Review Category: Movie

AQUAMAN AND THE LOST KINGDOM

10 years on, and the DC Extended Universe has come to an end. Starting as we meant to go on with Zack Snyder’s Man Of Steel, we did not exactly go on that way at all. Through it all we have had Snyderverse’s, directorial fracas, reshoots, controversy, barnstorming success, hierarchical change, reshaping, re-evaluations, bold decisions, project shelving, incredible moments, and catastrophic failure. Through the good, the bad, and the mad, no doubt about it, this has been a ride, and this long-delayed sequel to the DCEU’s highest grossing film, in 2018’s Aquaman, is a film that is a strange way to end but also, in many ways, a perfect one.

Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom is set several years on, as Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa) sits as King of Atlantis but also fights as the watery hero Aquaman! It’s a tough balance to maintain, especially as he is also a father now. But the stability of the world is about to be thrown into abject chaos, as the vengeful David Kane (aka Black Manta) (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) is desperately seeking vengeance and to attain it will go to any length, as he discovers and unleashes an ancient dark power that threatens to burn the earth to the ground.

For better – and (in many minds we are sure) for worse – this is a pure-blooded Aquaman movie through and through, leaning into the craziest facets of this long mocked watery world and hero. The last movie felt loyal to that comic book world, but with this follow-up, director James Wan even further embraces it all to simply ridiculous but fun extent. Affectionately hugging horror (nods range from Tremors to Texas Chainsaw Massacre) and B-Movie madness on a grand spectacle-heavy scale.

Delivering something akin to Flash Gordon by way of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea and Journey to the Centre of the Earth, with Star Wars, James Bond and The Lord of the Rings sprinklings. If that sounds like everything thrown at the screen, well, that is because it bloody well is. Not everything works, a final act showdown is all too easily resolved, certain things are a little messy and some tones don’t swim together too smoothly, but this funny, warm and weird ride is appropriately controversial, divisive and interesting. And, in the most bizarre of ways, is a bigger aiming movie sequel wholly appropriate for this character and this franchise.

Jason Momoa’s cool and heartfelt hero and Patrick Wilson’s endearingly self-serious antihero half-brother Orm are this story’s sturdy brotherly anchor at core, with a knockabout chemistry that feels lovable in its own barmy way, while the visually engaging and wild adventure yarn that surrounds the film’s family-focused spirit keeps on going with creative creature designs, wacky lore and even a fishy cabarets that would make Jabba The Hutt ho ho ho in joy.

The film even takes a stab at a few more environmental themes amidst its rapid waves of deep sea battles and hero vs. hate-consumed villain clash. To that latter point, what a particular joy it was to see a superhero film actually have a baddie that they allow to cross lines and be scary without wimping out at the very end with a hand holding hallmark redemption. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II’s terrific Black Manta is certainly an ace in the deck of the movie, who dominates some of the film’s best action sequences, among a cast of some rather weighty names!

The first film may well be superior and more tightly put together but this one is certainly worth the ticket this Christmas, delivering precisely the kind of seahorse riding, Octopus-befriending, big screen trident-swirling mayhem you expect, with a lot crammed into every moment of the surprisingly not-too-long duration.

Imperfect of course but lord knows it is engagingly off the (sea)wall stuff, with a Vernian otherworldly edge and a barrage of big screen barminess that just goes for broke, no matter the costs. Which is admirable, if not maybe sensible but as Aquaman himself says early on, “You say everybody’s good at something. Me? I talk to fish…Some people think that makes me a joke. But I don’t care.” Fair play.

Opening with Storm the seahorse in an actual storm, and ending with a literal (and figurative) mic drop, Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom refreshingly gives zero F’s and just is what it is, making it a perfect send-off for the DCEU.

Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom is in cinemas now.

ROADKILL

Indie revenge road movie Roadkill delivers lots of twists and turns on its blood-spattered tour through the backroads of small-town eighties America. The film adopts the sensibilities of the trashier action films from that same decade and the superficial style of characterisation that often goes along with it. But, if you’re prepared to come along for the ride, it’s a diverting enough journey which whizzes by in 90 minutes.

A male drifter with a troubled past is picked up on the roadside by the young female driver of a bright red Chevrolet. She’s confident, coquettish and outgoing, while her passenger is withdrawn and introverted. As the unlikely pair head south, local police are alerted to the first in a series of murders along the route. As the cops begin their pursuit, the body count rises, dark secrets come to the surface, and the investigation into who’s responsible for the killings takes a left turn.

Writer-director Warren Fast, who also appears as irascible Sheriff John Teagan, clearly loves his throwback B-movie motifs and must-have road movie moments. But the retro grindhouse preoccupations of the script mean that some themes that deserve careful handling – especially those involving physical childhood trauma – are introduced only to provide justification for misdirected payback by damaged adults. Yet, in Fast’s defence, the genre he’s paying homage to is rarely celebrated for its psychological depth. In the role of the accidental hitchhiker, Ryan Knudson keeps things brooding and introspective while, as the seemingly carefree driver, Caitlin Carmichael makes for a beguiling young femme fatale. The strained and strange dynamic between them keeps things unnerving before Fast hits the accelerator for a car-crash finale.

ROADKILL is released on streaming platforms in the US on January 5th, 2024

LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND

Adapted from Rumaan Alam’s cerebral dystopian novel, writer-director Sam Esmail’s screen version of Leave the World Behind downplays Alam’s magical realism to deliver a more grounded account of the unravelling of present-day America. As in the book, the consequences of the unseen collapse of civilisation are dramatised through the experience of two very different families whose lives intersect at the moment that the world slides into chaos.

Leaving Brooklyn for a much-needed family break, husband and wife Clay (Ethan Hawke) and Amanda (Julia Roberts) and their two adolescent kids arrive at an impressive, upmarket Airbnb rental on Long Island. The Sandfords’ relaxation is interrupted when homeowner George ‘G.H.’ Scott (Mahershala Ali) and his daughter Ruth (Myha’la Herrold) arrive with disquieting news of a citywide blackout. Overruling Amanda’s reluctance, Clay agrees that the Scotts can stay overnight. But when the following morning reveals more alarming news about what has befallen the country, the Sandfords and the Scotts are confronted by the starkest of choices if they are to survive the bewildering calamity.

Esmail’s adaptation perfectly captures the sense of mounting unease and disbelief running through Alam’s novel, blending it with the book’s acutely observed social tensions that complicate the two families’ dynamic. In place of the novel’s narrator, who provides the reader with glimpses of the global apocalypse, Esmail introduces some arresting visuals (the Tesla pile-up is a highlight) to add a sense of scale to the families’ plight. Much of the novel is ‘reimagined’ on screen, with the book’s many ambiguities replaced by more definitive explanations. But with a uniformly strong cast, this still makes for intelligent, thoughtful, and unusual end-of-the-world storytelling.

LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND is available now on Netflix

JULES

STARBURST favourite Sir Ben Kingsley delivers a charming, low-key performance as a man facing his own mortality gifted one final glorious adventure in this delightful fantasy directed by Marc Turtletaub. It’s a geriatric take on ET, a film that refreshingly flies in the face of the youth culture obsession and gives a trio of veteran actors an opportunity to show the youngsters that age is no barrier to having fun and flying high.

SBK plays Milton Robinson, a widower living alone in a small town in Pennsylvania who occupies his time making the same spurious applications to the local city council. His busy veterinarian daughter visits when she can, but his behaviour leads her to suspect that he’s suffering from the early stages of dementia. Unsurprisingly, when a UFO crashlands in his back garden, disgorging an injured, uncommunicative child-like alien he decides to name Jules, no one is inclined to believe him and his story is dismissed as just another senile fantasy. Milton seems to come alive again when he takes it upon himself to help the alien recover, and when his two friends – Joyce (Jane Curtin) and Sandy (Harriet Sansom Harris) – discover his secret, they work together to help the alien repair his stricken vessel so he can return to the stars. But NASA is tracking the fallen ship and is closing in, and the trio find themselves in a race against time to help Jules find his way back into space.

Jules is an uplifting and heart-warming film that’s not just about an alien crashing on Earth. It’s about the cruelty of the ageing process, the way older people can sometimes become invisible to younger generations and how the elderly are often treated as a nuisance, an encumbrance and an inconvenience at a time in their lives when they most need to be loved and appreciated. It’s also about how older people can be given a new lease of life and how life doesn’t have to grind to a halt just because it’s been long-lived. Poignant, affecting, and often laugh-out-loud funny, Jules is a joyous treat that will warm even the coldest of winter hearts.

JULES is released in cinemas in the UK on December 29th

THE BOY AND THE HERON

The Boy and the Heron is Hayao Miyazaki through and through. Partly inspired by the legendary filmmaker’s childhood experiences, this strange, sweeping, and poignant epic is yet another reflection of his fondness – and aptitude – for telling big-hearted stories in the most compelling, emotionally resonant ways. It doesn’t reach the creative or emotional heights of, say, My Neighbor Totoro or Princess Mononoke, but it does carve out its own place in the director’s filmography.

It certainly isn’t his tightest script, but it isn’t trying to be. Miyazaki has lots to say here, and while The Boy and the Heron doesn’t always pack the punch it undoubtedly intends, it stands as yet another stunning testament to the writer/director’s knack for offbeat fantasy.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a proper Miyazaki flick without a smattering of visceral imagery to offset its rampant whimsy. An angry red nose poking out of the heron’s beak? Disturbing, but totally on-brand. More fascinatingly, it subverts the world-building rule ‘early and often’ by keeping its magic system mostly nebulous. The film only divulges aspects of its magic system that feel relevant to the characters and their respective journeys, presenting Miyazaki with plenty of opportunities to throw ideas at the wall without worrying whether or not they’ll stick. Some of them don’t. But the depth and earnestness undergirding nearly every moment make Miyazaki’s swan song (?) a worthwhile addition to Studio Ghibli’s library.

THE BOY AND THE HERON will be in UK and Irish cinemas nationwide from Boxing Day. For more information, please go to www.theboyandtheheronfilm.com

GODZILLA MINUS ONE

No doubt about it, this is a magnificent time to be a fan of the King of the Monsters. Not only is the MonsterVerse among the healthier movie universes out there, with Monarch Legacy of Monsters conquering the small screen to much acclaim and next year’s Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire set to reduce cinematoriums to rubble again, but the legendary (pun intended) Toho studios have realised a brand new Godzilla to cinemas in Minus One. Their 33rd Godzilla, and a Christmas present for both fans of the radioactive reptilian, as well as fans of soulful, passionate cinema itself, to cherish.

Set in post-WW2 Japan, the film sees a country that lost everything and was left with zero, but with the arrival of a devastating natural force in Godzilla, a creature amplified by the after-effects of mankind’s weapons, they are set to lose even more and be left with minus one!

Ahead of Godzilla’s 70th anniversary next year, writer/director/VFX artist Takashi Yamazaki’s new film is a masterful, emotional and thematically rich kaiju story that does the utmost justice to the iconic creation of Ishirō Honda.

Scarily, like in 1954, we are still living under the ominous shadow and threat of nuclear annihilation, and Godzilla’s return to being a metaphor for radioactive devastation could not be any more meaningful. A story of nature blown out of proportion, post-war trauma and the affliction of duty and regret, Minus One is a human tale, as moving as it is crowd-pleasing. Feeling at times like Spielberg’s Jaws crossed with a wartime picture of loss, retribution and the pain of survival.

Lead stars Ryunosuke Kamiki and Minami Hamabe give this film its poignant human core as Kōichi and Noriko, respectively, as they headline an all-round superb cast of memorable characters, so plentiful in number you could list and discuss a mighty majority of the supporting cast here. The highlight, perhaps, is Hidetaka Yoshioka’s reflective weapons engineer, Kenji. This is certainly one of the best-assembled rosters of human characters in any Godzilla feature ever.

Mind you, we would guess you are all probably eager to hear about Godzilla himself. Well, he has never looked better, in all his atomic dorsal finned beauty, with a design as majestic as it is frightening (wait for that atomic breath). While Naoki Satō’s stirring rendition of Akira Ifukube’s classic score leaves you as breathless as the spectacular seat-rattling set piece spectacle.

Minus One shows so many modern blockbusters how it’s done visually (indeed, what Yamazaki has achieved here on this budget ought to be studied by all) but even more so narratively, in a thunderous, profound, and exciting cinema experience that is absolutely not to be missed!

All hail the king!

Godzilla Minus One releases in UK cinemas on December 15th.

PUNCH

by Joel Harley

A masked madman roams a small English coastal town wielding a baseball bat while dressed like Mr. Punch. Meanwhile, young Frankie (Alina Allison) wants a fun night out on the town with her pals before she heads off to university. Mr Punch has other ideas, turning the quaint English resort into a bloodbath. What’s all this then?

This quintessentially British slasher film by Andy Edwards skimps on neither the gore nor the insidious state of misery in which most of Blighty resides. Although there’s a slow build-up to the carnage, Mr Punch quickly emerges as one of the slasher greats, beating and bludgeoning his way to the top.

There are shades of the first Terrifier to the masked monster’s bloody rampage, although the film is less try-hard and much less misogynistic than all that. Instead, Punch leans into a kind of folk horror, giving this slasher villain’s crimes something of a ritualistic bent. The squeaky voice, distinctive mask and baseball bat make Mr. Punch an instantly memorable antagonist – and one that horror fans should be clamouring to see more of in the future.

Punch is released on VOD in the UK on January 22nd, 2024.

IT’S A WONDERFUL KNIFE

Just as you were waiting for a great holiday slasher to arrive, two came along all at once! In this fine vintage of a horror year, we have seen Eli Roth’s Thanksgiving carve up the competition on the big screen. And now, it’s Christmas time, and whereas last year gave us Violent Night to enjoy, we might just have found 2023’s alternative Christmas cracker in Tyler MacIntyre’s high-concept slasher It’s A Wonderful Knife.

In an inspired move, this film essentially takes the concept of Frank Capra’s iconic 1946 classic It’s A Wonderful Life and gives it a horror spin as the town of Angel Falls gears up to celebrate the holidays when a man in a white mask and robe attacks, killing two people. Young Winnie (Jane Widdop) manages to kill and unmask the assailant but loses her best friend in the process. One year later, the town and her family seem all too happy to forget about the bloodshed, while Winnie’s life seems to be slowly falling apart, and she thinks she’d be better not having been born at all. And, well, you may know the rest here: Winnie heads back to town after making that wish, only to find she has never existed, and therein wasn’t there to ever stop “The Angel” killer at all or his now ever-mounting body count in the year that followed.

It’s A Wonderful Knife has great fun with its premise, which goes beyond a fun pun and actually instils the proceedings with a fair few weighty themes and ideas. Michael Kennedy’s generous screenplay is filled with some gruesome moments and some rather sweet and sour ones, from Capra’s meaning of life musings to the power of governing by fear and the life-saving power of finding that kinship you never saw coming. The final act may get a bit heavy with some of the fantastical leanings, but this is never less than a fun film, very much in the same vein as Freaky and Happy Death Day in how it wields its premise.

Like the aforementioned, it benefits greatly from some great and enjoyable performances. Widdop is excellent as the young woman who discovers the right path in life by witnessing what the world – and her town – is like without her. Meanwhile there are terrific supporting turns from Jess McLeod as the reclusive but very kind-hearted Bernie, genre fave Katherine Isabelle gives us one of the greatest movie auntie’s ever, and Justin Long turns up the full creep-out factor as the disingenuous mayor Henry Waters!

Not everything works, and there is the odd twist you may see coming, but It’s A Wonderful Knife is blessed with a script that has plenty of ideas that are so well delivered, and a very genuine – and inclusive – heart, with a roster of strong actors and characters, and some brilliantly shot set pieces (see the lights-out cinematorium sequence) and a very memorable slasher baddie design in the all-white dagger wielding Angel.

Every time a bell rings, an angel…guts a resident! Atta boy Clarence!

It’s A Wonderful Knife is playing now on Shudder.

THE SACRIFICE GAME

Christmas holidays at an isolated boarding school go to hell when a gang of murderous cultists turn up on the doorstep looking to slake an ancient bloodthirst. Home alone on Christmas Eve, students Samantha (Madison Baines), Clara (Georgia Acken) and teacher Rose (Chloë Levine) find themselves guests of honour at an ancient bloodletting ritual… but is there more going on here than meets the eye?

Director Jenn Wexler returns with this festive take on the home invasion / Satanic panic horror movie, bringing a similar punk energy that accompanied her 2018 slasher film, The Ranger. It’s clear from the off that The Sacrifice Game has more up its sleeve than your average ~~home~~ school invasion horror film, and much of the joy is in getting there.

Pitting a repulsive set of villains (led by Mena Massoud’s charismatic Jude and Olivia Scott Welch as Maisie) against its doe-eyed heroines – and the unsettlingly calm Clara – the film lays out its pieces neatly and effectively. What follows is a not entirely unpredictable but always captivating game of cat-and-mouse between hunter and hunted – a cannier, more mischievous version of this year’s Knock at the Cabin. As the bodies pile up, the film grows wilder, coming into its own and letting the characters take over.

This is another powerful outing from Wexler, and should win over its cult viewership in the same way as The Ranger did – while also deserving the same larger audience that The Ranger should’ve had too. A darkly festive treat with plenty of twists in its stocking.

THE SACRIFICE GAME is out on Shudder UK & Ireland on December 8

THERE’S SOMETHING IN THE BARN

A typical American family have arrived in Norway to live in a house left to them by a relative. The younger of the two kids, Lucas (Townes Brunner), still has a touch of youthful wonder and goes exploring the rundown barn. It’s here where he spots a tiny man (Kiran Shah), and befriends him with some sweet treats. While the family try to fit in with the village, Lucas learns the local legend of elves that live in folks’ barns, and in Gremlins fashion, there are several rules to keep them on your side. Basically, don’t upset them and they’ll look after you. Naturally, the family don’t listen, and soon, they have a pitched battle with a horde of little folk.

Directed by Magnus Martens, who has plenty of genre TV under his belt, this throwback to the ‘80s creature feature manages to balance the comedy with some surprisingly gory moments. Like Joe Dante’s classic, this tale features a good dose of Christmas – and being set in Norway, plenty of snow – but it shouldn’t be written off as merely seasonal fare. There’s a healthy measure of cultural satire throughout, with traditions from both cultures coming under the spotlight, but without the heavy-handed nature of, say, a National Lampoon film. The lighter-hearted first half gives way to a chaotic and brutal onslaught but keeps its funny bone intact. With this in mind, there’s very little threat even when the horrific-looking elves have the house under siege, Straw Dogs-style. But while it might not be necessarily scary, the violence puts the film above the ‘family friendly’ banner. Harmless fun that will easily find an appreciative audience.