SPUTNIK

Summoned by the military to a secluded research facility, a controversial young doctor named Tatiana Yurievna (Oksana Akinshina) is tasked with examining a cosmonaut who has survived a mysterious space accident. Having returned to Earth with an extraterrestrial parasite, it doesn’t take long for Tatiana to discover that the military may have more sinister intentions for Konstantin and the creature that lives inside of him.

A directorial debut for Egor Abramenko, Sputnik is a Russian sci-fi horror which contains a host of strong performances and an impressive array of special effects. With some slick directing and gorgeous cinematography, Sputnik manages to get all the basics right. It’s a shame, however, that the script is so rigid and refuses to let loose every once in a while, as it could have benefited greatly from its extraterrestrial threat. Still, the actors are able to make the most out of the script and bring life to what could have been some dull caricatures.

Much like the film’s symbiote, Sputnik could have been something special if it decided to detach itself from the sci-fi films of the past and perhaps gone further with the horror aspects of the genre. With the much-needed crescendo of violence failing to materialise to its full potential, many will be left feeling frustrated with Sputnik‘s conservative approach. Lacking in killer instinct, Sputnik is a competently put together film which could have benefited more from its deadly concept.

THE FAIRY PRINCESS AND THE UNICORN

fairy unicorn

CERT: U / DIRECTORS: AINA JÄRVINE, FEDERICO MILELLA / SCREENPLAY: VANESSA WALDER / STARRING: MADISON MULLAHEY, JESSICA WEBB, OLIVIA MANNING, SARA PETERSON, MARC THOMPSON / RELEASE DATE: JULY 31ST

Aina Järvine and Federico Milella’s animated fantasy is about as child-friendly and corny as its title would suggest. If you’re looking for a storyline with the depth or emotional heights that Pixar or Laika have got us used to over the years, you’re better looking elsewhere. Nonetheless, The Fairy Princess and the Unicorn is a story easily digestible by young children that has its odd moment of charm here and there.

Escaping from the shadow fairy leader Ophira, who has held her captive since she was a small child, Surah (Mullahey) must work with her sisters Sera (Jesica Webb) and Eyela (Petersen) to bring magic back to the world of Bayala. They have a chance to do this after discovering a dragon egg, which has to be returned to its parents if there is any hope of a kind of natural decay known as ‘the wilt’ being averted. But Ophira (Liza Ortiz) isn’t too keen on sacrificing her power.

You can tell from the animation quality that the film has not had lots of money thrown its way, the film clearly more comfortable with grand landscape shots and wide angles than capturing detail in smaller settings. It is on a par with the dialogue, which especially in the opening half feels somewhat unimaginative. The simplicity and colour all point to a film aimed squarely at very small children and nobody else. The result is a magical setting that lacks the zip and spark it needs to make you love the film’s silliness and setting.

The story itself is a standard (albeit refreshingly female-led) adventure that leaves certain questions unanswered – why can only shadow fairies fly at night? It also seems to run out of plot around the halfway mark. It does however feature a nice message about accepting people for who they are – Surah is treated with trepidation by others because of her shadow fairy wings, and Ophira’s eventual downfall is in part down to her unwillingness to accept others. The animals – which thankfully do not speak à la-Disney style – also add a nice comedic touch, and the animation seems a much better fit for their appearance than the fairies.

There ultimately isn’t much to get your teeth into with The Princess Fairy and the Unicorn, the latter of which only makes a very brief appearance. It is well-meaning entertainment fodder for very young viewers, and to a certain extent that’s okay. An older audience however will be counting down the minutes until it’s over so they can put Frozen 2 on instead.

DREAMBUILDERS

Dreambuilders

CERT: U / DIRECTORS: KIM HAGEN JENSEN, TONNI ZINCK / SCREENPLAY: SØREN GRINDERSLEV HANSEN / STARRING: EMILIE KROYER KOPPEL, CAROLINE VEDEL / RELEASE DATE: JULY 17TH

The plot of Dreambuilders is a pastiche of Inside Out, Monsters Inc., and Despicable Me (what with the tiny little creatures behind the scenes), but the dialogue is wooden and nearly completely expository. Every character is either explaining what they’re doing, what’s going on around them, or what they’re going to do, rather than engaging in conversations. It’s beyond condescending, even for a kids’ animated film. It’s to be expected that children’s movie characters might be slightly two-dimensional, but this is beyond the pale. They’re paper-thin, and the new stepsister, Jenny, is utterly horrid an individual, to a point that makes Cinderella look subtle.

Dreambuilders is, however, utterly gorgeous. The dream world and its sets are a blend of Monsters Inc. and Coraline, and perfectly dreamy and – when necessary – nightmarish. In exactly the opposite way one would expect, the construction of the dream world is Dreambuilders‘ only plotline that manages to make any sort of sense, and the sheer vastness and creativity granted to the sets are equal parts whimsical and clever.

It takes a literal hour to get the point where there’s much excitement. It’s solid at that point, but the fact that Dreambuilders spins its wheels for two thirds of the movie before it manages to achieve any actual emotional engagement is definitely a knock against the film.

Dreambuilders also gets really dark: Jenny’s dad left because he regretted having a child and one of the comments on her Instagram regarding Minna reads something along the lines of “if she were my stepsister, I’d kill myself.” The chances of this crossing over slimmed way down with that line.

While the imagery is gorgeous, and the final half hour certainly an improvement upon what’s preceded it, the overall impression of this animated film is one of being overwhelming underwhelmed.

‘Inside The Edge’ Is an Inside Look Into the World of Blackjack

‘Inside the Edge’ is a documentary about some of the best blackjack players in the world and the way in which they manage to win millions at casinos. It is therefore an inside look into one of the most exciting and glamorous pursuits we have: gambling.

The documentary promotes itself in that manner as well, calling itself an inside look into the super-secret world of blackjack. The director, Chris Buddy, follows a high-profile player, KC, as he travels across the United States playing blackjack. There is enough hidden-camera footage to make sceptics believe that this is not a scripted movie, but rather an honest look into what goes on at casinos, through the eyes of a professional blackjack player. Unfortunately, this documentary does not include online casino blackjack, which is gaining popularity, but is still far behind the actual number of people who play cards at casinos rather than on their phones.

KC is a card-counter, and so he has been banned from multiple casinos across the country, and this forces him to disguise himself to get into certain establishments. It is not a one-way street either, as many casinos blatantly break the law when dealing with KC as well, and this documentary shows that the old adage that ‘the house always wins’ is definitely true, and the house can be really nasty while doing so as well. Another great aspect of ‘Inside the Edge’ is that it shows gambling for what it truly is – hours of boredom and exhaustion punctuated by minutes of exhilaration and excitement. It does not glamourize gambling like most movies do, and that, to the director’s credit, is one of the best parts of this documentary. It also shows the inevitable down phases as well, with KC admitting on the movie that there have been days where he has both won and then lost hundreds of thousands of dollars, putting him on an emotional rollercoaster which would be hard to find in normal life.

Card counting is not illegal, but it is forbidden at most casinos, as it is the one way to load the odds back in the player’s favour away from the house. Thus, KC is banned at almost every single casino in Las Vegas, and this is why he has to disguise himself to be able to get into any of those establishments. Buddy’s hidden cameras also catch the security at these locations, and their attempts to threaten and intimidate KC after he wins big. As stated earlier, the documentary does a fantastic job of showing the reality of gambling. KC is perpetually stressed out, as not only does he have to make split-second decisions which will make a huge difference to his wins or losses, but also evade facial recognition technology to get into casinos, and then find a table and win before drawing too much attention to himself. It is no surprise that he admits to having incredible mood swings and having bad days from a mental health standpoint. Gambling is inherently stressful and risky, even more so when you do it for a living and are being harassed because of your methods, and this documentary brings all of this into stark focus.

There is one criticism of the movie, and it is that the camera quality is often quite poor, leading to grainy footage. This is understandable though, as most of the footage is obtained using hidden cameras, but even the interviews, and the footage in KC’s RV, are all shot using cheap cameras. Other than that, this is a great inside look into gambling, and highly recommended for anyone with an interest in this practice.

 

SCOOB!

scoob

For a franchise that has been airing new TV episodes (almost) nonstop since 1969, it’s quite remarkable that Scoob! marks the series’ first-ever animated theatrically-released film… or, at least, it would have done had COVID-19 not forced cinemas shut, leading to the film being released straight-to-PVOD. Instead of becoming only the third Scooby-Doo feature film (following the two live-action efforts penned by James Gunn in the early noughties), Scoob! joins the ranks of over 30 straight-to-video efforts before it, and, sadly, doesn’t exactly stand head and toe above them. A modern Scooby-Doo movie should have been a slam dunk. The characters are a nostalgia printing-press with over five decades of material and in-jokes to draw upon. Where Scoob! could have been a loving, self-aware send-up of all things Hanna Barbera, modernising the characters for today’s audience, it’s ultimately just another utterly disposable kids’ movie.

The film quickly rushes through a sequence where the gang solve a haunted house mystery within the first 15 minutes, begrudgingly fulfilling its minimum duty to audience expectations. After that, Scoob! is Scooby-Doo in name only (and even then, they’ve abbreviated it). It isn’t a mystery movie, but it ‘is’ a superhero movie and it ‘is’ desperately attempting to establish a cinematic universe (which is going to have questionable mileage). In order to stop an evil plot by Dick Dastardly (now referred to as a supervillain), Scooby and Shaggy are paired with Hanna Barbera C-listers Blue Falcon and Dynomutt. While this sounds like a disgusting grab at relevance, rest assured that any notions that the film might be timely go out the window 13 minutes in, once Simon Cowell appears as himself in order to judge Mystery Inc. as though they were a pop act. 

That said, a Hanna Barbera cinematic universe makes a lot of sense. From The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones to Yogi’s Treasure Hunt, their work practically defined the idea of shameless cartoon crossovers. And none of their characters was as prone to crossing over as Scooby-Doo who, at this point, has canonically solved mysteries with everyone from Batman to The Addams Family to the cast of Supernatural. It’s a shame then that Scoob! is executed so poorly. You’d be better off seeking out the surprisingly good Scooby-Doo! Mask of the Blue Falcon, one of three straight-to-video Scooby-Doo movies released in 2013, in which Scooby previously met Blue Falcon and Dynomutt.

Some glossy animation aside, there’s very little to recommend here. It’s a smorgasbord of questionable voice-acting, uninspired action and limp humour. Even by the standards of straight-to-video Scooby-Doo movies, Scoob! feels like a weak cash-grab. 

ARTEMIS FOWL

Artemis-Fowl-Starburst-review

ARTEMIS FOWL / CERT: 12A / DIRECTOR: KENNETH BRANAGH / SCREENPLAY: CONOR MCPHERSON, HAMISH MCCOLL / STARRING: FERDIA SHAW, JUDI DENCH, JOSH GAD, LARA MCDONNELL / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW (DISNEY PLUS)

There is something of a mixed history in harnessing successful novels for movies, some make a magical transition, some alter the story for their own means but induce some interesting (if polarising) results all the same, and others fall down a pit of no return. Sadly, for this long time coming big screen (well, small screen now) outing for Eoin Colfer’s Artemis Fowl, the latter is the likeliest result.

Young child prodigy Artemis Fowl II (Ferdia Shaw) must hunt down a legendary artefact from a secret world of fairies, in order to save his kidnapped father (Colin Farrell). Already fans’ hairs may be raising at the tone of this synopsis and make no mistake about it, lovers of the books may well be left absolutely fuming by director Kenneth Branagh (amazingly) and screenwriters Conor McPherson and Hamish McColl’s far more fanciful and toothless take.

Inspired (very very) loosely by the first two books in Colfer’s series, it reminds of Men in Black International in how it throws ideas at the screen, that start feeling more and more removed from what inspired it in the first place. Artemis Fowl takes some of the books celebrated and challenging themes of morality and greed and massively sanitises them to condense the story quicker and likely in an attempt to not risk audiences being turned off by the young title criminal(?) protagonist. Yet, ironically, this results ultimately in another well meaning but jumbled tale of magical worlds, legends and characters with names you’ll struggle to recall afterwards – much like some of the plot.

Visually well dressed at points and with some soulful scoring notes from Patrick Doyle, Artemis Fowl does have some (Disney) plus points but in spite of the cast being in on the silliness (Josh Gad especially, as an oversized dwarf), it feels like it was always destined to be one of ‘those’ films. Those with high hopes, even ending with sequel bait, but which early on you realise will be another bestseller-based aspiring YA fantasy franchise that’ll probably never be heard from again.

Taken as an individual piece of movie making, Artemis Fowl and its rollerball lottery of fantasy elements (magic, trolls, dwarves, fairies) has some diverting moments for younger viewers but taken as an adaptation of its source material it’s a disappointingly severed limb of Colfer’s story. Even if it is fun seeing Judi Dench as a militant fairy commander and so soon after playing a cat-human hybrid. What a world!

THE VAST OF NIGHT

CERT: 15 | PLATFORM: AMAZON PRIME VIDEO | RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW  

Attracting rave advance notices thanks to screenings at a number of high profile film festivals last year, Andrew Patterson’s  low-fi, low-budget old school sci-fi thriller The Vast of Night finally arrives on Amazon Prime. It might not be quite as good as its champions have been suggesting but it’s hugely entertaining, wonderfully evocative, and a welcome throwback to the early days of sci-fi cinema, reminding us of that sense of creeping fear, paranoia and general unease that permeated classics like Invasion of the Bodysnatchers, The Thing from Another World, and The Day The Earth Stood Still.

Framed as an episode of a fictional Twilight Zone-like anthology series entitled Paradox Theatre, The Vast of Night takes place over a single night in the 1950s in the small New Mexico town of Cayuga. Everett (Jake Horowitz) is a DJ at a local radio station, Fay (Sierra McCormick) operates the switchboard. With everyone else attending a high school basketball game, Fay picks up a strange signal through the switchboard. She plays it to Everett who is broadcasting on the radio. Neither of them can identify the sound so he throws it open to his listeners and invites calls from anyone who might be able to cast some light on its provenance. As luck would have it the first call he receives is from someone who is very familiar with the sound. He’s heard it before, years ago. He knows what it means and he knows what’s coming… 

Self-financed by Patterson with a budget significantly under a million dollars, The Vast of Night is a triumph of raw, lean filmmaking. This is a film that just drips atmosphere and tension. Opening with an extraordinary tracking shot that follows Everett and Kay around the bustling gymnasium, out into the deserted streets, and finally into their separate workplaces – the dialogue is dense, scattergun, and frequently hard to keep up with – the film finds its groove as it settles down and starts to explore the mystery that is its beating heart.

A charming love letter to low-budget genre filmmaking, The Vast of Night puts character and plot above spectacle (although it doesn’t skimp in delivering one key money shot) and, as we twiddle our thumbs waiting for our usual diet of summer blockbusters to come racing out of global lockdown, it’s a timely reminder that sometimes the simplest ideas and the tiniest budgets can create something very special and hugely enjoyable.

SALIENT MINUS TEN (SHORT)

SALIENT MINUS TEN (SHORT) / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: EMMA DARK / STARRING: ALAN AUSTEN, EMMA DARK, CHRIS HAMPSHIRE, BERIC READ, SAMANTHA OCI / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW (DVD & YOUTUBE)

Thrust into a game of life and death, Adam must make tough decisions in Emma Dark’s award-winning short, Salient Minus Ten.

Short films are arguably more difficult to create compared to those of a feature-length based primarily on the fact of the restricted time element. However, with that difficulty factor very much an obstacle to overcome, they can be used as a great measure of talent if done well and that is most certainly the case in terms of Salient Minus Ten.

The story follows an average guy, Adam, who is suddenly transported to a strange landscape and is instructed that he has ten minutes to save his world based on his decisions. The narrative is an intriguing concept and keeps the audience gripped as to what will happen next. Unfortunately, though, the limited runtime does take some of the impact away as this particular tale may have been best served as a slightly longer short film in order to connect with the character and the world in greater depth as we, as one, would like to know more about Adam and exactly what his decisions will mean for the future.

What Salient Minus Ten really excels in though, is as a showcase of Emma Dark’s ability as a Director and Philip Bloom’s expertise as a Cinematographer. The film is beautifully shot and graded, adding an air of mystery and fascination to a solid concept. Emma’s eye for detail shines through as she manages to capture a classic retro sci-fi feel whilst also feeling impeccably modern through a stunning score and great special effects – something that is incredibly challenging for an independent production to achieve.

At its core, Salient Minus Ten is a concrete idea that could serve as an enthralling extended short film or feature which would allow for greater character development but is ultimately a fantastic showcase of Dark’s talent as a filmmaker and shows that she has a bright future ahead of her.

The Film is available to watch on YouTube and Emma is also selling DVD double packs of Salient Minus Ten and her other short Seize the Night over at her Etsy store.

JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK: APOKOLIPS WAR

JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK: APOKOLIPS WAR

JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK: APOKOLIPS WAR / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: MATT PETERS, CHRISTINA SOTTA / SCREENPLAY: ERNIE ALTBACKER, MAIRGHREAD SCOTT, CHRISTINA SOTTA / STARRING: MATT RYAN, TAISSA FARMIGA, JERRY O’CONNELL, RAINN WILSON, JASON O’MARA, TONY TODD / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW (DIGITAL), MAY 18TH (BLU-RAY/DVD)

Special Features: Filmmaker audio commentary / Three featurettes / Three from the DC Vault / DC Showcase: Adam Strange / Superman: Man of Tomorrow sneak peek

In terms of anticipation, rarely has an animated comic book-driven movie been as excitedly looked forward to as much as Justice League Dark: Apokolips War. After seven years and a total of 15 movies, the world that begun during 2013’s Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox culminates here in a star-studded picture with extremely high stakes on the line. But can Apokolips War live up to the hype and pressure, or is this a film that ultimately has too many plates to continuously keep spinning? Let’s find out.

Pulling loose inspiration from Geoff John’s The Darkseid War comic book arc, Apokolips War is the point that all of its predecessors have been slowly building up to. To paraphrase another certain hero from another certain franchise, we’re in the endgame now. And boy oh boy, is it glorious! Opening with the Justice League intent on taking the fight to the nefarious Darkseid and ending things once and for all, things don’t work out all that well for DC’s finest. Instead, we’re soon taken to a ‘two years later’ landscape in which these heroes failed in their biggest test yet. As a result, many heroes are dead or rendered a shell of their former selves, while the universe as a whole has been left decimated by Darkseid and his minions. Even though Apokolips War features a who’s who of DC Comics characters, it’s largely down to John Constantine (Matt Ryan), Superman (Jerry O’Connell), and Raven (Taissa Farmiga) to band together to try and right the Justice League’s previous wrongs and somehow put a stop to Darkseid.

From the moment that Superman gives an impassioned speech during the film’s opening moments, you realise that the threat and risk of Apokolips War is unprecedented. Far removed from the ever-positive Man of Steel we’ve come to know and love, this is a Superman who has realised what really needs to be done to stop Darkseid – and a Superman who is now prepared to do just that. As mentioned, this battle doesn’t go well for those fighting the good fight, and thus we’re taken to an apocalyptic future just two years down the line.

Further adding to the hard-hitting nature of Apokolips War, those stakes are only further emphasised when some of our most beloved superheroes are brutally murdered at the behest of Darkseid. And in these moments, Apokolips War makes full use of its 15 certificate/R rating as the gruesome gore is never anything but shockingly violent. Seriously, elements of certain fight scenes are reminiscent of another recent animated Warner Bros. release, the carnage-laden Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge.

Juggling so many characters was always going to be a tall ask, and by focussing the majority of attention on a select few of these – a select few who nicely encompass the varying strands of this shared realm of movies – was a sensible call. Given how this film serves as a sequel to pretty much anything we’ve seen over the last six or seven years, Apokolips War does brilliantly to service the multitude of tales that came before it in a way that feels natural, logical, yet often also truly shocking. There are moments here that will bring a genuine tear to the eye, a lump to the throat, and a thawing out of even the coldest of hearts.

Brimming with emotion, action, and an engaging endpoint story, Justice League Dark: Apokolips is a complete and utter triumph from all involved in the cast and crew. Every voice talent does their absolute best with whatever piece they were afforded in this particular puzzle, but special praise has to go Matt Ryan and Taissa Farmiga. In a world so often dominated by a Batman, a Superman, or a Wonder Woman, it could easily be that characters like Constantine and Raven got a little lost in the shuffle. Instead, here Ryan’s Hellblazer and Farmiga’s Raven are front-and-centre as two of the movie’s anchors – and both do a fantastic job in steering the Apokolips War ship.

By the time all is said and done with Apokolips War, this shared animated universe very much will never be the same again. And while we may not know what’s next for this set of characters, Apokolips War delivers the sort of finale that is all that you could hope for if you’ve spent the past seven years invested in this world.

 

CODE 8

NETFLIX ORIGINAL | DIRECTOR: JEFF CHAN | SCREENPLAY: JEFF CHAN, CHRIS PARE | STARRING ROBBIE AMELL, STEPHEN AMELL, SUNG KANG, ALEX MALLARI JNR | RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Code 8 – a low-budget sci-fi passion project for cousins Robbie and Stephen Amell, expanded from a 2016 short film of the same name – would probably have passed largely unnoticed if not for the curious lockdown circumstances that have forced people to dig deeper into the dark corners of Netflix than they might normally have done. Consequently, the film is currently enjoying a healthy profile on the streaming service as ravenous audiences clamour for more and more original content. ‘Original’ isn’t, however, a word we’d necessarily associate with Code 8 as it takes some well-worn clichés – here it’s the idea of the trials and tribulations faced by a small percentage of the population who are born with ‘supernatural’ abilities and the fear and suspicion they arouse in a hostile society that forces them to live in poverty and squalor. Code 8 is unashamedly low-budget stuff – the film was largely crowd-funded – and yet it manages to turn its lack of cash to its advantage by delivering a few impressive money shots and spending its time developing its world and its characters.

Connor Reed (Robbie Amell) is a ‘Power’ with electro-kinetic abilities, eking out a living from manual labour jobs and trying to support his sick mother who is suffering from brain cancer. He is enlisted by telekinetic mobster Garret Kelton (Stephen Amell) who recruits him in a series of heists and robberies which will provide Connor with the money he needs to pay for his mother’s treatment as well as making up the shortfall in the profits from a drug business run by Garret’s sleazy boss. Garret tries to help Connor master his own abilities and encourages him to become more assertive in a world determined to grind him and his like into the ground. But the pair’s partnership and, particularly, Garret’s associations, lead the pair into dangerous territory and Connor is forced to make difficult decisions about his own future as his mother’s condition deteriorates and time begins to run  out.

It would be easy to dismiss Code 8 as just a cheap and lazy X-Men rip-off but the film’s strength lies in its thoughtful characterisation, its well-realised vaguely-dystopian world, and a script that gives its characters room to breathe and develop as it explores its themes of a society where people aren’t just good or bad but capable of great moral ambiguity for all sorts of reasons. Lincoln City, the faceless metropolis where the action takes place, is patrolled by huge flying drone aircraft which disgorge RoboCop-like android ’Guardians’, and these sequences are where the money has been spent, resulting in a couple of impressive action scenes in which the drones sweep across the city and the Guardians indulge in combat with Garret’s gang and assorted undesirables. Elsewhere, many of the effects – electric bolts and various bangs and flashes – are very much the stuff of a modestly-funded TV series – but we’re constantly reminded that they’re really not the point of the film or the story; the point is we’re getting involved in these people and we’re genuinely invested in their world and the uncomfortable predicaments and moral dilemmas it throws up.

Code 8 isn’t perfect, of course – it’s a bit too relentlessly dour and humourless – but it does a remarkable job in bringing a believable alternative world to the screen on the sort of resources that would barely pay for the credit sequence in an X-Men movie, and yet it handles similar themes and ideas with considerably more intelligence and thoughtfulness than the last few desperate entries into the enduring Marvel mutant saga. There’s enough potential here, in fact, for what’s been described as a ‘short-form’ spin-off series for pointless short-attention-span streaming service Quibi, but we’ll believe that when we see it.