of the two eras working extremely well at key (emotional) points.  The aerial work is breathtaking, beautiful and often thrilling, and Kosinski certainly knows how to handle action and scale.  Cruise absolutely delivers here - this is totally his movie - but there is very able support by the likes of Jon Hamm, Jennifer Connelly and Miles Teller, with a touching cameo from Val Kilmer.  Cruise should be commended not only for his assured acting but also for taking an overview of the Top Gun property, holding out for the right story at the right time.  Even if the main mission is basically destroying the Death Star in A New Hope (here, an underground uranium-processing facility), Top Gun Maverick is spectacularly superb blockbuster entertainment on every level.
 

VOD: Lou (dir: Anna Foerster, 2022)

"You know, sometimes in nature, when a creature's damaged, there's nothing you can do to save him.  It's almost like they were meant to die."

Foerster's directorial film debut is a grim 1980s set thriller has the USP of seeing the magnificent Alison Janney (as Lou) do the full Taken/older Laurie Strode routine as - against the backdrop of a massive storm - deep in the backwoods, her nearest neighbour's young daughter is kidnapped by her presumed-dead military-trained father.  As Lou's tracker skills come into play, she and the child's mother hunt down the kidnapper as they learn hidden secrets and reveal Lou's secret dark past.  Alison Janney is as ever effortlessly watchable, even if the tension is sometimes dissipated by slow dialogue scenes and the soft-rock stylings of Toto, but storytelling and relationships are carefully deployed.  Ultimately, Lou is a very-messed-up family drama with a very bleak ending, lifted by its strong cast. 
 

VOD: Downton Abbey - A New Era (dir: Simon Curtis, 2022)

"We got through the war.  We can get through this."

This sequel to the successful movie spin-off from the TV phenomenon is unashamedly fan-pleasing and plays to its target audience most effectively.  The 'send-the-cast-on-holiday' trope for TV-to-film adaptations is certainly not a guarantee of success, so smartly this film dispatches half the family and entourage to the South of France to secure a villa bequeathed to the elderly Lady Grantham, leaving the rest at home to contend with an invading new-fangled cinema film crew shooting a movie, as the world hurtles towards the end of the 1920s.  A New Era has similar strengths to the first film: the core cast returns, it is sumptuously and cinematically lensed and it is written in a pacy TV-style format.  There is suitable closure for some characters, plenty of story to follow, and it is very comfortable box-of-chocolates viewing that is very well-made and enjoyably indulgent.
 

VOD: The Nan Movie (original director: Josie Rourke, 2022)

"Look at the state of this!"

TV series to big screen adaptations are tricky beasts to pull off - for every Alan Partridge Alpha Papa and The Inbetweeners Movie there is The Harry Hill Movie and - oh, the horror - Mrs Brown's Boys D'Movie.  It was a surprise to see this spin-off from The Catherine Tate Show; given the success of the revival Nan TV specials it looked a viable proposition, but whilst the limited scope of the Nan character works very well in short-form TV-sketch format, it does not carry particularly effectively across a full-length feature film.  The expansion mechanism here is sending Nan and hapless grandson Jamie off on a road trip to visit her long-estranged sister, but the film is saddled with a thin script that offers little real comedy.  Thankfully, the film does stay true to the character, and the World War II flashbacks flesh out the backstory with some nice character moments.  Both Catherine Tate and Katherine Parkinson are strong dramatic and comedic actors and they try their best, but reports of reshoots to boost the number of modern day scenes and the insertion of unnecessary additional animated sequences with the original director credit removed, make the movie seem inconsistent and lacking the sharp humour that the sketch format delivered.
 

VOD: The Northman (dir: Robin Eggers, 2022)

"Yes, we thirst for vengeance, but we cannot escape fate."

In his third major film, and biggest-budgeted so far, Eggers has established a clear style that gives us a film that is rich in (old) language and immersed in period detail, opening with a suitably wintry palette punctuated by bursts of warm firelight and bringing the director's distinctive energy and commitment to this bleak Norse tale.  Like The Witch and The Lighthouse, this film is also challenging, ambitious and pleasingly off-kilter, with the director completely in control of both his vision and of the viewers' experience.  At heart this is a simple if lengthy revenge story, told with indulgent theatrical flourishes (visions and mystics play a strong part here) that punctuate the generally gritty naturalism created.  Alexander Skarsgard powers through the story as the man-mountain adult Asleth out to avenge the killing of his father by his uncle and seeking to rescue his mother, with notable supporting performances from Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicole Kidman and especially Claes Bang as Asleth's uncle.  In spite of its budget, The Northman remains more art-house than mainstream that will not be to everyone's taste but again shows Eggers to be a creative and intriguing film-maker.
 

VOD: Thor - Love And Thunder (dir: Taika Waititi, 2022)

"It just needs something to focus that energy so it's not so unpredictable."

A strong pre-title sequence sets up an almost unrecognisable Christian Bale as a credible antagonist of this fourth Thor solo film. Taking in returning characters from across the Thor/Avengers movies (The Guardians of the Galaxy team, Jane Foster, Darcy, Valkyrie and even Heimdall), the addition of Russell Crowe as a self-important Zeus is a good addition to the greatest-hits-feel of the movie.  The trailers gave away surprisingly little, and in many ways this is typical Waititi - quirky, silly and a bit all over the place (including a soundtrack that cannily ranges from ABBA to Guns N' Roses) - and indeed he nails both the comedy and drama elements, no matter how haphazardly they might appear.  This film does not feel as fresh as the similarly-styled Ragnarok, with its reliance on past characters and hits (the ripe 'theatre' version of events reappears, for example, to lesser effect this time round), and it is apparent that the director's zany approach is at odds with the fact that there is (for a change in the MCU) a very strong well-performed villain that might have been served better by a more serious overall approach.  Nevertheless, Love And Thunder succeeds in its mission to entertain, and Hemsworth remains a comedic delight to watch, but if there is to be another solo Thor movie, a change in tone/direction might be welcome.
 

VOD: The Lost City (dirs: Adam and Aaron Nee, 2022)

"What is this?  Taken?  Am I 'tooken'?"

Essentially an update of Romancing The Stone and playing like a more playful self-aware version of Jungle Cruise with tongue very firmly in cheek, The Lost City finds Sandra Bullock as a bereaved romance novelist, under pressure to deliver her next novel in a genre that she dislikes, who gets whisked away on a quest by a media mogul (Daniel Radcliffe) to find the real-life priceless artefact (The Crown Of Fire) featured in her latest novel, with her deluded cover model (Channing Tatum) and sassy agent (Da'Vine Joy Randolph) on the chase to rescue her.  Bullock strides through the film with easy comedic abandon and delivers this kind of material with absolute confidence and excellent timing, Tatum completely sends up his (and models') persona to great effect, Radcliffe feels a little miscast here as the villain of the piece, but Randolph gives a strong feisty comedic performance and Brad Pitt is good fun as a zen trainer/merecenary.  Tatum and Bullock make for a good pairing in this silly, lightweight but quite entertaining romp.

VOD: I Came By (dir: Babak Anvari, 2022)

"This is your doing."

This interesting, low-key but suitably tense British thriller finds an anti-establishment graffiti writer Toby (George MacKay) and his mate breaking into homes of the rich to tag, but an unfortunate discovery in the basement of a former judge puts them all in a dire situation.  The film benefits by being well shot and tightly edited from the outset, accompanied by an effective synth-driven score by Isobel Waller-Bridge.  The character arcs and structural deployment of the main characters are interesting and not always predictable, although the occasional simplification grates (Toby listens to loud heavy metal and follows activists on the internet but lives with his mother), and worthwhile issues of inequality, young male rage, ethnicity and policing feel lightly touched upon at the expense of delivering story.  The cast is very strong and enjoyable to watch: it is good to see MacKay playing a modern-day character which he delivers with his usual intensity and depth; Hugh Bonneville delivers a very well-controlled antagonist role here; Kelly Macdonald gives sensitivity to the role of Toby's mother as the film develops; and there is a sincere turn from Percelle Ascott as Toby's friend.  For a small British film, I Came By is well made, delivered effectively and keeps interest right to the end.
 

VOD: Love In The Villa (dir: Mark Steven Johnson, 2022)

"You always cease to amaze me."

A Romeo And Juliet-obsessed American third-grade teacher gets dumped by her boyfriend right before their planned romantic trip to Verona, but she decides to go alone, only to find a handsome muscular wine-rep Brit already installed in her holiday apartment via a double booking.  This is clearly conventional rom-com territory, as their initial animosity and prank-sparring starts to give way to romantic feelings, national stereotypes are unleashed at every opportunity and the rom-com genre machinations are so formulaic that you could fast forward to the final quarter of an hour without missing any surprising.  Nevertheless, it is all very pleasant and undemanding, tourist Italy looks lovely,  and - thankfully, as most of the film is a two-hander set in the apartment - the two leads (also a couple in real life) both perform well, with Tom Hopper delivering the stoic Brit comedy effectively and a delightful performance from Kat Graham that elevates the material.
 

VOD: Me Time (dir: John Hamburg, 2022)

HAPPY 13th BIRTHDAY TO MY BLOG!

REVIEW No. 1350!

"There's no way I'm f***ing a tortoise!"

This film is the very definition of a dated mismatched-buddy comedy starring Kevin Hart and Mark Wahlberg, and for the most part it is as crass and desperate as expected, as a family man (Hart) gets a few days away at his estranged friend-from-former-days' birthday trip.  Watching middle-aged men trying to recapture their youth to comedic effect rarely works in this sort of film, and nothing much of interest happens here.  The film drowns in a sea of seemingly-improvised excessive dialogue that simply floats by.  Hart overacts and over-talks, the dependable Wahlberg is oddly subdued, and overall Me Time does little to truly entertain.

 

VOD: Dog (dirs: Reid Carolin and Channing Tatum, 2022)

"It doesn't make us feel warm and fuzzy inside.  It is what it is."
 

Dog offers a simple and very sincere story of a brain-injured soldier (Channing Tatum) desperate to get back into active duty but finds himself unwanted, who gets tasked with taking a military war-traumatised dog on a road trip to its handler's funeral.  The road trip of course enables dog and soldier to bond as they encounter a range of colourful characters along the way on their journey.  Tatum deploys all his industrial-strength charm, sincerity and easy comedic skills here, and the film balances both the soldier's and the dog's stories well.  Ultimately, the film offers little more than its basic story suggests, but it is told well in a surprisingly unsentimental manner and comes across as a real human story with simple dignity.

VOD: Ambulance (dir: Michael Bay, 2022)

"You shouldn't have worn f***ing sandals, dude!"
 

In Michael Bay's post-lockdown-produced action fest, estranged brothers (Jake Gyllenhaal and Yahya Abdul Mateen II) team up for a bank heist that goes wrong and end up escaping on an ambulance with a paramedic and - entirely coincidentally, of course - the badly wounded cop that one of them shot in the raid.  The film very quickly benefits from its COVID production limitations and tight focus by starting off reasonably grounded and character-based, but once the action starts it is absolutely frantic, tight and relentless in typical Bay style: lots of shooting, lots of running, lots of shouting, impossible car chases, lots of dry one-liners and of course plenty blowing up.   The two leads are fine and work well together, but particularly of note is Eiza Gonzalez as the seen--it-all paramedic.  Playing at times like a contemporary version of Speed or a particularly lively episode of TV's 24, Ambulance offers spritely, daft and energetic action entertainment that does not outstay its welcome but is instantly forgettable.

VOD : A-ha The Movie (dirs: Thomas Robsahm and Aslaug Holm, 2022)

"Mood is everything."

This thorough and well-assembled music documentary follows the Norwegian pop band A-ha from its earliest beginnings to the present day and their MTV Unplugged performance preparations.  Perhaps the tactic of conducting separate interviews with the band members accentuates the feeling of dissociation from each other that the film markedly conveys, but a strength is that the tactic enables good portraits of the three individuals to emerge and some stark honesty about each other and themselves.  The film employs a very good range of archive material together with some cute linking Take On Me-style style animations, and there is a pleasingly deep dive into the very early days, although overall the film offers little new to surprise the fans.  Like the band, the movie is tinged with typical Scandi-melancholia putting across a barely-existent professional friendship between three very separate musicians with differing ambitions and creative needs, emphasised well in the film as their huge success in the 80s also brought huge tensions between pop success/record company demands and the band's artistic ambitions.  The ending of the movie is suitably bleak, as a very personal reveal shows that Magne's heart was literally broken by the band, making the inevitable closing play of the poptastic Take On Me sound unexpectedly sad and hollow. 

 

VOD: Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (dir: Jeff Fowler, 2022)

"Feels like the Owls and the Echidnas have been fighting each other for centuries."
"Like Vin Diesel and The Rock!"

Starting off on the Mushroom Planet where Robotnix was marooned at the end of the original film, a new nemesis for Sonic and an ally for the villain is introduced, and with the opening sequence this sequel quickly establishes its lively old-school cartoon action vibe. At times feeling more like a modern Saturday-morning-TV-cartoon, there is nevertheless sufficient snark and laid-back sarcasm/pop-culture referencing to lift the film.  The Sonic character looks more nuanced this time, and the integration of CG animation and real life is mostly seamless and impressive.  As the strength of the first film lay in the relationship between Sonic and Tom (James Marsden) and their interplay, unfortunately Marsden is unwisely sidelined for the first half in a weak wedding subplot, although young viewers would probably prefer the focus on Sonic and his other animated cohorts here.  Quite why Hollywood thinks that a children's game property such as this needs a movie that runs over two hours is questionable - for example, a dance-off sequence drags on very unnecessarily - but overall this film goes some way toward matching the energy and fun of the original film.
 

VOD: Benediction (dir: Terence Davies, 2022)

 "There's only one thing worse than remaining in the past, mother, and that's begrudging the future."

This earnest British period (World War I) drama charts celebrated war poet Siegfried Sassoon's journey through his emerging anti-war stance, his creative life and his personal relationships, with the questioning younger incantation (Jack Lowden) juxtaposed with the older embittered self (Peter Capaldi).  The cast is impeccable, with both lead actors providing excellent character work, and with notable supporting performances from Ben Daniels as young Sassoon's counsellor and Jeremy Irvine as his obnoxiously self-absorbed lover Ivor Novello.  Incorporating real contemporary black and white war footage works well for the most part, although some of the narrative and filmic devices used are less convincing and feel self-indulgent.  The film is somewhat dour and self-conscious in style, but it works best when the script with wit and intelligence, and it is possible that there could have been more time spent with the older Sassoon to give the film more balance.

VOD: Everything Everywhere All At Once (dirs: Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, 2022)

"We can do whatever we want."

This indie favourite stars the magnificent Michelle Yeoh at her energetic best as Evelyn Wang, dealing with her demanding family, their laundrette business and an unfriendly tax office, and at the same time finding herself becoming the reluctant and unlikely saviour of the multiverse!  This indie favourite is attention-grabbing and frenetic from the outset, packed full of rapid-fire ideas and creative delivery, with inventive visuals, unexpected camerawork and dynamic use of sound, with an unexpected eclectic mix of references from Ratatouille to The One to Wong Kar- Wai.  It offers such a relentless barrage of beguiling and surreal ideas that it careers along in a hugely entertaining and offbeat manner, with mention for Jamie Lee Curtis at her comedy character best as the relentless tax officer.  The film is inventive, laugh-out-loud silly at times and simply a pure blast of cinematic fun yet - bizarrely - also utterly life-affirming by the end.
 

VOD: RRR (dir: S.S. Rajamouli, 2022)

"The shepherd will travel however far to retrieve the missing lamb."

With the pre-title sequence clocking in at forty minutes and a run-time of just over three hours, this lauded Hindi historical action epic offers huge entertainment and takes the viewer on a real journey.  Set in British-ruled/pre-partition 1920, RRR has all the heightened reality expected of an Indian blockbuster on a massive scale, as a young girl is snatched from a tribal village by the ruling white leaders, a highly-trained man from the village (Bheem) is sent to bring her back and a superhumanly strong officer (Raju) is tasked with stopping him.  In a nice touch, the film develops Bheem and Raju's close friendship very effectively before they realise they are actually each other's nemesis.  The film shows some ambitious use of camera, and there are many classic Bollywood elements present - romance, undying friendship (touchingly conveyed here), anachronistic modern song/dance numbers (which are all very good), mesmerisingly insane action set pieces - all of which make RRR an exhausting but utterly compelling and massively enjoyable film.