Review Category: Movie

It’s worth noting that Nia DaCosta’s Candyman is not a remake but a sequel to Bernard Rose’s 1992 version, which itself spawned two inferior sequels. Candyman is based on Clive Barker’s short story ‘The Forbidden’, with the Liverpool setting swapped for Chicago’s Cabrini-Green public-housing project.

While Barker’s story explored the British class system, the feature film delved more deeply into racism and a divided society, presenting us with Tony Todd’s horror hall-of-fame portrayal of the urban legend known as Candyman. Say his name five times in front of a mirror and he comes to life, stalking you with a hook for a hand and a mouth full of bees. Candyman (2021) picks up re-establishing this legend three decades later, directly referencing Helen Lyle (Madsen) – a character from the first film – who urban legend says went mad after investigating Candyman.

The story intrigues artist/photographer Anthony McCoy (Abdul-Mateen II), living in a gentrified Cabrini with his art director girlfriend Brianna (Parris). His art depicts black suffering, occasionally bought or displayed by misunderstanding rich white people. His new interest spawns a creative awakening but leads to obsession, resulting in a radical transformation and danger for the people around him as he brings the urban legend of Candyman back to life. Cue some gory reckonings for some pretentious Chicago art enthusiasts and high school mean girls…

Whilst the film is a chronological continuation, today’s Candyman is essentially showing that things have not really changed. Under the scope of the Black Lives Matter movement and meta storytelling, the film could not be more timely – the injustices from centuries ago, decades ago, a few years ago are still happening today. Rather than just asking you to watch, it’s asking you to think, and talk, and keep these stories alive, literally telling the audience to ‘say my name’.

The Candyman is not just one person – it’s a collective subconscious of an estranged and oppressed community. The victim of gentrification, the victim of racism, the victim of a system that not only marginalises them but hopes to dispose of them in a cruel and indifferent way. Much like the Candyman himself, who is a direct response to this suffering, being summoned into an existence that cannot be ignored as long as people say his name (five times in front of a mirror, to be precise).

Whilst this message is powerful, it also muddies the waters of the film a little with a lot going on at the same time. Although it’s easy to laugh at some of the purposefully OTT characters, they occasionally seem almost too obvious (example: a racist cop). Exploring the history, existence and ‘purpose’ of the Candyman in relation to society whilst trying to give us an entertaining horror movie with creative kills and occasional jokes is a juggling act that doesn’t always work.

Nonetheless, it’s a bold sequel to, and retelling of, Candyman that will undoubtedly make people afraid of their mirrors again.

(Whilst it’s bad news for mirrors, it is good news for bees, who’ve had to wait 13 years since The Wicker Man remake to regain their horror street-cred…)

CANDYMAN is in cinemas from August 27th 

Marvel’s first Asian-led MCU entry wastes no time laying down its rules of engagement. Sure, it makes a point to throw in a couple of references to the Blip and the events of Iron Man 3 as a reminder of its tangential connection to the wider ‘verse, but Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings has its own story to tell. Setting the opening scenes in China with the opening narration and dialogue entirely in Mandarin, Shang-Chi quietly and confidently establishes itself as a cultural milestone for Asian and AAPI audiences – subtitles are hardly a novelty, and yet their inclusion in a Disney tentpole still feels surprisingly refreshing.

Director Destin Daniel Cretton and co-writers Dave Callaham and Andrew Lanham go a step further by taking the signature Marvel fare and melding it with key aspects of Chinese culture: deploying quinggong aerobatics and kung fu fighting styles, borrowing from traditional Chinese mythology, and paying homage to the wuxia genre. The result is a wistful, fantastical visual style that’s distinctly its own.

Shang-Chi (Simu Liu), whose imaginatively chosen “in hiding” name is Shaun, works as a valet-parking guy in San Francisco with his best friend Katy (Awkwafina). His covert identity is soon shattered, however, when a group of hitmen – including a large Romanian man with a retractable blade for a forearm – attempts to take the necklace gifted to him by his mother. After a Speed-style escapade, complete with cut brakes and Katy taking the wheel à la Sandra Bullock, the pair travel to Macau to find Shang-Chi’s estranged sister Xialing (Meng’er Zhang) and get some answers.

Without venturing too far into spoiler territory, Shang-Chi is essentially about two kids and their ageless father (Hong Kong legend Tony Chiu-Wai Leung, whose sex appeal even Disney cannot fully contain) reckoning with their grief – the loss of their mother and wife, Jiang Li (Fala Chen). This grief is the driver of Shang-Chi’s various narrative threads, pushing the newest MCU hero to reckon with his past and embrace his legacy.

The issue at the heart of Shang-Chi is that it cannot decide where its priorities lie: does it want to introduce a new hero into the MCU, or expand the scope of the franchise’s world-building? Wandavision and Loki may have succeeded in doing both but, with a runtime of just over two hours, Shang-Chi sets itself up for failure trying to tackle it all.

As magnetic as Liu is in the lighter and more action-driven scenes (he leaves no doubt as to whether he can carry the franchise in years to come), he gets somewhat lost in the quieter character moments. The script unfortunately gives its hero more backstory than personality, which makes it hard to reconcile the sunny, karaoke-loving man shown on screen with the darker, tortured son of Wenwu we are mostly just told about. In fact, no matter the character in question, their functional use within the story is placed ahead of genuine characterisation, while exposition is put above both. It’s only thanks to the sheer star-power and energy of the cast that the characters feel at all substantial.

The obsession with Shang-Chi’s backstory and mythology also takes its toll on the film’s overall momentum, which goes in fits and starts from stunning martial-arts sequences to extended information dumps. Which is all to say, Shang-Chi’s biggest problem is being overstuffed.

However, it offers enough thrilling set pieces, spectacular choreography, and colourful backdrops to offset any boredom. The aforementioned, confined fight scene on a speeding bus, as well as a neon-lit sequence across a skyscraper’s scaffolding, are nothing short of breath-taking: they are a fitting tribute to stunt coordinator Brad Allan’s work and memory, and an assertion of Simu Liu’s leading-man stature.

It’s therefore all the more disappointing when, in its last act, Shang-Chi buries its top-calibre practical effects and stunt work in what can only be described as hideous CGI. The climactic showdown may be set in the colourful, fairy-tale village of Ta-Lo, yet Cretton insists on shooting it with a sludgy, grey haze that renders the action both ugly and incoherent. The last thirty minutes are simply drained of the magic and energy of the first half and could even be called the worst final act of any Marvel film in recent memory.

None of this detracts from the fact that Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings deserves credit for its push forward in big-budget filmmaking. It also counts a (mostly) impeccable choreography, undeniable star-power, and daring genre-mixing amongst its virtues. Sadly, by trying to do too much and by throwing in Marvel’s signature ‘big move’ – drowning the climax in far too much CGI – Shang-Chi sabotages its grander ambitions: it’s a fun and refreshing change of pace for the MCU, but Shang-Chi falls short of being something great.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings releases exclusively in cinemas September 3rd. 

The Greatest Showman duo consisting of Hugh Jackman and Rebecca Ferguson has returned to the screen in the form of another dangerous relationship. Set in climate change struck Miami, waters have risen, wars have taken place, and now humans have no choice but to live a nocturnal lifestyle. Nick Bannister (Hugh Jackman) alongside Emily ‘Watts’ Sanders (Thandiwe Newton) own a sensory deprivation tank that preliminary provides visitors a nostalgic trip into their past, revisiting their finest moments. They also help with other tasks, like crime cases, or even lost items. It’s a great premise that shouts Minority Report, and it could actually make an intriguing TV show if given a chance.

Our story begins when May (Ferguson) walks into Nick’s life. They instantly fall for each other, but then out of nowhere, May decides to disappear without saying goodbye. This sets in motion a series of life or death fights as Nick floats around a sunken Miami. He desperately seeks answers like an impatient detective working on a frustrating, unexplainable case. Strong visuals and cinematography are at play throughout.

On his – at times, long-winded – pilgrimage through not only Miami, but own memories as well, the stakes become even more extreme, and you can’t help but wonder if the average human would go to this length to find someone who left them like that? Will the truth behind May’s disappearance all be worth it? You’ll just have to find out. Nick’s committed level of aggressive obsession is portrayed well, his emotions get thrown all over the place, and through rooftop fights and drug dealer shootouts, it does boil into that classic Hugh Jackman rage at the right moment.

This directional movie debut from Lisa Joy (Westworld) is an interesting neo-noir, sci-fi combination that lines up with a long list of legendary influences, from an Inception-like opening, to narration that screams The Prestige, and a detective feel that evokes Blade Runner. Also, for those who love the Black Mirror episode San Junipero, you’ll enjoy the similarities here. Reminiscence tips its hat respectfully to many of its predecessors, but behind that, it struggles to stand out on its own. Reminiscence still shows promise for whatever Lisa Joy decides to do next, and it will also be debated by all that view it for years to come.

REMINISCENCE is out now in UK cinemas

Anybody mistaking this for the classic French film Eyes Without a Face (1960) is in for a surprise. Despite the similar title, this is in no way a remake or reimagining of the earlier film. And the clever titling is only the first of several surprises in store. This Eye Without a Face refers to a webcam, the one eye we often overlook, and the one that sees a lot of our daily lives.

Henry is an agoraphobic, anxious loner. The result of a traumatic childhood, at the hands of a brutally dysfunctional father. He spends his days staring at his computer screen, having hacked into the webcams of six women living in the nearby vicinity. Anonymously, he watches their every move.  Until one night, he becomes convinced that one of the girls is a serial murderer with a taste for human flesh.

This is a horror film that draws on both voyeurism and the slasher genre, but to a larger degree is a character study of a vulnerable person’s psychological breakdown. The emotionally crippled Henry is sympathetically played by Dakota Shapiro in a memorable performance. His counterbalance is roommate Eric, a loud, brash outgoing YouTube ‘celebrity’, trying to get his acting break to make some money to pay the rent. Vlada Verevko dominates every scene she appears as Laura with a menacingly icy allure.

The film can easily be described as a Rear Window for the digital age, and justifiably so. Producer, director and writer Ramin Niami has clearly taken a slice of inspiration from Alfred Hitchcock and has built a twisted story upon it that is both a little bit familiar and very original. This is a textbook exercise in tension, paranoia and unease worthy of the Master himself, and is a timely lesson in making sure your webcam is off. A cautionary tale for the modern age.

Eye Without a Face is available on digital platforms from August 23rd.

To give some perspective, this isn’t a continuation of the narrative started in the first two G.I. Joe films. The clue is in the original subtitle. This is both a reboot and a prequel of sorts, but more of a reboot. Snake Eyes is the enigmatic member of the worldwide peace-keeping force codenamed G.I. Joe. He dresses like a futuristic ninja and is their martial arts specialist. But who is he really?  How did he get so dangerous? Snake Eyes seeks to answer these questions.

From the outset, it becomes clear that this isn’t your normal G.I. Joe film, where the evil COBRA organisation launches another plot for world domination only to be defeated by the Joes and their toy product placement arsenal. The high level of incredible gadgetry, weapons and vehicles aren’t as front and centre as normal. Strange as it may seem, for a film based on a long-running series of toys by Hasbro, this is a little less explosively action-packed and frantic than usual. In fact, compared to its two predecessors, it’s actually quite understated and grounded. Rather than a two-hour extended toy commercial with cardboard characters lurching from one improbable chase to the next, we have a martial arts epic, with themes of divided loyalties, betrayal, and redemption.  This is a refreshing change of direction for this franchise.

As a child, Snake Eyes saw his father executed and swears to devote his life seeking vengeance. As an adult played by Henry Golding, he becomes a dominant fighter on the underground circuit before being recruited by the Yakuza then moves on to join a Ninja Clan. Here, he receives his formal training and three tests – one of which involves entering a nest of sacred giant Anacondas. Although the action is fast and frantic, particularly the fight scenes of which there are plenty, Henry Golding doesn’t have the screen presence to carry the longer dialogue scenes. But then again, he is playing the part of, basically, an Action Man doll. And if his delivery seems a bit tedious, the audience can be assured that we’re never far away from the next action sequence, so it all balances out.

All in all, it’s a more involving film than we’d expect, given its pedigree – despite its subplot involving a deadly ray emitting jewel. It’s not deep, it’s not going to change your life or your philosophy. It’s a big, loud summer tentpole movie designed solely to while away a rainy couple of hours. The cinematic equivalent of a Big Mac and Fries. And who doesn’t enjoy one of those once in a while?

SNAKE EYES is in UK cinemas now