Review: Black Panther

The superhero films keep on rolling, and it's the first one for 2018, and in terms of hype, this seems to be one its most anticipated.

Black Panther might not be the most well known superhero, but it is the fact we have a major blockbuster release with cultural importance that is getting the headlines. That seems to be getting many demographics excited to see something like this on the big screen and be heavily promoted under a major studio.

If you are up to date with the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise, you will have obviously encountered Black Panther in a minor role in 'Captain America: Civil War'. I thought it was a good enough introduction for me to want to know more about him. Especially as Chadwick Boseman played the role really well.

Now as a standalone, I thought this was pretty entertaining. There's a good opening, a solid introduction to a brand new world we have never encountered before. But with some poorly executed action set-pieces, it was an ok opening act. After that, it just gradually built up both in its quality of story-telling and character development, but in its action. By the end of it, I felt it to be a satisfying finale and another strong addition to the MCU.

Now despite this being a release aimed for a mainstream audience, the story-telling felt a bit more thorough that you would normally expect from other blockbusters.
The characters in particular were well written, developed and actually felt intelligent in their actions. What also helped was that the cast for this film was pretty strong, and they don't hold anything back.
Michael B. Jordan was easily for me me the best part. A memorable Marvel villain has been hard to find, and he could very well be up there with Tom Hiddleston's Loki as one of the best. His presence from the very beginning is quite striking and highly impactful in many scenes. He felt like how a villain should be. He has a story-arch, you are terrified by his actions whilst also understanding where they're coming from and you feel genuine fear for our protagonist. In the end, you just feel so much empathy for him. A good villain is definitely something that many big budget films have lost these days.
Boseman carried the film well. But despite being our protagonist, the story did not feel like he was central character. It seemed to be more of an ensemble piece with him being the face of it. But when had his moments in shine, they were all well executed.
I also have to give props to Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Letitia Wright and Winston Duke for top supporting roles. There contributions felt committed, integral and memorable enough for you to support whenever they are involved in any set-piece.
Andy Serkis gave a solid contribution and you can tell he is having a fun time playing his borderline over-the-top character. His well known screen presence is as strong as you would expect.
I was a bit disappointed with Daniel Kalluya. He might not have been anything exceptional. But nevertheless, he was perfectly fine in his role. I think after seeing him in Get Out, I was expecting a bit more. I final mention to Martin Freeman's character, who sadly felt a bit of a waste in this and was very forgettable.

Another strong aspect that almost matched the quality of the performances, was how director Ryan Coogler introduced us to the world of Wakanda. It established the law and geography of it really well in a crash-course style, and it made me understand this hidden world and made me invest in each characters origins. When a world becomes a character in itself, you know you have done something right.

Despite having many things that I was not expecting, it still had some good stuff that we come to expect in any Marvel film. One thing that this franchise are known is for a solid amount of comedy. There is not that much in this one. But when they do for the comedic moments, the execution is pretty good and had me chuckling a few times.

From the technical side, the score by Ludwig Goransson was surprisingly impressive. The wonderful mix of tradition African instruments and current sounds worked really well at the right time and perfectly enhanced scenes when needed.
The costume designs were noticeably strong in their variety and detail. I can see it being an early contender for a Oscar nomination in next years awards.

On a side note I must mention, I noticed that this film weirdly felt very James Bond. In particular, there were similarities to Skyfall in two scenes. Be sure to check them out.

It wasn't all gold on screen. There were moments that I was not that engaged with and the slow moments were not all that impactful. The biggest problems I had with this were some of the lighting and camerawork issues during the fight scenes early on. There was a lot of 'shaky-cam' moments and with it also being particularly dark and hard to see, those entire set-pieces were incredibly difficult to watch and make sense of.
They did get better in the second half. But, it was hard to ignore what I had seen before that.
Also, I think parts of the visual effects looked like they could have been improved as they felt too much like a cartoon.

But you'll be glad to hear, that I felt this to be a pretty entertaining experience and it has introduced me to a new world within the MCU that I would happily find out more about.
Ryan Coogler and his team should be proud of what they made and I can see being watched a lot, as it has fairly strong re-watchability. You can feel how much his direction was put into this story. For a director that's pretty young by usual standards, he has already created a fair amount of high-quality features such as Fruitvale Station, Creed and now this.

I have noticed that the studio is listening to its fans and making sure its features are not having the same generic tone. I felt all of their 2017 releases to be different and almost feel like a standalone. For me, Black Panther has felt their most standalone piece of work since the first Guardians Of The Galaxy. The biggest part of it standing out I felt was that it concentrated on its characters more than anything else. I have always felt that if you invest in the development of your characters, then you can make anyone get invested. No matter how crazy the story sounds.
What also makes it stand out is it messages coming from within the character development. Sure it may have many scenes that you expect in a superhero film. But it also covers the topics of social commentary, learning from the past and understanding all of the problems from previous generations.

Lastly, it's a Marvel movie, so expect bonus scenes during the credits. There is one midway through the credits which is fine and the one in post-credits was interesting to see where they go with the character that they showed.

Rating: 7/10

Review: I, Tonya

As I'm a big fans sports fan, I am already aware of this particular incident that the film is covering.

The story itself is quite fascinating and does show America in its darkest side of stereotype. We all know America's strong mentality to win and dominate. This is wonderfully portrayed in this dark story and I am pretty positive people who watch this film that are not aware of the story will be totally amazed by it.

What I noticed early on, was that it was going to tell this story as a dark comedy. It was a bold move, but it certainly put me at ease early on with some top comedic moments. Director Craig Gillespie and his team could have gone serious with its tone. But to make it more of a comedy that is similar to Goodfellas, Wolf Of Wall Street or even The Big Short at times made this a much more enjoyable viewing experience than I expected.
It even included some solid uses of breaking the fourth wall. The first half was very strong, and then the second half portrays the craziness section of the story pretty well. However despite being accurate, I did find it hard to completely it enjoy it. This was because it just reminded me how dumb and stupid some of these characters were. That kind of thing can be hard to make you invest and root for the characters involved. But if the shock value of the story can keep you gripped, then the whole run-time will be nothing short of phenomenal for you.

Margot Robbie was very good as the lead. She was believable as the rugged and redneck Tonya Harding and really made you think about how Harding herself was treated and if it was right. I am actually getting pretty impressed with the choices Robbie is making. On the surface, she does strike you as the type of actor that because of her popularity and looks, she would just turn to mainstream films. But she has gone for a lot of highly acclaimed projects. I think she may be more of a method actor.
While Robbie's performance is deservedly being recognised, the real stand-out is Allison Janney. The in-your-face character she is portraying is just a comedic delight, even when it gets incredibly dark. Everything she did was spot on and the majority of the comedy comes from execution with the high quality dialogue. Do not be surprised if she just sweeps the major awards.
Another scene stealer, particularly in the second half was Paul Walter Hauser's character. He does end up being one of the dumb characters that you just can't believe is a real person. But the accurate portrayal made me feel shocked once again.
I was so pleased to see how good Sebastian Stan was. You will probably know him for playing the Winter Soldier in the Marvel superhero films. But he is almost unrecognisable in this vital role. He never felt out of place and felt like a well established actor that has done a variety of things. I hope this memorable performance opens more doors for him outside of the mainstream.
My final mention in the acting aspect of the film is going to the terrific child actor Grace McKenna. She is not in it for long. But it is long enough to be integral to the story. I first saw her last summer in Gifted, and she was a complete triumph. It is more of the same, and be on the look out for any more projects she is part of. A true star she is.

I only have the cinematography, editing and a bit of the visual effects to comment from its technical side. A lot of the camerawork in the skating scenes reminded me of the execution of the ballet sequences in Black Swan. So it consists of a lot of shaking. But not enough to disorientate you or confuse you as to what is going on.
The quick cuts in the editing really gave a romping pace, which just added to the enjoyment of it all.
As for the visual effects, you can tell that Robbie's face is super-imposed during the skating scenes. But I don't think it took me out of the moment. So I think to the untrained eye, it may look genuine to you.

So while I did enjoy a lot of it, I preferred the first half to the second. Like I said before, it was mainly due to me just being annoyed by this stupid characters doing something so despicable. It was only a minor negative as I was aware of the story and its end result. But just seeing it unfurl on screen just made me get annoyed with the decisions some of these characters were making, and therefore made it hard for me to care or root for them.
Also, while I liked the soundtrack, I think at times it was a bit on-the-nose. Those things just about prevented from being one of the standouts from 2017.

In conclusion, I really enjoyed this. If you know story and/or were around at the time of the incident, the biggest you might get out of this this film is that it could make you see Tonya Harding in a completely different way. It could very well make you re-visit this story and read about it in detail.
But for people who are not aware, then I think you will be thoroughly entertained with a shocking story and many performances that was very well directed.
I think Margot Robbie and Allison Janney in particular deserve the awards nominations that they are getting. I would have liked Sebastian Stan to have been nominated for something in the major awards, as his performance was a really big surprise.

I must finally mention that in the early part of the end credits, they show some actual footage of the story. It is quite impressive as to how accurate they executed in the film when you compare the two.

Rating: 8/10

Review: The Mercy

I knew nothing about this story. Even after briefly watching the trailer, I still had no real expectations for it. So after seeing it, I was amazed that this tale is not more widely known.

It is set during a time when exploration achievements was still a popular thing as a few things were yet to be achieved.

The opening act gives you a real sense of adventure and I certainly got intrigued as how it would all turn out. But when a twist comes in the second half,  I was just so shocked as to how sad I felt by the end of it. That was thanks mainly to Colin Firth's performance as the main character.

You do struggle to think of a bad Firth performance, and in this one, he makes you feel a lot of sympathy for his character by the end of it. If it wasn't for Firth being cast, then I think it would be nothing more than ordinary.
Rachel Weisz did a good job as the female lead. She had solid chemistry with Firth, I believed in them being together and there are some strong scenes involving her. This includes very strong speech towards the end that just further impacted my emotions during the final act.
The top British cast does not stop as David Thewlis was the main support, and was as good as you expect him to be. I particularly loved his broad northern accent. I can't not mention British acting legend Ken Stott being in this. It's not much to make an impact. But he is certainly noticeable.

I can't think of much wrong with it. However if I was being cruel, I think they could have gone a bit more into the psychology of the central character, especially in the final act. That would elevated the impactful scenes into the stratosphere.

So while I think there is a lot of good stuff in this, it's just not strong enough for me to give an exceptional rating.
I think for the most part, it is pretty solid. But my liking for it gradually grew, and the emotional and profound finale made me strongly react to it in a pretty positive way. It definitely made me want to know more about it, and I think it will with many others.

Rating: 7/10

Review: Journey's End

It's no surprise that there was going to be a film coming out to commemorate the centenary anniversary of the end of World War I.

This new release comes from Saul Dibb, the same director of World War II romantic drama Suite Franchise which I felt to be pretty decent, and yet somehow forgettable at the same time.

This one seems to concentrate more on the psychological side of war and during the brink of the most famous offensive moves during this particular War.

The pacing is slow and there is always a sense of waiting throughout. Plus the atmosphere does walk a fine line between boredom and terror. While I felt more of the former, I can see others experiencing the latter. It is quite a sad and depressing film, and yet also was a true reflection of this part of history.
The character development was pretty strong throughout which kept me interested and I felt the ending was a very poignant one that also reminded me of the end of the Blackadder TV series.

The performances are certainly the strongest part. Sam Claflin continues to expand his talent into many genres, and carried the film extremely well as the central character. The unstable mentality his character had was interesting to once and was very genuine in his tense moments.
Another actor who continues to impress me, is Asa Butterfield. After emerging in The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas and Hugo, he is beginning to prove that he is more than just a child actor. This is certainly the most mature I've seen of him, and I cannot wait to see what he does next.
There were also a couple of nice reliable faces to help support our main characters in the form of Paul Bettaney and Toby Jones. Bettaney is also a wonderful support and he certainly has his flourishing moments in this. Jones does not have as much screen-time. However, he makes the most of the moments he is given to make an impact.

There's good comradeship between all the soldiers. You can certainly feel the togetherness they all had.
I also liked seeing that British stiff-upper-lip way of behaving from that era, even during wartime. That aspect also brought out some nice little comedic moments. That for me showed the realism, that you always try and fine a bit of wit and humor, even on the brink of death.

It's strange that while there was a fair amount of strong content in it, especially at the end, I just think the slow pacing and lack of impact on a surface level just made this tough to get through. It is more of a character piece which I was fine up to a point, and the good stuff just was not strong enough to keep my interest throughout.
Despite all of that, I thought it was a nice tribute to this moment in history and I can see a lot of fans of this genre and historians will get a lot out of this. But I think as you can tell, I probably won't watch this again.

Rating: 7/10

Review: Roman J. Israel, Esq.

When I heard about this and saw the trailer, everything about it had a 'true-story' feel to it, and yet it actually isn't.

This is an original piece of work from Dan Gilroy, who debuted as a director with the highly entertaining Nightcrawler a few years ago.
Now that I've seen Gilroy's latest feature, it seems the director likes doing stories that centre on socially awkward characters.

Instead of a psychotic Jake Gyllenhaal, we get a schlubby Denzel Washington. The viewing experience is a peculiar one. It starts with an interesting premise that would probably sound better on paper, as the pacing and execution of it does not match the enjoyment you might expect from it.
Thankfully, the performances keep moving it along.
There are some shifts in the second half that did not quite work for me. This included one scene just before the final act that felt very strange and incoherent to me.
It does lose its way by the time we get to the final act as it seems to be having a hard time tieing in all the loose ends and make it flow well. You can see what they were trying to do. But it just did not feel right in the end product.

Denzel Washington is easily the best part of the film. He does a great job giving us a character that we now associate with Gilroy's film. I was happy that despite the film not be that memorable, Washington can still one of our most reliable actors working today.
His chemistry with Carmen Ejogo's character was solid and intriguing to watch. Ejogo herself held her own become more and more interesting as the film went on.
I had no idea Colin Farrell was in this, and I was happy to see him as he is a pretty consistent actor. He did a solid job in this one despite being under-written.

There wasn't much wrong with the technical side of the film. However, there wasn't much exceptional stuff either. Everything was perfectly functional. It looked good, there were some moments of editing that meshed in well the soul inspired soundtrack which was a nice treat for the ears. There were also some good looking costume designs that might inspire various businessman when expanding their wardrobe.

But sadly for a director who debuted with Nightcrawler, you do expect something that is gripping and entertaining. But the writing and pacing was disappointing first and foremost. It's a peculiar film and it has very interesting ideas with a strong cast and a breakthrough director and writer. It's not bad. It's just that the final product does not become completed fulfilled.
This also might be my least favourite film involving Washington. However, on the performance side, he was really good and makes this film passable at best. He manages to keep you interested in the story and it prevents the film from falling in on itself.

It only becomes more interesting when you read more about it afterwards. You could see some similarities from Nightcrawler throughout. But by the end of it, it just does not feel as impactful as Gilroy's predecessor.

I feel this will do better on the small screen as very little of it felt cinematic. So if you are regular cinema-goer or a fan of Washington, then this might fit into your schedule. However, if you feel you need to choose wisely when attending your multiplex, then you might not want to consider seeing this.

Rating: 7/10

Review: Phantom Thread

I never go nuts for a Paul Thomas Anderson film, but like the Coen Brothers, I always appreciate them. Which I feel is mainly to do with their high-quality film-making.

My personal favourites of his are probably Magnolia, There Will Be Blood and Boogie Nights.
His last two I sadly did not get into that much. While The Master and Inherent Vice were well made, I could get invested much into the story. So in the end, they were both nothing more than passable.

But with this latest feature supposedly being Daniel Day-Lewis' final film, there is some added incentive to expected something pretty big.

A lot has been said about Day-Lewis and the 3-time Oscar winner will forever be seen as one of the all-time greats. What makes Day-Lewis so good for me, is that it is always a different performance. There are plenty of actors that you can tell they are just doing their normal shtick that you expect to see. But not with Day-Lewis. His method style of acting makes you always see the character and never the actor, and in such amazing detail.

The story is all about fashion, and while it may feel like a true story, it is only loosely based on an English fashion designer from the 1930's-50's.
The first half really sucks you in and had a dream-like quality, and I feel that is thanks to the cinematography and Johnny Greenwood's score, which added to the film's sophisticated look.
It's subtle but powerful style of story-telling was really working for me as we entered the second half. I was liking the way the story built up by planting in certain scenes that you can tell will come to fruition later on. I also noticed that they somehow managed to be a healthy amount of comedic moments, which worked well due to the strong performances.
Towards the end, the story took quite a turn that might lose some people. Thankfully for me, it just added to the characters story arch really well and showed you the mentality of some highly successful personalities.

There are three very strong performances coming out of this. Obviously Day-Lewis is one of them. Like with all of his performances, you can tell that he has disappeared into the character, and you don't see him at all. That's what makes a great method actor and if this is to be he last outing, then it was a very memorable one.
Largely unknown Luxembourg actor Vicky Krieps did an amazing job as the female lead and was certainly matching Day-Lewis throughout. I had only seen her do very minor roles. But seeing her in this quite the revelation. She carried her own extremely well and I hope this ends being her breakthrough into more leading roles.
Lesley Manville was great and deserves the nominations she's been getting at the major awards for her no-nonsense character who had wonderful back-and-forth with Day-Lewis and delivered many memorable lines with such gusto.

What I liked about this film the most was it the central characters passion, precision and determination to their work really well and his development was pretty thorough. The narrow mentality to his work was fascinating to see be portrayed on screen and must have been fun for Anderson to write and direct.

A lot like the dresses you see get made, this film is made delicately and elegantly. It goes at a gentle pace and gives you plenty of time to get into this world and get invested with these fascinating characters. The performances are very memorable, and many aspects to this film are awards worthy. As expected, with a film being about a highly successful fashion designer, the costumes are wonderful to look at.

However, I can't see it being for many mainstream demographics, as the pacing is slow and on face value, not a lot happens. So I can completely understand if you feel the film to be boring. But if you are a fan of Paul Thomas Anderson or Daniel Day-Lewis, then this is a must-watch. While it may look subtle throughout, Paul Thomas Anderson's style makes it feel very powerful.

Rating: 8/10

Review: The Shape Of Water

Director Guillermo Del Toro has a had strange but successful career so far. While he is highly regarded by critics, the majority of choices he makes are more blockbuster based. With films such as Blade II, Hellboy or Pacific Rim.
But every so often he does these really touching dramas, and the obvious example is Pan's Labyrinth, his most acclaimed film so far.
The Shape Of Water is certainly something pretty close to that in terms of the tone and the message that is similar to many fairy-tales.

While the story was intriguing me up to a point in the first half, it was the production that was not just very impressive, but pretty much perfect. Del Toro is well known for his heavily detailed practical sets and this is another gorgeous one to look at. There is one setting that is in a facility, and a lot of it reminded me of Gore Verbinski's 'A Cure For Wellness'. There were also some moments that reminded me of Amelie in terms of how the shots were executed and the small quirky shifts in tone.
But the longer the film and the more the story developed, the bigger my investment was to the entire product.
There is a romance angle in the second half that will most certainly make or break the audiences views. It could be a real turn-off for them, or it might be seen as something special. At first, I did feel it was peculiar. But I understood what Del Toro and his team was going for, so I accepted it. It was not until the finale that consisted of some strong scenes that won me over and I believed in the romance and became invested in it.
For me, a film that has a strong ending has a chance of changing my entire view of the film. For most of the film, I thought it was very good in its construction. But I wasn't going nuts for the story. However, I really enjoyed how they finished it and that made me remember the previous scenes in the film with great fondness.

The acting on the whole pretty top-notch. Sally Hawkins does a great with her character and accomplishes something that I don't think many actors could pull off. Michael Shannon is always good value, and he is great as the main villain. Octavia Spencer and Michael Stuhlbarg did not feel that exceptional. But they did the stuff that we know them for well. It feels ages since I have seen Richard Jenkins in something, and his performance definitely reminded how talented this guy is.
Particular props have to go for Doug Jones who follows on from his performance as Abe Sapian in the Hellboy films. His track record as a physical actor is pretty solid, especially with Del Toro's films. He's the type of actor that I think should work with people like Andy Serkis in future projects.

As mentioned before, the production is quite an accomplishment. But I must add my praises to the score by Alexandre Deplat. I found it rather enchanting, whilst having its moments of charm, mystery and intrigue. Don't be surprised if this wins the major awards.

Speaking of awards, I feel its current success in them is warranted and deserved. It might not be one of my films of 2017. But it's pretty damn close.
The only down side I had to it was that there is one side-story that I was not bothered by and it kind of kept slowing the momentum down.

But on the whole, this is a really delightful fantasy romance. I know a lot of people won't take this film seriously by the end of it, but if you know what Del Toro is like, then you can be swept away by this.
I liked the message that it was saying, the character development is strong, as is the visual story-telling and I think all of these aspect worked really well together and it has had me thinking about it for some time. Only Del Toro could have executed this type of romance story.

A final thought. Once you've seen it, it is damn hard to ignore that this could easily be a prequel to a particular character from the Hellboy franchise.

Rating: 8/10