Review: Avengers: Infinity War

Well, here we are. Ten years in the making for one of the biggest selling movie franchises of all-time.

2008 saw the start of possibly the biggest project the film industry has ever seen, a cinematic universe. The first couple of films had the studio of Marvel not exactly sure if this would work, despite the successes of Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk. But once they made Thor and got a lot of praise from fans and critics, they knew that they were on to something.

The culmination of their first phase ended with Avengers Assemble as it's known here in the UK. It was a rousing success and one of the most enjoyable films of  the year (2012). After, the franchise has gone from strength to strength. This current phase has seen them make each film their own almost, and instead of a generic superhero film. They've made spy thrillers, high-school comedies, buddy comedies and even space opera's.

Now this third installment of The Avengers has been labelled as the end of many major characters that were just about known in the mainstream before the films started being made. It could also be the start of the studio going into more obscure tangents by using many characters that are only well known with certain hardcore followers of the graphic novels.

One thing is for sure, the hype and excitement is at fever pitch. This almost reminded of the build-up to Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

I don't think you need me to tell you that watching a few films beforehand might help your investment in this new release, and also understand a fair amount of what is happening on screen. Plus, it kicks off straight into the action with a few nice surprises to give us a hint that they are not pulling any punches in this one.
After that it is more and more highly entertaining set-pieces with many characters meeting for a first time that will just please the fans so much.

This film is directed by the Russo brothers who did the last two Captain America films, and you can tell that it needs a duo to battle the amount of action that is taking place on several different worlds and galaxies. The pacing is absolutely spot on, and they know exactly when to hit you with certain actions characters make to keep you gripped for the 2hrs 30mins duration.

As we get towards the end, the action is beginning to get tiresome. But then they hit you with an almighty amount of surprises that I think will be on an Empire Strikes Back reaction that people had on its initial release back in 1980. The screening I was in just had everyone in stunned silence by the time the credits rolled.

With many characters within these mini-franchises within this cinematic universe being involved in this one film, there is a lot to get through from the performances. As with the first Avengers film, I was cautious that there would be just too many big names and not enough screen-time for everyone. Not only did this work brilliantly once again, they gave a fair amount of development to characters that I was not expecting to heavily feature in this story.
If I have to give an MVP award, I would give surprisingly give it to Josh Brolin. Playing the villain has been a tough gig within this franchise, and only one or two have come out as being seen as memorable as its heroes. But Brolin did a great job as the villianous Thanos, and the large amount of development he was given, gave us enough to actually care for this character and feel genuine threat to his intentions. But the minor villains that are involved also felt frightening to me and were also given a good amount of screen-time. Particularly the one voiced by Tom Vaughn-Lawlor.
Plaudits also have to go to Benedict Cumberbatch, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Paul Bettany and Elizabeth Olsen. They had many shining moments in this and had strong chemistry with many characters.
As a Captain America fan, I was disappointed at the lack of contribution Chris Evans was given. But as he has had plenty of development, I think it was a good decision to give others the much needed time.

My biggest strength was the genuine feel of threat to our heroes. The way the villain is portrayed just made me have so much fear for the Avengers, and that I feel that is what has been lacking for many of their films for me to give it an exceptional rating.
There have not been many times where I was not sure who was coming out of this alive. In this one, I had no clue who was going to survive into the next phase of films.

Another obvious positive is the action and fun elements that we expect from Marvel. The comedy is still there and the jokes for the most part were perfectly timed and made me laugh a lot.
The action set-pieces are hugely entertaining, and they really play around with certain environments and characters strengths. Much like the first Avengers, it's like they are showing a kids imagination when playing with toy version of these characters and mixing them up with other characters you would never normally see mixing with.

The vibe of it reminded more of Game Of Thrones and Heroes, which I was not expecting. I think maybe because both of those TV series have a large amount of characters and are jumping from place to place where they will eventually intertwine in some way.

Amazingly, I don't really have any negatives to speak of. It's contained structure makes you feel less worried about what is going outside of this box. So that just gave me more time to just have fun.

If you're a regular reader, then you may know that I don't often give superhero films exceptional ratings. Most of time, they are solid, good fun and entertaining. However, there are a few notables that for me had something extra to them. This is certainly one of them.
The plot might be simple to follow. But the strength in its execution and timing of its action set-pieces as well as the surprise factor and genuine high stakes made this an absolute thrill-ride and a fitting culmination of a decade of superhero domination in the box office. For me, this is the Infinity War that we deserve and the Russo Brothers along with Marvel head honcho Kevin Fiege and his team have done a grand job for saving their best for last.

A final note, there is of course a post credits scene. It's just the one. It's a pretty cool one, and could very well set us up for the next generation of Marvel films, or at least another fantastic Avengers film.

Rating: 8/10

Review: Love, Simon

Coming-of-age films could have the most important duty within the film industry. If successful, it could become iconic and a bit of a trend-setter within a particular era in history.

The first big influences as far as I can remember came in the 50's with Rebel Without A Cause and Peyton Place. The 60's had films like Kes and The Graduate and the 70's had American Graffiti and Quadrophenia.
The 80's is probably the first of the modern influencers, and it was almost a golden era for this genre. Films like The Breakfast Club, Fast Times At Ridgemont High, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Stand By Me, Pretty In Pink, Say Anthing and Sixteen Candles still work today in so many ways.

We have not seen as many successful coming-of-age dramas until this decade. With the most recent being The Edge Of Seventeen in 2016, this latest release is directed and written by people that are more know for their TV work.

It didn't look or sound like something that appealing. So it was down to the very positive reviews it was getting from many demographics that got me intrigued and wanting to check this out.

I was glad to be proved wrong, as I think this could be a very important film for this generation of students. We've had quite a few LGBTQ films over the last few years. But never one with such high amounts of marketing and playing to the masses. We have had a few indie related films that have been released lately such as 'Call Me By Your Name', '120 BPM', 'Pride', 'Weekend', 'Carol', 'God's Own Country', 'A Fantastic Woman' and many others. But this is one that is getting a major studio release.

It's biggest strength is how relatable it is. It felt like a realistic view on day-to-day high school life consisting of many characters you expect to see. When it covers certain topics, it does it in a really mature way, and the impact never felt schmaltzy or whimsical. It did flirt going that route at times. But the execution really hit the mark every time to further enhance how relatable the characters are.

Nick Robinson was a star as the titular character. He gave a very real performance, and was never over the top as you might have seen from most gay characters in past mainstream films within this genre. There were very creditable supporting performances by Katherine Langford, Alexandra Shipp and Jorge Lendeborg Jr. as the friends to Robinson's character. They all had their moments to shine on screen and made the most of it with great effect.
Logan Miller did a great job at being as annoying, almost douchebag character. He really sold the cringe-worthy moments with aplomb.
Jennifer Garner and Josh Duhamel did a great job as the parents. It almost reminded me of Owen Wilson and Julia Roberts' characters from 'Wonder'.
One particular scene stealing moment from the minor characters, came from Natasha Rothwell's character. It will certainly have you laughing, clapping and punching the air in delight.

I am glad to see that it is already having such an impact with the teenage generation. Not only is it because of the topic, but that it is actually a really well made film.
I loved the process of how this story is developed and executed. It has a funny and sympathetic script that gave us many relatable situations and never felt like it was forcing us to feel a certain way.

It may have some tropes that you expect with this genre. But I never once cared about that being a problem as the strength of the story just shoved that to one side.

Like I said before, I was so happy to be proven wrong with this one. This is a really sweet and joyful teen rom-com, which I have not experienced for quite some time.
It raises some questions with wonderful comedic effect, and that we can have a perfectly fine discussion about it afterwards. There are some tough emotional moments as well to give it some levity that I felt were put in at the right time of the story.
This is such an easy movie to relate to, and that was thanks to the performances and the writing. There is something for everybody to appreciate in this film, no matter whether you're sexuality is.

This could be a generation-defining film. If that is the case, then there could be great hope for future of society in general.

Rating: 8/10

Review: Thoroughbreds

Ever since hearing about this at the Sundance Film Festival last year watching the trailers and seeing the star-power involved, this was essential viewing for me.

Disturbing and slow-burning thrillers that is female lead have become quite an enjoyable sub-genre for me. Some of you know that I am obsessed with The Neon Demon, and this film certainly gave me a similar vibe. So I was clearly excited that the potential this film showed in its trailers. Also, with huge talents such as Anya Taylor-Joy and Olivia Cooke leading the way, I felt I was going to be in for a real treat.

I came out of my screening feeling pretty satisfied. The first scene sets you in for an eerie experience, and the sauntered style of pace just enhanced everything. It almost had an hypnotic vibe around it, where you can get completely lost and absorbed into this setting. That was also helped by the almost haunting score by Erik Friedlander.

As I hoped for and expected, both the leading performances by Joy and Cooke were great. Both girls fitted the tone perfectly and had strong chemistry together. The completely flat dialogue delivery from Cooke was fantastically unsettling. It even sparked out some black comedy moments which was unexpected and yet worked really well. This was quite a breakthrough performance by her I felt. It gave me more confidence that she can do a lot of projects of various tones.
It is also being billed as Anton Yelchin's last time as you might remember he passed away two years ago in the most unfortunate of circumstances. Yelchin was great in this, and it was such a fitting final performance to show how big of a talent he was. If you're a fan of Yelchin, his performance alone is a good reason to watch this film whether you end up liking the film or not.

I don't have many gripes to mention. However, I think the ending felt too wrapped-up, and it kind of over-stayed its welcome. For me to say that for a film that's just over 90 minutes, that's not good at all.

Despite that small problem I had, the overall experience was good creepy fun that I would happily recommend. As mentioned before, I liked the tone, the pacing is solid for the most part and the strong performances just added to the experience so well.
It's beautifully shot by Lyle Vincent and has many captivating tracking shots that reminded me a lot of The Shining or a Yorgos Lanthimos film. The cinematography really made the most of its environment.

I think Cory Findlay did great job directing and writing this, and I will excited to see what he does next. These types of films that are basically a metaphor of teenage angst can be fantastic, and this one was pretty good.

I don't think it has as much depth or content compared to films similar to this. That's what prevented me from giving it an exceptional rating. But it came close, as I think there is still plenty to enjoy.

However on a final note, the slow-pacing may turn a lot of people off. So you have been warned.

Rating: 7/10

My Top 10: Michael Bay Films

Love him or hate him, Michael Bay is most definitely an auteur. You will early on if you are watching a Michael Bay film. From his camera style, to the writing, the many explosions and the love of the military, American flag there always been a never-ending sunset in his scenes.
A lot of people believe his best days are behind him, and he is just churning out junk that are still just about appealing the masses. However, some still believe he is giving some entertaining content with high-rewatchability.

For me, Bay can be a good director. But most of the time that I feel him to be a lazy one. But I am definitely in the minority in terms of my enjoyment for most of his films. Barring apart from maybe three of his films, the rest have their moments, but fall under the tropes I feel bring the worst out of Bay.
Thankfully, none of his films are terrible in my opinion. There is always something redeemable in them. It's the overall product that doesn't become something that I would watch again.

I have seen 14 of his 15 feature films as a director. The only I haven't seen is '6 Underground'. I will rank all of them, and give a small review for each of my top 10:

14) Transformers: The Last Knight
13) Transformers: Age Of Extinction

12) Pain & Gain

11) Ambulance

10) Armageddon - A lot of my followers will know how much I hate this film. In terms of structure of film-making, it has some solid moments and has a fun vibe around it.

But the story is so stupid, and I can't believe the story of Bay telling Ben Affleck to shut up when he questioned the plot.

But at least the use of the Aerosmith song is cool.

9) Transformers: Dark Of The Moon - For me, this is when I thought Bay was losing the plot on this franchise. I know for a lot of others it never got good, but I am afraid this one felt lazy.

But at least the visual effects are great as ever.

8) Bad Boys II - While I don't mind the first one, this one just felt annoying with some decent action in between.

The comradary between Will Smith and Martin Lawrence did not feel anywhere near as strong from the original, and only has a small amount of moments of redeemable quality.

7) 13 Hours - Some say this one was a return to form for Bay. I can somewhat agree with that.

The action is cool, tense and emotional for the most part. However, there were still some moments of typical Bay incoherence that just felt too much. It also too long in its duration.

A solid entry with a surprisingly mature tribute to the people who lived this story and give us some hope for future Bay films.

6) Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen - I remember loving this after the first viewing. After re-watching it a few times, I have grounded my enjoyment of it. But I think it is still solid fun.

I totally understand the massive amount of hate for this. But the vibe really made this entertaining, despite its flaws.

5) Pearl Harbor - Despite the badly timed Titanic-inspired plot, this is a solid watch.

Yes it has its problems, but when it gets good, it's really good.

It's saving grace is most definitely the awesome infamous bombing scene. That set-piece alone is worth watching on the biggest screen possible.

4) Bad Boys - While protecting a witness to a murder, a couple of smarth-mouthed detectives investigate case that took place within their own precinct.

The strength of Smith and Lawrence's chemistry makes this a fun and entertaining watch and the birth of many's peoples favourite buddy-cop movie.

3) The Rock - Seen by many as his best work, and I am certainly fine with that.

While a renegade general threatens a gas attack from Alcatraz, a chemist and a former Alcatraz escapee must lead a counterstrike.

A strong cast, with solid writing and great action make one of the most fun 90's action films.

2) The Island - I really enjoyed this effectively modern update of Logan's Run.

It is a great concept that I felt was fully-utilised.

It moves along at a great pace, and the action ramps up into an exhillerating ride that makes me believe Bay can conjure up more of this.

1) Transformers - I enjoyed this hugely. Based off the popular TV series and toys, this is a really entertaining blockbuster that had a similar vibe of Small Soldiers.

It romps along, it has great action set pieces and I just loved the energy this blockbuster had. I would have loved to have seen this on the big screen. It's a shame how the Transformers franchise has become.

Review: Mary And The Witch's Flower

Japanese animation studio 'Studio Ghibli' is special to many people. For the last 30 years or so, they have given us some of the most amazing animation films of all-time.
Sadly, with many of long-serving film-makers including Hayao Miyazaki retiring, the studio is currently in a re-building state and have announced a couple of new possible projects.

But in the meantime, a few former workers have made a studio of their own called 'Studio Ponoc'. This first feature of theirs certainly had that Ghibli look to it when I saw some its images, and the story felt fantasy-heavy which is what made Ghibli so successful with many demographics around the world.

From the first frame, the animation is already as visually captivating as Ghibli's. I will never get tired of films that look this beautiful.
As for the story, I was seeing some similarities with many previous films from Ghibli as well as other fantasy films such as Harry Potter or The Golden Compass. That left me at a bit of a crossroads, because due to the lack of creative writing and character development, I was battling with the strengths of the visuals and satisfactory nature of the plot to see where I would rate this feature.

As well as the animation, another notable strengths was the score. It was very noticeable and had many strong moments when enhancing certain set-pieces. It had a recognisable themes that was used in various ways throughout the film.
I could relate this strengths with its animation, but the level of imagination in its world building and character design was great to watch.

Sadly, there were parts of this world where I was getting confused with some of its rules. They almost seemed either to contradict themselves or just make it up as they go along for dramatic purposes.

So to summarise, while the animation and visuals is as strong and striking in its detail as you would expect, the story and characters is inferior. There's nothing wrong with it, it just felt safe, satisfactory and it just did not made me care much for any characters. Also, the title character did not seem to learn that much or make much decision for themselves.
It almost felt like a greatest hits compilation of Ghibli's back catalogue. I noticed various scenes, character designs or ideas that felt like they had leapt out of previous Ghibli film. Also, the Harry Potter and even The Golden Compass comparisons were almost too much for me, and it started to not be its own thing.

I think the better story came from the opening scene. It seemed to be a the end of one story that leads us to the beginning of the story of this film. Now after seeing it, I think I would have rather seen the whole of that previous story from the opening scene, and that seemed it would be more impactful and long-lasting.
There is some magic in here from Studio Ponoc's debut. It's just not fully-fledged yet.

Rating: 7/10

Review: Ghost Stories

British horror is a sub-genre that has certainly had its shining moments. I consider that to be in the 60's. Particularly the Hammer Horror films.

I rather enjoyed the classic British horror films, and I was intrigued to see this particular new release as the trailer suggested a classic horror feel to it, both in its look and story.

Now that I've seen the film, it definitely has a Hammer Horror vibe to it as well as  something from The Twilight Zone. From the start, you can tell that something is off and it makes the viewing experience mildly unsettling.
I liked how much of it is more psychological horror as well as dropping in some of the jump scared you would expect. It does rely on those horror tropes. But I never felt them to be generic compared to many other horror films. The execution felt pretty strong to me and kept me gripped with the story.
You can tell the people making this are big fans of classic British horror, and are using those jump scared to virtually pay homage to that style.
The chapter structure may make the story a little repetitive. But by the time the final act arrives, it is a real 'pulling the rug from underneath you' job, and I liked that it never fully explains itself as well. So you can have a fun discussion with your friends after watching it.

I really liked all the performances. They all really sell their respective characters and were a huge factor into making this a very enjoyable watch. Co-director Andy Nyman also plays the leading role, and I felt he did a great job of effectively playing the audience, as we try and work out these strange situations that are happening.
I was pleasantly surprised to see Paul Whitehouse take up a non-comedic role. It turned up to work really well and was great in his section of the story. Maybe this is a calling card to another career to add to his already glittering career?
The star of the show for me was young Alex Lawther. I remember first seeing him in 'The Imitation Game' as well as 'X+Y', and you could a true star in the making. His contribution in this feature just proves once again how great of a talent he is. The intensity and insanity he brought to his character was great to watch.
While Martin Freeman's performance was not the type you usually see in a Horror, there was a subtle amount of creepiness to it to enhance your speculation of something not feeling right. I think it was to do with certain mannerisms he gave his character.

The cinematography by Ole Bratt Birkeland was noticeably good. I always like it when the camera is almost teasing you when it is only letting you see certain things that you want to see more of, and the camerawork does a lot of that.

I don't really have any notable negatives to mention. But that does not mean that it is a perfect film. The rest of the film's score is relied on personal preferences.
The story was not rich enough to be considered as one of the year's best in my opinion, and using generic horror tropes does not give that much originality. I know that being different was not the point of the film.  But my personal preferences to certain things prevents me from giving it an extremely high score.

So while horror is a genre I usually find not as much success with compared to other genres, I rather enjoyed this. The whole viewing experience was unsettling, the performances were memorable and most importantly, it has a strong pay-off to give it that extra edge in giving this an exceptional rating.
I think this is the type of horror film that can be accessible to all fans, rather than just people like the horror genre.

Rating: 8/10

Review: A Quiet Place

While horror is a genre I don't find as much success in, if it has a great concept, that I am up for checking it out. This latest one has a particular idea that seemed to have the potential to have strong crowd participation, in order to get a highly memorable experience.

The screening I was in was pretty full and it was during peak time showings. So I was nervous, there would be some idiots not caring for the experience.

Thankfully, I was proved wrong and it ended up being a thoroughly enjoyable time.

I love it when the concept is super simple and the people making it can have fun and play around with it in certain set-pieces. It has a really nice start introducing you not only to the world and the people, but the tone that the film is expecting you to respect and invest in.
Once the situation are characters are facing begins to take shape, it is nothing but one of the tensest thrill-rides you can imagine. The stakes gradually get higher and higher and we have a fun finale that also manages to make every character a fully-fledged one.
I was seeing similarities with 10 Cloverfield Lane, Tremors, War Of The Worlds, Signs and even Mars Attacks for one very big reason that I won't spoil.

Speaking of the cast, it is quite a small one due to the concept. However, they are all brilliant. Emily Blunt does a great job in the leading role, and gave many memorable moments during the big set-pieces. Ever since her breakthrough in 2006 in The Devil Wears Prada, Blunt has created quite a strong back catalogue and this is another welcomed addition.
It was great seeing John Krasinski double up with the acting as well as directing. He gave us a wonderful sympathetic character that shined at the right times during the tense and emotional moments.
Even with these two strong performances, the star for me was Millicent Simmonds. This film was made for her. Ever since I first saw her last year in Wonderstruck, I saw great potential in her and she could be the pioneer for deaf actors everywhere.
Simmonds has a great screen presence and contributed well to the stories environment.

I love it that this film was character driven, rather than being a generic monster horror. The strong development they all have makes this an exceptional creation.
Also, due to its concept, there is very little dialogue. So it is primarily consisting of visual story-telling, which for me is the purest form of showing a story on film. It is the universal language, which is what made silent films so broadly appealing.
Something else that is development related, is that there were many great character decisions, that you almost hardly ever see in a horror. A big horror trope is characters making poor or stupid decisions just for the sake of the writers giving us a fun on-screen moment. This film manages to do the complete opposite and get quite possibly much stronger results.

There is not much to speak of from the technical side. It it shot really well and it has a strong sound design that perfectly adds to the tension.

Sadly, I did have some very minor problems with it. It was a combination of one particular sub-plot that was only mentioned once and was completely ignored, and a couple of moments that seemed to contradict its own rules. It also does on a few occasions use some generic horror tropes. I was fine with that, but also a tad disappointed that I felt that they had to do that. But like I said, it is only minor and it never detracted my overall enjoyment of this feature.

So I can quite safely say that I had a great time with this. It's a simple yet intriguing premise with so many entertaining results. The performances are great, worth your time ad have strong development.
The pacing is spot on at a snappy 90 minute duration, and is tense from the very first minute.
It's great that film almost forces you to be quiet. If it works, especially in a full screening, this could be quite a surreal experience for many people.

Isn't it great that a film can still amaze you at how something so simple of an idea that never over-explains itself can lead too such a great viewing experience? It just shows you that less really is more.

Rating: 8/10