Review: The Hate U Give

I was quite late to the party with this one. But after hearing very little about this upon its release, the strong reviews for this had me finding some time to check this out.

I ended up finding surprisingly remarkable and it could be one of the most important films of the year, or even decade.

The first act really opened my eyes as the dialogue was amazingly current with its teenage slang. That shock caught me off guard and took me sometime to get used to the dialogue and trying to make sense of it.
Once I settled down, the rest of the film was quite moving. There's plenty of dramatic scenes that each one sends out a huge message to its target audience, which I would think are teenagers, particular of an ethnic minority. However, this certainly has the appeal of a much wider audience.

The performances are pretty strong on the whole. Amandla Stenberg did a great job in the leading role, carried the film well and shone throughout. It's a pretty good breakthrough year for the young American and she'll certainly be around for a few more.
Elsewhere, it was great to a predominantly African-American cast contribute throughout the film and showed great representation.

If in the wrong hands, this could have been a schmaltzy, over sugar-coated straight-to-TV movie that would have been instantly forgettable. But they managed to send home its message with a well written and solidly structured story and gave us plenty to use as to why this deserved to be shown on the big screen.

Big props to director George Tillman Jnr. and his production staff as well as writer Audrey Wells for a brilliant script. I really enjoyed this, and was impressed with they made every scene feel important and integral to its themes and message.
I can see this doing really well when it becomes accessible on the small screen.

Rating : 8/10

Review: Creed II

As mentioned in some posts in the past, I feel Boxing is one of the most restricted sub-genres in the filming industry. That phrase of "you've seen one, you've seen them all" feels quite apt. However, there are a few exceptions such as the first Rocky, Million Dollar Baby, Cinderella Man and The Fighter.

Another one is Creed. The style of director Ryan Coogler for me is what made it quite a powerful viewing experience that for me gave us this generations Rocky. Sadly, Coogler is not taking part in the sequel and instead it's the relatively unknown Steven Caple Jnr. taking the reigns. So whilst I was mildly exciting to see it, I kind of expected to be disappointed as Coogler's style was a big reason for the success of the first Creed. Also, with it basically re-visiting Rocky IV, I did have some caution that it would just settle into the bog-standard Rocky formula.

It starts off well as we get straight into the Boxing and it was nice Michael B. Jordan back in the ring. After that, we then get some nice set-ups and introductions to our characters as well as the sub-plots and character archs that were being explored in this sequel.
While it moved along as I expected, the content on screen was making me care about the storylines from both the Creed and Drago characters and what both of them have had to go through to get to this point.
I liked that they never relied on the history of Drago and Creed. The sub-plots were becoming more noticeable and this made me invest in the big set-pieces more than I expected. All of that made me excited enough to get into the final act and there were certainly moments in that ending that gave me goosebumps when everything fell into place.

All the performances were pretty solid, but nothing awards-worthy this time in my opinion. Michael B. Jordan continues to have a very likable presence in anything he does and fits the mould of a boxer beautifully and proves to everyone that he was not just a one-off.
It might not be the Oscar push for Sylvester Stallone this time, but I think it is still another memorable showing from the acting legend. This stage in Rocky Balboa's life I feel is still bringing the best out of Sly.
Tessa Thompson was a great support and continues to have strong chemistry with Michael B. Jordan.
I never thought I'd ever say this, but Dolph Lundgren was pretty good in this. I think it helped that I felt quite invested in his story arch in this film, how that ended and he also had a memorable scene with Stallone.
I think Florian Munteanu was good with the physical side of his character, but not that much on the acting side of it sadly.

Obviously one aspect that has to work is the actual Boxing, and that was all done well especially the big showdown at the end. I didn't feel it had a stand-out fighting moment like its predecessor had. But it went as well as you would expect with this type of film. I felt the punches and the blows, and caring for the characters helped with that as well.
Another thing you expect with Rocky films, is a montage. There is one in this, and its pretty good. It does get you hyped for the match and the build-up certainly enhanced this particular part of the film pretty well.

I had no major quarrels with the film except from a personal perspective. It does move along at how you expect to. So it therefore brought nothing new to the table and there were times where I was waiting for the next bit that I knew would happen.
I was a bit disappointed with the score. The score did have those similar notes you feel in Rocky films, but the way it was used was more sombre than anything else. It does have its rompy moments in small doses including one during a well executed montage. But it was more about the use of a slow piano more than anything else. It does match with the themes of reflection and ancestry sins. But it wasn't really a score that I would re-visit.
Also, the duration felt a bit too long for me. It's just over 2hrs long, and I think 1hr 50 would have been more suitable. There were scenes that felt a bit long-winded and I think having a predictable story structure did not help the situation.

While it does hark back to some of the Rocky sequels and tread similar ground. There was enough content in there to make it feel somewhat refreshing and still give us a pretty solid story that I liked.
I think the character development was what kept this from being just a cash grab of something we've seen before. I like where we were heading and still making the Boxing itself entertaining made it worth watching.
I don't think this needs to have a third chapter to be honest. It ends with enough of a heartfelt note and I think if we do see a Creed III then I feel it's just going to go down the same route the Rocky franchise did.

Rating: 7/10

Review: Ralph Breaks The Internet

It's been just over two years since are last film from Walt Disney Animation Studios in the form of Moana. That classic studio that we all know and love that began with Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs over 80 years ago is back with its 57th instalment.

The wait for a sequel from the brilliant 2012 hit Wreck-It Ralph was pretty high. So high that it became one of my most anticipated films of the year.

I was intrigued by the idea of the sequel and the endless possibilities the studio could go for in this film. I went in with high expectations and another welcomed addition to Disney's surging modern golden era.

The first half I must say was probably one of the strongest openings I've seen for a long time. It gives us a little catch up on what's been happening while we've been away, and where we're going next.
The build-up to seeing the internet was pretty cool to see and then once we got in there, goodness me was I amazed.
On paper, it sounds like a tricky thing to evolve such a large digital world and make it into a living thing, portray it on screen and make it feel relatable for the viewer. But what the people making the film do is do that brilliant of making it super-clever and yet simple at the same time. It's a tricky thing to do, but the end results when it works is like lighting in a bottle.
The film was moving nicely, it was incorporating moments of the first film well, it was making me laugh with its smart gags and I was having a right old time with it. Just when I thought it couldn't get better, there was a fantastic Disney section in the story that made me feel like a kid in a candy store. References everywhere, some self-referential humour and some nice Easter eggs for the Disney nerds like myself.
However, I did realise at one point that this film is missing an antagonist and I began to be concerned as what they're going to do about that. It came in the end, and whilst it does kind of slow down and match my enjoyment of the first half, it still gave us a solid ending.

What I liked about it the most was the look of it, the high-level of creativity and imagination and the large number of references used that made the geek inside me go nuts. The look of it was like a lot of Disney films. Lots of vibrant colours and the matching energy to the editing made it a highly positive viewing experience.
I was in love at how the internet was portrayed. Everything about it felt incredibly relatable and I would imagine so many others would feel the same way. Each new bit that they introduced on screen I was instantly on board with and just admired the cleverness and simplicity with each aspect.
With the film being set in the world of the internet, there was bound to be many references to several popular products and franchises.
With me being a Disney nut, I was in heaven with the amount of references mentioned in several scenes. There were even some nods to even the most obscure Disney films which pleased me.

The only problems I had with it were small and all in the second half. There was definitely one point in the film where you can see film-makers saying "Oh yeah, we need a villain", and they certainly tried their best to introduce some form of an antagonist.
So whilst the villainous side of the story was good in the end, it just could not match extremely strong first half. That for me made the final act never have that strong send-off like Wreck-It Ralph had.
Also, it touches on certain topics that explore the dark side of the internet that the younger generation experience. But sadly, they only ever touched it and never went delved deep into it. It almost seemed pointless to do it as they knew they had to concentrate on the story. So I think they should have committed to these points or not at all instead of dipping their toes into it.

But like I said, my problems were only small ones and it's easy to see that I really enjoyed this. It expanded the world our characters were in really well and shows where this could go if a third part ever went in the works.
The camaraderie of Ralph and Venelope was great to see develop and I was pleased to see they were never afraid to go down challenging routes for our characters to face. I could be cruel and say the story is nothing original. But it's still a well told story with themes you expect to see in a Disney animation.
As mentioned before, the way they put the internet onto screen was nothing short of fantastic, and the amount of references put into this made it feel like a game and see how many I could get. A few of the subtle may go over the general audiences heads. But the more advanced experts should get all of them and amazed and how much they crammed in without ruining the flow of the story.
While the momentum does somewhat slow down in the second half, it still moves along enough to give you well told story with lots of goodies for fans of Disney, anything topical and mainstream animated films. That is certainly the film The Emoji Movie could have been if it actually tried.

There a couple of bonus scenes during the credits. The first one halfway through was rather funny, and the one at the very end of the credits was particularly clever of teasing the audience and ended up being a wonderful homage to a classic internet sensation.

Rating: 8/10