Review: Greyhound

With the current events forcing us to miss out on cinematic events, I thankfully have yet to see a new release via a streaming service that did not feel worthy of seeing on the big screen.

But when I heard the news that this biographical war drama would be shown on said platform. I did have a feeling this would be the first true cinematic experience that we would be losing.

I'm sorry to say that I feel I was right. But in some way, that is also a good thing as this was a thrilling and enjoyable watch.
From the beginning, the tension was constant and kept mounting up to some cool vintage wartime battles that made me fall in love with the genre all over again.

What made that start exciting for me, was how they portrayed the process of how decisions are made on a battleship. It was weirdly fascinating and satisfying that ramped up the tension perfectly. Not once did you feel alienated from the lingo. You knew exactly what was happening and who makes what orders.
Also, the use of the hand-held camerawork was effective during the interior scenes.

After that, the action still keeps moving along nicely. The momentum does somewhat lose its edge in the second half. I think the lack of character development may have been the reason.

Speaking of character, there is a lack of gravitas that you would expect in a film like this. We do have some nice little moments that felt like a nice change of pace from the action. But they don't last long enough to make this film more than just sea battle involving ships and submarines.

Thankfully we do have Tom Hanks quite literally at the helm. He does continue to have that expected presence on screen. While I don't feel this is an instantly memorable character to add to his back catalogue. There is still that sense of comfort whenever he is in control and doing his duty.
The rest of the cast as an ensemble do a really good job. That sense of authenticity was help by the supporting cast as well as Hanks. Notable mentions I have to give are Stephen Graham who continues to expand his list of major collaborations and Elizabeth Shue, who is always a delight to see on screen.

The visual effects play a key part and overall were pretty good. They gave a great sense of the environment everyone was experiencing. Plus, the mix of the sound design made for a true war battle.

For a feature that on paper sounds quite grand and epic in its scale, I was certainly not expecting to see the film I got in the end. It does enough to come in at 90 minutes, and is essentially a prolonged action sequence that catches some decent character moments, but has no intention of including sub-text.
While I would have liked some of the latter, the action does make up for it and gives you a true edge of your seat war action drama. Sometimes simplicity works and I think it did a good job of keeping me engaged for almost all of its duration.

This was most definitely the first film I have seen since lockdown that I felt needed to be seen on the big screen.

Rating: 7/10

Review: Eurovision Song Contest: The Story Of Fire Saga

I must begin this review by saying, that I'm a fan of the Eurovision Song Contest. I believe the first contest I saw was back in 2000. I have not missed one since.

My initial love for it was for the statistics of the voting segment of the show as I love my stats. After that, I have come to embrace the Eurovision culture and always fall in love with the show and joyous vibe it gives off.

So when I hard that an actual Eurovision film was being made, I had to see it no matter how bad it may look in the build-up. The tone in the marketing looked somewhat promising as the over-the-top comedy seemed to be the right way to fully capture the spirit of the show.

Now after seeing it, I have they have achieved that and then some. Sadly, while I feel non-fans of the show will see this a sub-par comedy where the gags aren't particularly strong. I feel the fans will fully embrace this. It really captures the vibe the shows gives off and is a wonderful replacement for the cancelled 2020 contest.

There also some cool cameos from previous Eurovision winners and other personalities you associate with the show. Plus, they show great authenticity in terms of the format and rules of the show.
One important aspect that needs to work for a Eurovision film, is the songs. It felt like they created every type of song you expect to see. From the total rubbish, to the guilty pleasures, to the absolute belters that you can't get out of your head. Certain songs will quickly be added to my playlist.

I felt the performances were pretty solid overall. Will Ferrell was a good choice in casting as he can fit into type of film in his film. His chemistry with Rachel McAdams felt genuine and I believed in their friendship. McAdams herself was great to watch and showcased herself well when her character was in the spotlight.
Dan Stevens was great playing the most stereotype Eurovision singer imaginable. Stevens continues to show great range and I continue to look forward to his next project.
Pierce Brosnan, Olafur Darri Olafsson were particular favourites of mine from the supporting cast. I also have to give props to the only cameo that I will mention, and that is Graham Norton. Having him be part of the film worked a charm and I can see it pleasing many viewers.

So while the Eurovision aspect I felt was right on the money. As an actual film, it's an ok comedy. Some of the gags work and the rest either fall flat or overstayed its welcome. The story structure is certainly one we've seen before and done better.
But the obvious Eurovision edge it has will certainly make it more memorable and give it a strong rewatchability factor for a certain demographic.

I never really thought that Eurovision needed a film. But in these current times, the timing of its release was perfect and with the possibility of a lack of new releases in 2020, this could end up being my feel-good film of the year.

Rating: 7/10

Review: Da 5 Bloods

After claiming his first ever Oscar last year for BlackKklansman, director Spike Lee now has his follow up.

It's hard to know what to expect with any directors next project after it being their most successful from an awards perspective. For this particular situation, I think it will be a tough one as BlackKklansman was such an important film for so many.

For this one, while this still covers a serious topic, the tone seems to be mix between drama and adventure. It actually felt like a bit extreme in its shifts. Almost as if two different films were fighting to be the primary genre.

The drama side of the story is really interesting. The accompanying Vietnamese landscape is terrific and becomes a character in itself. As for the adventure side, it started well. But it somewhat lost my engagement the longer it went on. What I did like about that side of the story was the similarities to Treasure Of The Sierra Madre and its themes of greed.
There were some nice little historical elements presented on screen at certain times to make us aware of certain unsung heroes or little known bits of history. I was a bit sniffy with the way they were presented as it felt a bit preachy. But I did warm to it eventually.

With the Vietnam War being an integral aspect of the plot, I liked how they transitioned from past to present and how it helped with the story.

For the performances, while I don't think there were particular standouts. But as an ensemble, it was pretty strong. They all bounced off each other well and gave us a group of characters with an authentic sense of brotherhood and you can feel their respective haunted pasts.
So props to Delroy Lindo, Jonathan Majors, Clarke Peters, Norm Lewis, Isiah Whitlock Jnr as well as Melanie Thierry, Paul Wlater Hauser, Jasper Paakkonen, Johnny Nguyen, Sandy Huong Pham, Van Veronica Ngo and Chadwick Boseman.

The strongest aspect of the film for me was the score by Terence Blanchard, who is Spike Lee's regular composer. It's traditional grand orchestra quality it gave off really worked in certain scenes. That army and mystery vibe it gave off worked really well. I will certainly be listening to it again.

To conclude, while I feel there were a lot of positives, it never beyond the level of good. Almost everything felt pretty entertaining. But it felt short of giving it a strong re-watchability.
Spike Lee's style never always works with me. But I'm always intrigued by a new project and appreciate his films. This for me worked well for the most part. While it did not feel as impactful as some of his best, there's still plenty to enjoy.

As mentioned before, it looks great, the performances are all solid and the general story is intriguing even though the tonal shifts didn't work for me all the time.

With all the recent events occuring, the timing of its release is scarily on point. So this is certainly a film to be seen in 2020.

Rating: 7/10

Review: The Banker

With the current situation meaning the only destination for new releases at the moment is via streaming. It is intriguing which films are taking the risk of not having a theatrical release.

With this particular film, it is the ever-growing Apple TV that is has chosen to showcase its end product.

Being inspired by a true story, coming from the same director as the enjoyable The Adjustment Bureau and containing a quality cast, I was certainly up for being entertaining from this story.

The opening act introduces our characters and their respective backgrounds well. I liked the story was already making unexpected swerves. So much so that it turned from a Pygmalion/My Fair Lady situation to a heist or caper story with a unique difference. By that point, my engagement had drastically enhanced and I was there for the ride for the remainder of the duration.

What I liked about it the most was the script. There is a lot of necessary bank and real estate lingo being used in many conversations. But it is executed in a way to still make it work for anyone to understand and never make you come out of the film.

It also worked due to the convincing and highly memorable performances. It was nice to see Anthony Mackie be the lead as I never really saw him as an actor capable of carrying a film. But I'm happy to see him prove me wrong and give strength and confidence in his character that made him extremely watchable.
That as well as his chemistry with the always charismatic Samuel L. Jackson gave us a fun partnership that I would like to see in future projects. Nicholas Hoult was as solid as you might expect and it was great seeing Nia Long be part of this project and become a memorable minor character. It was also nice seeing Colm Meaney have a part in this as I haven't seen him for a while and he always delivers.

Other aspects worked well. The production really showed off the the period well and the score enhanced all the scenes well.

I enjoyed this a lot more then I thought I would. This is a very rewarding watch and it's true story inspiration really gives it that edge that can be a real crowd-pleaser.
While its pay-off doesn't quite match the impact of its previous two acts, it's still satisfying enough to not detract my overall enjoyment. I hope this gets more access then just an Apple TV distribution.

Rating: 8/10