IT Chapter Two - Film Review

IT Chapter Two returns audiences to the small town of Derry, where the terrifying entity Pennywise has awakened from his decades of slumber ready to kill more children, and to get revenge against the Losers Club.

The choice to split IT into two films is probably the best thing that the filmmakers could have done. Whilst the shifting narrative settings within the book worked for that particular format (though I did have a few issues with it on occasion when reading it), it worked less so in film, as the 1990 miniseries showed. Here, the adult actors get their chance to shine without having to compete with the teenagers who played the younger versions of the characters. Even though there are some scenes in IT Chapter Two that return audiences to the 1980's, this is still very much about the adult cast, and these flashbacks play important parts in their journeys.

The adult cast are very good, and for a number of them it's almost eerie how much they look like the younger versions of the characters from the first film. Andy Bean who plays Stanley Uris is only in the film for a short amount of time, but I was immediately stunned by how much he looked like an older version of Wyatt Oleff; likewise, Nicholas Hamilton had a similar impact as an older Henry Bowers. And whilst Bill Hader did resemble Finn Wolfhard to a certain degree, it was his portrayal that really sold it being the same character.

I actually found him to be the most interesting member of the Losers Club in this film, and think that the new subplot about him being a closeted gay man was actually really interesting, and at times his performance was very moving.

The gay plots that happened in the film were handled well, especially the opening scene of the film that depicted the brutal homophobic attack of Adrian Melon. A scene that was cut from the 90's miniseries, it was used here to great effect. It took an incredibly disturbing and violent act, a very real kind of act, and used to it return Pennywise in a truly shocking way. For much of the scene you could be forgiven to forget that this is a film about an evil clown as we see that everyday people can be capable of such incredible evil themselves. Whilst some people complained about the tone and the violent nature of the scene it was an incredibly important scene from the book and I for one am very glad to see it included.

Unfortunately, the one area that I felt let this film down was that it just wasn't as scary as the first film. Perhaps this is because during the first film we were still discovering this version of Pennywise, and that slow unfolding of the threat was very scary. Maybe it's because I knew how the character acted now that I was somewhat prepared a second time round. Whatever the reason, he just didn't scare me as much. And I'm someone with coulrophobia, so this film should have really messed me up.

But this complaint is in no way a complaint about Bill Skarsgard, who is absolutely phenomenal in the role. I understand that a lot of people have a very real connection to Tim Curry as Pennywise, and whilst I do love Tim Curry he's nowhere near as good in the role as Skarsgard. He exudes menace whenever he's on screen, even when he's being sweet to children to lure them in. He's able to convey huge shifts with the tiniest facial expression, and can go from creepy to downright horrifying with the flip of a switch. So much of what makes Pennywise scary in these two films is down to his acting ability, not any kind of effects, and he should be lauded with praise for his work here.

In some ways it's sad that IT has come to a close, as it feels like there is a lot more to this story and this world left to tell. I know that there is supposed to be a 'super-cut' version of the film coming, and that Andy Muschietti wants to add in deleted scenes, and even film new pieces, so I have that to look forward to, but for now I feel a little down that it's done.


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The Predator - Film Review

I don't want to immediately start complaining about The Predator, but even on a second viewing I'm finding it hard to find much in the film to actually like. Whilst the film looks pretty enough, and has a half decent cast the script just lets it down time and time again.

Now, this might not be completely fair for the film, as with a little look at the behind the scenes, or even the first trailer which had loads of scenes that weren't in the final film, it becomes clear that The Predator fell foul of constant re-writes, studio interference, and being unsure of what kind of story it wanted to tell.

In the final film a rogue Predator comes to earth, apparently to give the human race a piece of advanced alien technology to allow us to fight the 'evil' Predators. Okay, not too bad a premise, except that this 'good' Predator spends all his time attacking and killing humans, and makes no attempt to make any form of alliance with them or appear to wants to help them at all. In conflict with this Predator is the new Hybrid, who wants to kill the 'good' Predator and destroy his ship.

The plot feels incredibly clunky, and seems to develop in ways that feels unnatural. Character motivations change on a whim, the plot doesn't seem to match up with what's happening, and the titular monsters act completely out of character.

It turns out that a lot of this is due to the face that the whole second half of the film was completely changed during production. In the original film Quinn McKenna and the Loonies are recruited by a general who tells them that the Predator they have been in conflict with is a rogue who has been experimenting with combing Predator DNA with various species from Earth. The humans then team up with a pair of Ambassador Predators to take down the rogue. There are a number of scenes from this original story still in the first trailer, including the character of Nebraska riding on top of a tank, which would have been driven by a Predator.

This version of the film also included various Predator hybrid monsters for the team to fight. Unfortunately, a number of preview screenings came back with negative responses and the decision to completely change half the film at the last minute was made. As such, I can kind of forgive The Predator for ending up a complete mess, but I'd personally would have still preferred this original version as it would have given us something different from the other films.

The Predator became a victim of behind the scenes interference, and greatly suffers for it. It had a confident start, but didn't know how to end, which resulted in several alternate endings that included appearances by Arnold Schwarzenegger as Dutch, and even ones that had Ripley and Newt from the Alien franchise turning up. The ending they did choose, the Predator Killer suit, was so ridiculous that any good the film did have is ruined by a final scene that just felt ridiculous and badly thought through.

The film has some good performances from actors who are struggling with a script that lets them down. The loonies are caricatures of people with a variety of mental health conditions and post traumatic stress that seem to have been added for comedic relief. One, maybe even two characters that are included to elicit a laugh might be okay, but five comedy relief characters is just too much. This isn't a Police Academy film.

The Predator could have been a good film. It could have been a great film. Unfortunately, thanks to production issues it ends up being a broken film, a film that makes little sense within its own universe. If there are more films in the Predator franchise to come I hope that they are able to correct some of issues that this film has made and fall back into line with what the franchise used to be. The worst film in the Predator franchise, and almost as bad as the Aliens vs Predator films, it's only really worth watching if you're a completionist fan.

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The Lion King - Film Review

I, like many people around my age, have a soft spot in my heart for The Lion King. It was one of the animated movies that I grew up with, and remember the fuss made about it before it came out, and how excited people were for it. Then, when I finally watched it I, like a lot of people, was so deeply affected by the death of Mufasa that the film stuck with me throughout my childhood.

When news came that the film was to be remade in the slew of live action Disney films I was a little nervous. Of the films that I'd seen I found that they were very hit or miss, and I either really enjoyed them or didn't like them at all. However, seeing that Jon Favreau was involved following the success of The Jungle Book, and that James Earl Jones would be returning to reprise his role I was on board.
 Having now seen the film I will say that I found it...okay.

Whilst there is nothing in this new version of the film that I absolutely hated there were several times during the movie that I found myself thinking that the animated feature did it better. For the most part these were the musical numbers. I appreciate that it's hard to make animals look photo realistic and have them singing and dancing around the way they can in an animated movie, but most of the song sequences in this new version felt like they were lacking some of their punch. Though 'I Just Can't Wait To Be King' was still a lot of fun.

The main thing that really impressed about this new version was that they had altered the script in a few ways to give more of an explanation or to reveal more about the world. For example, when Zazu talks to Mufasa about how he used to act as a cub. One of these changes that was incredibly welcome was the fact that Shenzi, who was simply part of a comedy trio in the original, was given the spotlight as the leader of the hyena's, and had a much clearer character. She went from comedic relief to something of a lieutenant to Scar, and her showdown with Nala in the finale was very satisfying.

The new cast were also great, and were able to take roles that for a lot of people had become iconic with their original actors and make them their own. The biggest example of this is Scar. Whilst I do appreciate the fact that in the original the scheming villain who wanted to kill the character voiced by a black man and take his land was a white, British man, I don't think that the original filmmakers were trying to make any kind of commentary on how awful white people have been to African nations or citizens across history. Having Chiwetel Ejiofor in the role felt much better. The cast of The Lion King should be black, and the main lion characters especially. He brought a sense of coldness and gravitas to the role that Jeremy Irons just didn't. Irons' Scar was a caricature villain, whereas Ejiofor's felt like a real person.

This is where the new film works well, in these small little changes that elevate certain areas over the original. The increased number of black actors in the cast is an improvement. The additions to the script are an improvement. The action in the finale is an improvement. Yet despite this, there was just something about the film that failed to make it spark for me as amazing. Perhaps it's because I felt myself comparing it to the original a lot of the time that I didn't judge it as it's own separate entity.

I think that this is one of the flaws in the new Disney films. When they're too similar to the original audiences have a tendency to compare the two closely, to sit there thinking that the shots are almost identical, or the songs are the same but one version is sung better than the other. Maybe making the films more obviously different, as the upcoming Mulan appears to be will make the movies stand on their own better.

Despite these small criticisms I really enjoyed The Lion King, and look forward to seeing it again. Though sadly I will not get to experience the best part of the film again, the moment when a woman in the row behind me yelled in fear and disgust during the trailer for Cats.

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The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion – Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

The Witch (or The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion, aka Manyeo), the first part of a potential trilogy series, tells the story of Ja-Yoon (Da-Mi Kim), a young girl who has grown up living on a small farm with her elderly adoptive parents after escaping some kind of sinister experimentation and murder squad some ten years previously.

The film is very light on details as to what Ja-Yoon went through at the beginning, with opening credits that hint at mysterious experiments on children, but very little else to tell audiences what has happened. Instead, the film spends a good half of its run time teasing out small pieces of this mystery, with secret conversations and mysterious figures that follow Ja-Yoon.

Instead of focusing solely on the mystery of her past, the film chooses to give over a good portion to building Ja-Yoon as a character, letting us get to know her, her parents, friends, and even smaller figures in the periphery of her life. It’s a nice decision on the part of writer/director Hoon-Jung Park, as it helps to build the world and lets us get attached to Ja-Yoon before her world starts to spin out of control.

As with a lot of YA fiction Ja-Yoon is at the centre of an evil plot headed up by a nefarious organisation that is trying to exploit young people for their own gains. It follows a young girl who is ripped from her happy family life, who has to fight against these corrupt conspirators in order to save herself and her family. What The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion does differently, however, is to bring a Korean revenge thriller twist to the proceedings.

Without spoiling too much of the film, as there are certain expectations it intentionally builds in the audience before quickly pulling the rug out from under you, the sudden shift in its last half is a masterstroke.

The quiet, rural settings of Ja-Yoon’s home life, are gone, replaced with an industrial futurist look, complete with concrete lined labs, corridors with long staircases and high ceilings, and secret bunkers. Ja-Yoon also changes here, revealing a competent heroine beneath the scared teenage girl that we’ve been following. This shift marks a high point in the film, and is sold in large part thanks to the phenomenal acting by Da-Mi Kim, who is able to shift from scared girl to scary killer within seconds.

The other main cast members also bring a lot of great energy to the film, and the villains of the piece are some of the best. Min-Soo Jo is great as the sinister Dr. Baek, the mastermind scientist behind everything that has happened. She’s cold and calculating, trying to manipulate people from behind the scenes, and Min-Soo Jo plays her as a woman used to being the smartest person in the room, and who enjoys flaunting this sense of superiority.

Woo-Sik Choi, referred to in the credits simply as ‘Male English-Speaking Witch’, is great as one of Ja-Yoon’s fellow experimentees, though one raised within the evil organisation. It’s clear that Woo-Sik Choi is having a lot of fun playing the part, and that energy translates into his character, a twisted young man who enjoys being a killer. Both of these characters steal any scene that they’re in, and whilst being used sparingly definitely helped to raise their mystique I would have loved to see more of them.

The highlight, however, is the sudden shift into brutal action that comes within the last half hour, seeing these characters with super-human abilities fighting not just each other, but scores of soldiers too. These scenes have a visceral kind of beauty to them as people are shot, stabbed, and beaten to death in showers of blood, yet done so with such amazingly choreographed movements that it’s almost like watching a brutal ballet. If the film proves to be a success and we do get more entries into the series I can’t wait to see more of this kind of fighting and action.

A story that is really only setting the stage for things to come, we end up with a heroine that we still don’t really know, who is more than just the caring daughter that we saw in the first half of the film, a dangerous, frightening killer hiding just beneath. It’s not clear if she is even really a good person, and it’s possible that those distinctions don’t really exist within this world, opting instead for everyone to being on some kind of spectrum of grey. Despite these questions the film still delivers a great experience even on it’s own, and if the franchise ended here it would still be a great story.

Similar in a lot of ways to The Raid and the Villains novel series by VE Schwab, this is a film that is sure to draw in people who love superhero films, yet want to experience something different, fans of YA stories with strong female leads, and even action junkies who want to see some amazing fights. A brilliant start to what could be a truly amazing trilogy of films.


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Friday the 13th – Throwback 10

Originally published on Set The Tape

It would be easy to call the 2009 Friday the 13th a remake. It came out around the time a lot of remakes of popular 70’s and 80’s horror films such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and A Nightmare on Elm Street, but you can’t help but feel that this fails to fall into that mould.

For one thing, the very first film, which was so popular that it knocked Empire Strikes Back off the number one spot in cinemas, doesn’t follow Jason Vorhees at all, with it instead being his mother, Pamela Vorhees. Not only does this new film recount the events of the very first Friday the 13th within the opening titles, thereby giving any unfamilar audience members the info they need to get started, but the events that fill up the rest of the film aren’t a retread of any of the existing sequels.

Yes, Jason comes across a group of teens who do drugs, drink, and have sex so therefore need to be punished with brutal deaths, but that happens in all of the films and is more a trope of the series and horror films in general than a specific scenario. This Friday the 13th follows the formula of the series, but tells its own story. So can it really be a remake?

Whether a remake or not, it’s pretty damn good. Horror franchise sequels can often get a bad reputation, mostly due to their flimsy plot and excuses to ramp up the killings and gore factor, and Friday the 13th is no exception to this. Instead of trying to compete with these old films the 2009 version chooses to tell its own story instead.

Twenty five years after watching his mother (played by Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’s Nana Visitor) Jason Vorhees (Derek Mears) stumbles across a group of teens camping up at the remains of Crystal Lake where he has been living. Whilst attacking and killing the group he discovers that one of the girls, Whitney (Amanda Righetti) looks like his mother, and kidnaps her. Several weeks later Whitney’s brother Clay (Jared Padalecki) is searching for his missing sister when he comes across a group of teens heading up to a cabin near Crystal Lake for a weekend of partying. Clay and the teens soon become the targets of Jason.

It’s a fairly standard kind of horror set-up, and doesn’t contain anything revolutionary, but the plot around Whitney looking like Pamela Vorhees and her brothers search adds a little something extra to the standard partying teens get killed scenario. The teens are the standard mix of attractive Hollywood teens, but have some pretty good actors amongst them, including Ben Feldman from Superstore, Travis Van Winkle from The Last Ship, and Danielle Panabaker from The Flash. They’re a great mix of actors, all of whom are able to pull of the silly teenager shenanigans, yet also portraying the fear and desperation of people being hunted by a killer.

If there’s one cast member who stands out, however, it’s Jared Padalecki as Clay. Honestly, this is just a personal thing, but after years of seeing him play Sam Winchester in Supernatural watching him searching for a missing girl and having to fight an unstoppable, almost supernatural killer kind of threw me because I was just waiting for Jensen Ackles to turn up too. Whether or not he was cast in the role because he would essentially be doing the same thing he’d been doing for years on TV it’s great casting, as he’s clearly very comfortable in this kind of role.

The film is full of vicious killings, some of which are gruesome to watch, yet the filmmakers manage to keep things from going too far into the gore territory and become off-putting. The main thing that may put some people off the film would be the nudity over the violence. Whilst the violence is fairly toned down and less gory for a slasher film Friday the 13th embraces the old sensibility of showing their characters having sex. They don’t just make it clear through scripting and direction that two people have gone off to have sex, they show Juliana Guill naked on top of her costar. This is sure to appeal to some, most likely teenage boys, but feels a little gratuitous and unnecessary.

A new addition to the Friday the 13th franchise, the film takes the best parts of the series and does its own thing, telling a fairly well rounded story that makes more sense than some of the previous entries. With smart direction, good cinematography, and a well cast group of actors it stands up as a pretty darn good addition to the series.


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Frost/Nixon – Throwback 10

Originally published on Set The Tape

It’s interesting to go back and watch Frost/Nixon with a new perspective. When the film was made in 2008 the current US President was George W. Bush, a man who was at the time a contentious and divisive figure, but one that was seen as ‘not as bad’ as the titular Richard Nixon. Now, ten years later, in a time when the world has lived through two terms of Barack Obama and is a number of years into the presidency of Donald Trump it does alter how you think about Nixon.

Richard Nixon has been seen as a villainous president by many for decades, and the story of his downfall and corruption has been one that has fascinated, yet now, in a time where the US President splits up families and praises Nazi’s can we still look at Nixon and see him as a villain?

Frost/Nixon seemed to want to answer this question a decade ago, shining a light onto the world famous moments in which Nixon admitted live on air that he had engaged in illegal activities, yet chose to portray him as a very real and flawed man, something that many films that feature the historic figure have failed to do.

A large part of the success of the films portrayal comes from director Ron Howard’s decision to include the two leads from the stage production to be part of the film, having Michael Sheen play David Frost and Frank Langella reprise Nixon. You can tell that both actors are incredibly comfortable in the parts, having played them so long before even coming onto set, but it’s Langella as Nixon who shines the most.

Having studied the former president Langella captures the speech patterns without it becoming an over the top impression, and copies the physical mannerisms to the point where he is able to embody the man without the need of ridiculous prosthetic that exaggerate his features, as many films do. He doesn’t come to the production playing Richard Nixon, he plays a man, a real everyday person who happens to be in this situation, going through these events. This helps him to avoid the pitfalls of many other film Nixon’s, and even brings a lot of depth and sympathy to the role.

Come the end of the film you will find that preconceived notions about Nixon may have changed. He may no longer be the terrible figure that he’s been made out to be in the past, but simply a man who made poor choices and is trying desperately to hold onto the respectability that his former position should afford him. Sheen is excellent in his role as David Frost, though doesn’t stand out as much as Langella simply due to Frost being a much smaller personality. That’s no slight against David Frost, the man was an amazing interviewer, but simply a reflection on how Nixon towered over him during these events.

The film reflects that fact well, selling the audience on the idea that despite being a rising star David Frost was somewhat out of his depth at the beginning of the interviews with Nixon, having come across an opponent instead of a normal interviewee. Sheen plays this well, showing the highs and lows that Frost went through over the course of the process. He sells the audience on David Frost and his journey so well that when Nixon finally says the iconic line ‘when the president does it, that means it’s not illegal’ you’ll be cheering on Sheen for finally getting the win.

Whilst the two leads dominate the screen the film’s supporting cast is just as perfectly acted, with some truly brilliant character actors helping to keep the plot moving forward, including Kevin Bacon, Oliver Platt, Rebecca Hall, Matthew Macfayden, Toby Jones, and Sam Rockwell. It’s never an easy job to portray a real life figure, especially when the events are still firmly in many people’s memories and the subjects still alive, but every single cast member is perfectly on point throughout.

Ron Howard described Frost/Nixon as the ‘thinking man’s Rocky’, and it’s not far from the truth. Not a single punch is thrown between the two, but the constant back and forth during the interviews makes for some incredibly tense moments, and you’ll be willing one side to win. Frost/Nixon is a clash of titans, two men who feel that they are right locking horns and fighting to show the public their side.

If it were simply fiction it would be a fascinating and well made film, but because it’s real world history it becomes a much more important and intriguing piece.


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Star Trek: Insurrection – Throwback 20

Originally published on Set The Tape

Star Trek: Insurrection is the first Star Trek film that I remember seeing in the cinema. Having grown up watching various incarnations of the franchise on BBC2 in the evenings, and having seen the previous films I was very excited to go see my first Star Trek movie. However, when I left the cinema I found myself feeling somewhat deflated about the experience; and nothing much has changed over the last 20 years.

To be fair, there isn’t really anything hugely wrong with the film. The story is fine, the character moments are on the whole very good, and there’s an interesting central moral struggle for the Enterprise crew to grapple with. What it doesn’t do, though, is feel like a movie.

Star Trek: Insurrection would be a perfectly reasonable two-part episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, but having followed the massive success of Star Trek: First Contact it doesn’t even feel like it’s in the same league. Having researched a little into the making of the film I think there are a number of reasons for this.

The biggest reason for the film not being as good as its predecessor is the fact that Paramount Pictures set out to make a film with a much lighter tone than the last. Considering how dark Star Trek: First Contact is both visually and tonally it’s not hard to be different, but it seemed like the studio set out on this path without any clear indication of the type of story they wanted to tell.

A number of writers were brought on board the project, including  long time Star Trek alumni Michael Piller and Ira Steven Behr, to provide treatments. The story went through a number of changes, ranging from Romulan plots to Picard (Patrick Stewart) as a renegade who would have killed Data (Brent Spiner) at one point in the film. From what I have read it would appear that the finished film was something of a compromise, with several writers, producers, and cast members all bringing input to the final piece. Despite this, the story ended up being quite good, but lacked the ooph that a feature film needed.

The final plot sees the crew of the Enterprise being sent into a region of space known as the Briar Patch, to the idyllic home of the Ba’ku people – a race who possess the secret to eternal youth – to rescue a team of scientists that were secretly studying the Ba’ku, after Data appears to have gone berserk. When it transpires that Starfleet want to remove the Ba’ku from their planet in order to harness the secret of their youth, Picard and his crew must go against orders to save them.

The moral questions raised by the film are fairly good – ‘Is it right to destroy 600 lives to save billions?’ – and the effects that the planet have on the crew are interesting and varied, and in some cases a lot of fun. The scene in which Geordi (LeVar Burton) gets to see a sunrise with real human eyes for the first time in his life is an incredibly touching moment, especially for long time fans of the character.

Despite this, there are still a few things that the film does wrong. The villains feel too one dimensional and ‘evil’. The comedic moments feel a little forced on occasion. There’s a huge lack of much needed action. And the pacing is just too slow. Personally, one of my biggest complaints is the fact that they cut out scenes that would have explored Worf (Michael Dorn) having recently had his wife murdered.

Star Trek: Insurrection is Star Trek spread too thin, a story that ticks all of the boxes but doesn’t try to excel in any particular way. The cast are great, as always, and the sets and visual effects are good, but never reach the levels of Star Trek: First Contact for emotional punch or visual flare. A competent Star Trek story, but not a good Star Trek film.


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Star Wars Resistance 1×01/02 – TV Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

Following the massive critical and fan success of both Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels, new Disney series Star Wars Resistance had big shoes to fill. In the build up to its release, the reaction to the show has been mixed, with some people disliking the drastic change in art style, the apparent lack of any Jedi, and some even disliking that the show wasn’t going to continue some of the plot threads left over at the end of Star Wars Rebels.

Despite a lot of vocal fans decrying the show before it had even aired, the reaction to the first episode, entitled ‘The Recruit’, seems to have won audiences over with its bright and beautiful animation, new characters, and sense of fun adventure.

The story is set several months before the events of Star Wars: The Force Awakens and follows young New Republic pilot Kazuda ‘Kaz’ Xiono (Christopher Sean) as he finds himself being drawn into the fledgling Resistance. Having gotten hold of some intel that hints that the First Order may be planning a strike on the New Republic, Kaz agrees to help Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) by going undercover to find a spy on the planet Castilon.

So, we know what this attack is going to be and how it’s going to come about thanks to the events of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, so there’s no mystery there, but the hidden spy on the Colossus fuelling station is a good enough mystery to get the series started. The platform is a unique looking place, somehow reminiscent of the wider Star Wars universe, yet looking very new.

The Colossus itself is packed with a huge variety of species for the series to show off and dozens of potential suspects for Kaz to have to investigate. There are races from the original trilogy, such as Rodians and Bith, there’s a number of pit droids and an Aleena from the prequel films, to sequel trilogy species like Abednedo and Crolutes. Despite all of these races making an appearance, the show is still able to add its own unique looking designs, with junk shop owners Orka (Bobby Moynihan) and Flix (Jim Rash) being particular stand outs.

There’s little focus on Kaz’s mission in these opening episodes, with time being given over to establishing the world instead. Because of this, there is a bigger focus on racing. It’s hard to know how much a part of the series this is going to be going forward, but considering there’s at least four other big name pilots that Kaz has yet to face, I’d imagine his racing career is going to be intertwined with his spy mission quite a bit. And after two shows about fighting huge foes, along with the Jedi and Sith, a smaller scale story like this is actually a nice change of pace.

The animation style also helps with this too, with the new cell shaded look a big leap away from the previous shows that utilised CGI animation. The new looks makes Star Wars Resistance look brighter and more colourful than either The Clone Wars or Rebels were able to be; and along with some fun comedy moments, helps to create an opening that feels somehow less oppressive and more enjoyable.

I can’t help but feel that this is an intentional choice on the part of the creators, and particularly Dave Filoni. This is set in a time period before the First Order started their campaign on the galaxy, when the New Republic was in power and people didn’t believe war was coming. It was a time of relative peace and harmony, and the tone of the series seems to be reflecting this. If the series continues to the point of the new films, I’d be very interested to see if the visual style alters to show this darker period, especially as Kaz’s father is a New Republic senator, and in theory will die during the events of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Star Wars Resistance is a bright and engaging new series with some good universe building in a time period we known virtually nothing about. The opening episodes don’t delve too deeply into the series plot, but chose to spend some time building their new world and establishing the new cast of characters. With the previous two Star Wars animated programmes having achieved such great heights in quality, it’s safe to say that this could be the beginning of something special.


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Serpent – Film Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

Psychological thriller Serpent tells the story of Gwynneth (Sara Dumont) and Adam (Tom Ainsley), a married couple who travel to South Africa so that Tom can study a rare beetle. However, things aren’t the great when the two of them become trapped in their tent with a deadly Black Mamba, and Tom discovers that Gwynneth has been having an affair.

The concept of Serpent isn’t a bad one, that of being trapped in a confined space with one of the most venomous and aggressive snakes in the world, but the film can’t survive solely on this. There is only so much of two people laying in a tent not moving you can watch before it becomes boring. As such, the film has to bring something extra to the table.

Writer and director Amanda Evans chose to make a relationship drama; again, this isn’t a bad choice. Whenever people are trapped in dangerous situations together, personal interactions can be pushed to the extreme and relationships can be strengthened or destroyed completely. However, the biggest issue is that it’s hard to care about Gwynneth and Adam.

They’re the only characters in the film and as such it’s down to them to populate this world for the audience. Gwynneth starts the film apparently trying to break off her affair (although it’s hard to tell for certain as she never states this once). She is ignoring calls and from whomever it is that she’s been sleeping with. It gives the sense that she’s trying to get away from him and wants to rededicate herself to her marriage, especially when she begs Adam to take her with him on his trip.

It’s easy to see why she would have an affair and hard to understand why she wants to be with Adam as the two of them have very little chemistry. The film is filled with long, awkward silences between them, one of them walking off screen instead of answering a question, or long glaring looks. They feel like a couple whose relationship is already long over.

Whilst you could chalk this up to Adam having been suspicious of Gwynneth having an affair it’s pretty obvious by his reaction when he finds the messages on her phone that he’s taken completely by surprise. That actually leads me to one of my biggest issues with the relationship drama between the two of them.

Adam uses her phone’s screen light to try and distract the snake whilst inside the tent. He picks up her phone and it immediately unlocks, bringing her texts with her mystery man up on screen. Now, anyone who is seriously cheating on a partner would have a lock on their phone, would not have the messages open ready as soon as the phone unlocks, and if the affair is over, they would delete all of those messages. The fact that as soon as Adam touches her phone all the evidence pops up on screens is incredibly convenient for the plot and unbelievable for real life.

With the added realisation that his wife has cheated on him, Adam discovers that he’s trapped in a tent with two serpents (I see what the film did there). Whilst most people would probably shelve this issue until they’re more hand inches away from a horrible death, Adam decides that it’s a perfect time to pin his wife down and try to strangle her to death. His pregnant wife I might add.

The cheating wife trope, the unfiltered physical violence he enacts upon her, the use of Serpent as the title, and the poster of the snake slithering over a woman’s mouth in a mock shushing finger pose all make the film feel very misogynistic and a little sexist. It plays up to tired old tropes and hackneyed storylines that not only feel out of place for 2018, but astounding when considering they were written by a woman.

The actual snake feels very secondary for much of the film, only really coming into play in the final act when both parties end up bitten. Luckily they have some meds that will save them, but only enough for one person. What kind of person goes out into an area they know is full of dangerous snakes and only brings the one dose? Seriously?

The ambiguous ending is both incredibly grim and unsatisfying. The personal drama feels strangely forced and the relationship between the two characters is mostly unbelievable. Despite some brilliant performances from Dumont and Ainsley, the film ends up feeling drab, overly long and very underwhelming.


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Night of the Creeps – Blu-ray Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

If you asked me what I thought of Fred Dekker before I watched the release of the Night of the Creeps Blu-ray I wouldn’t have been able to give you much of an opinion. However, having now seen the film, and realising that he was also the writer/director of Monster Squad, a number of Star Trek: Enterprise episodes, and Robocop 3 (even he’s not proud of that one), I have to say he might be one of my favourite directors.

Night of the Creeps is Dekker’s first time as a feature film director, but watching the movie you’d be hard pressed to tell. It’s sleek, stylish, has great effects, a brilliant cast, and a sense of fun that directors who have been working in the industry for decades sometimes fail to achieve.

Beginning in space, the film shows a battle on an alien spaceship, complete with little rubber space men and laser guns. During the fight a mysterious canister is ejected from the ship and crashes to the planet below them, Earth. Landing in a quiet American town in the 1950s, the canister is found by a college couple and the boy becomes infected by a strange parasite.

This opening sequence is brilliant. The alien spaceship is so completely different from anything else in the film, yet doesn’t feel jarring or out of place, and adds an extra layer of scope and scale to what could have been a fairly small story. Once the pod lands on Earth the film switches to black and white and evokes the feel of a 1950’s B-movie, complete with parking teens, radio announcers talking about an escaped mental patient, and said mental patient wielding an axe.

Following this frankly inspired opening the film jumps forward in time to the 1980s where it follows college students Chris (Jason Lively) and J.C. (Steve Marshall) as Chris decides to try and woo the beautiful Cynthia (Jill Whitlow). When Chris decides that the best way of doing this is to join a fraternity, he and J.C. get roped into performing a prank that requires them to steal a body. Sneaking into the college labs they discover the frozen body of the boy from the 1950s and let him out, unwittingly unleashing the parasites inside him upon the town.

The set up is silly and simple, two things that are definitely needed for a film as ridiculous as this. The characters don’t take themselves too seriously, J.C. seems determined to make everything into a joke, and they are content to have fun with their misadventures. Whilst the film isn’t an out and out dark comedy, the college students bring a level of levity and humour to the film that stops it going too far into the realm of horror.

Dekker would go on to release Monster Squad a few years later, and it follows a similar mix of humour, charm, and horror, though aimed at a younger audience. As such, if you enjoyed Monster Squad but have not seen Night of the Creeps you’ll very much feel at home here.

One of the best characters has to be Ray Cameron (Tom Atkins), a gruff and grumpy police detective who is haunted by events in his past. He brings a level of seriousness to proceedings, even having the darkest and most emotion filled scene of the film, yet also has some of the best comedy lines too.

‘I’ve got good news and bad news girls. The good news is your dates are here.’

‘What’s the bad news?’

‘They’re dead.’

 The zombie effects are top notch, with everything in the film being done practically by an incredibly talented team. Whilst some practical effects can age very quickly, a lot of the work in Night of the Creeps still looks great. The head bursting effects of the zombies are over the top and at times ridiculous, but they work so well because the film as a whole feels over the top and ridiculous.

There’s not really a moment of the film that feels slow or dull, and it was thoroughly entertaining throughout, especially when you spot the little cameo appearances from people such as Dick Miller, Greg Nicotero, and Shane Black. The script is punchy and witty, and the editing and music are perfect for a cheesy 80’s flick.

The Blu-ray presents the film in the director’s cut version, which boasts an extra scene of zombie killing action in a tool shed, as well as the original ending. The release does provide the alternative, theatrical ending in the extras, but it’s good that the film is presented in the way it was originally intended.

The Blu-ray also gives two commentary tracks that are both filled with great behind the scenes stories and insight, as well as behind the scenes documentary, and an interview with Tom Atkins who briefly discusses his career.

Night of the Creeps is an absolute gem of a film, one that I’m disappointed that I’d never seen before. The new release corrects that, giving not only the best looking version of the film on home release but a slew of extras that are more than worth exploring. A must have for any fan of horror, or the 80’s.


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Dusty And Me – Film Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

Dusty and Me is the kind of film that you’d expect to find playing on a Sunday afternoon. It’s the tale of a misfit trying to find their place in the world, an animal sidekick, some bumbling bad guys, and nothing too offensive.

Derek ‘Dusty’ Springfield (Luke Newberry) is a young man returning home to Yorkshire after attending private school, waiting to hear if he’ll be accepted into Oxford University. Dusty is portrayed as something of a black sheep of the family, though this is less because of anything he’s done that could be considered particularly bad, but because he’s smarter than his family.

His mother Lil (Lesley Sharp) and big brother Little Eddie (Ben Batt) offer him support and encouragement, but he struggles to connect with his father Big Eddie (Ian Hart) or make new friends. However, this all changes when he takes on a disowned greyhound named Slapper.

This is where the film struggles to decide on the tone that it wants. At times it’s trying to be a comedy – and isn’t too bad at it – whilst also bombarding viewers with Dusty lamenting Slapper as his only friend. It seems to want to be a family-friendly comedy, but also wants to be something deeper and resonating. Unfortunately Dusty and Me isn’t original enough to be able to succeed at this. The awkward outsider finding their only friend in an animal has been done a number of times before.

The plot expands in expected ways when Slapper helps Dusty to become noticed by local girl Chrissie (Genevieve Gaunt), leading to a slightly awkward romantic sub-plot. When something bad happens to Slapper (in this case getting stolen) the rest of the cast come together to help rescue her.

Sadly, despite good intentions, Dusty and Me feels like it lacks any real originality and substance. Dusty feels less like an outsider and more an arrogant young man who believes that his intelligence makes him better than other people. He lacks any real development and the acceptance he receives later in the film comes more from people wanting to help Slapper than anything he’s earned.

The supporting cast are good, with some recognisable and likeable actors in the mix, but many are underused. Iain Glen in particular is one of the strongest actors in the cast, yet never feels like he’s being used to his full potential.

Dusty and Me has good intentions; it wants to tell an inspiring and uplifting story, yet lacks any real nuance, drama or real character growth.

The production design works well, recreating the 1970s pretty well. Where some films and television shows set within the period often feel drab and dull, with East is East and Life on Mars springing to mind as prime examples, Dusty and Me manages to be both colourful and bright. These design choices inject life into a time and setting that other projects often portray as somewhat depressing.


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Deep Rising – Throwback 20

Originally published on Set The Tape

Before his success with The Mummy, the Stephen Sommers written and directed Deep Rising hit screens in an unashamed tribute to cheesy monster movies that should be terrible, but ends up being enjoyable because it doesn’t take itself too seriously.

The film follows ship captain John Finnegan (Treat Williams), who has been hired by a group of shifty mercenaries headed up by the ever sinister Hanover (Wes Studi) to transport them to the state of the art cruise-liner Argonautica. The mercenaries are working for the ship owner Simon Canton (Anthony Heald) and plan to rob the ship and sink it for the insurance money.

Unfortunately, before they are able to arrive at the Argonautica, something rises up from the deep of the ocean and attacks the ship. By the time the bad guys turn up, none but a small group of survivors are left alive, including the international jewel thief Trillian St. James (Famke Janssen).

Whilst looking for a way off the Argonautica and for the supplies needed to repair their ship, the group discovers a deadly sea creature that is hunting down the humans and devouring them.

Deep Rising is an unusual film in the sense that there are no heroes for you to root for. Yes, Finnegan is fairly heroic and the nicest of a group of nasty people, but every survivor on the Argonautica is a villain. There’s a gang of killers, a corrupt businessman, and a thief. Despite this, you find yourself wanting certain members of the group to survive, whilst you actively hope for others to get eaten. Though how you feel about certain characters will shift from time to time.

The real star of the film, however, isn’t any of the human characters, but the giant sea monster come to kill them all. Described by Canton as probably being an extremely mutated version of an Ottoia, a type of prehistoric sea worm, the monster is like an octopus from hell. With a central body that looks like a giant demonic baby, it has dozens of tentacles coming off it that each have their own vicious mouths on the ends, capable of swallowing people whole, where they are then dissolved whilst still alive.

The monster is a unique design, one that I’ve not really seen repeated in other films, and the setting makes prime use of it. The tentacles spread throughout the ship, working their way through pipes, under floors, and through portholes. Due to the way the ship is built there’s not a single place that’s safe from them suddenly appearing, and this means that the film doesn’t have a chance to take a break. The pace is fast as the characters run for their lives; which is a good thing really, because it stops you from having a chance to think about how cheesy the film actually is.

Deep Rising clearly takes inspiration from disaster films and B-monster movies, and wears these proudly. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, and this makes the whole experience better. The story is too ridiculous to be anything other than tongue in cheek, and the film would definitely have suffered if it had tried to be anything else. It’s easy to see the style that would go on to become recognisable in Sommers later works such as The Mummy films, and Van Helsing developing here.

A fun little film for fans of the monster genre, with a unique design and some fun performances, but don’t come into it expecting a cinematic great or you might be a little disappointed.


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Birdman of Alcatraz – Blu-Ray Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

Birdman of Alcatraz is often cited as one of the greatest prison dramas ever committed to film; and now, for the first time ever, the moving human drama has been brought to Blu-Ray in stunning quality.

Telling the highly fictionalised story of real life prisoner Robert Stroud (Burt Lancaster) through his many years incarcerated in Leavenworth prison and later Alcatraz. Sent to prison for murder, Stroud quickly finds himself at odds with those running the institute due to a rebellious streak. After fatally attacking a guard, he’s placed in solitary confinement where he discovers a baby sparrow, which he nurses back to health. This begins a passion with birds that would become an area of expertise, earning him the moniker ‘Birdman’.

After being moved to Alcatraz, Stroud continues to find himself at odds with prison authorities, yet still manages to help stop a prison riot. Eventually, Stroud is moved on again to another prison, where he would remain.

Having read a lot about Robert Stroud, it’s difficult to fully enjoy the film as the story is so removed from actual events to be almost completely fictional. One of the biggest issues is that Burt Lancaster is too likeable as Stroud. Whilst he doesn’t play the character as a ‘good’ person, there’s enough charm to him that by the end, the audience is very clearly supposed to come away liking Stroud. This is in large down to changes made to events that paint the man in a much kinder light.

For example, the film says that Stroud killed a prison guard due to an issue around being denied visitation with his mother. Whereas, in real life, he stabbed a man to death over a minor rule infraction. His role in helping to end a prison riot on Alcatraz  is also an attempt to show him as a kinder, more reformed prisoner, but in real life he had no involvement in this incident in any way. In fact, the escape attempt was not even a full scale riot at all and only involved six prisoners.

Whilst these historic inaccuracies may not be too much of an issue for a casual audience member, I couldn’t help but stumble through them, with the depiction of Stroud drawing me out of what was an otherwise enjoyable film experience. Lancaster is on fine form but the real Stroud was far from mild-mannered. Hewas described by those who knew him as “jerk”, a “vicious killer” and someone who “liked chaos and turmoil”. It is reported that fellow prisoners who saw Birdman of Alcatraz actually said that Burt Lancaster “owes us all an apology”.

Despite these historical inaccuracies, the film itself is well deserving of its place as a classic of cinema. The direction from John Frankenheimer is good throughout and he gives his actors the room to give life to their characters. The scenes are longer than they would be in a modern film and the dialogue is much slower, but this actually gives a lot a weight to scenes that would otherwise be fairly flat.

Arguably, Lancaster gives Stroud more depth and charisma than the real person had (or deserved) and some of his scenes are incredibly absorbing. Burt is also accompanied by a strong supporting cast; in particular Karl Malden as Harvey Shoemaker, the embodiment of the prison system that frequently butts heads with Lancaster.

The Blu-Ray looks beautiful and it appears that a great deal of time and effort has been made into presenting the film in the best possible quality. The picture and sound quality are superb and Blu-Ray is definitely the best way to watch this classic. Whether you’ve seen it before or have only ever heard about it, now is the perfect time to watch the oft-cited cinematic masterpiece.


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Throwback 20: The Negotiator

Originally published on Set The Tape

I feel like I have to address the elephant in the room in regards to The Negotiator before I get too far into this Throwback. I really enjoy this film, I have ever since I first saw it, but this is the first time that I have re-watched it since the allegations about Kevin Spacey’s past have come to light. Yes, this has changed how I look at this film, as I’m sure it would any project involving Spacey. However, the story, the performances, and the supporting cast in The Negotiator are so good that I found that I was able to put this aside and still enjoy the film for what it is.

Starring Samuel L. Jackson, The Negotiator tells the story of Danny Roman (Jackson), a brilliant hostage negotiator for the Chicago Police Department who finds himself in the middle of a conspiracy to embezzle large amounts of money from the department’s disability fund. His partner, Nick Roenick (Paul Guilfoyle), tells him that he has evidence from an unnamed source, but when he’s killed Danny not only becomes the prime suspect in his murder but is also framed for the embezzlement. Left isolated from his former friends and co-workers, Danny takes hostages in order to clear his name.

The Negotiator begins as a fairly standard cop drama; it has the hero cop save the day at the beginning, they go for drinks to celebrate with their co-workers, they suddenly find themselves disgraced, then they have to hand in their gun and badge. It’s a set up that has been done before in many other films, one that you’ll be very familiar with. It’s what happens after this, though, that makes the film stand out.

The majority of the film has Jackson and his hostages in one office set, whilst his former colleagues attempt to defuse the situation. Because of the fact that Jackson’s character is trained in how to defuse a hostage situation, you’re not sure which cops are there to do their job and which ones are part of the conspiracy, and the central mystery of who is behind everything adds extra stakes to the whole thing.

The Negotiator is light on action and heavy on dialogue, but it’s the perfect film for it. Gun fights and punches would feel completely out of place here as the film tries to take a more real world approach to the police force and how they would act in a hostage situation.

Thanks to the film’s supporting cast you never feel bored, or that the film needs an action sequence to make things exciting. So many of the members of the police force are cast with great actors that a lot of film and television fans will instantly recognise. Ron Rifkin from Alias, John Spencer from The West Wing, David Morse from The Green Mile, Paul Giamatti from Billions, Bruce Beatty from Straight Outta Compton, and Michael Cudlitz from The Walking Dead, to name but a small few of the amazing cast of great character actors.

With a sharp and well paced story, a really clever script, and an amazing cast to populate the world, The Negotiator is one of the better examples of a police thriller, one that takes a different approach and puts the focus on the police, rather than the hunt for a villain, in a story that keeps you guessing as to who the real bad guys are right until the end.


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Throwback 30: Die Hard

Originally published on Set The Tape

For a film that is often cited as one of the greatest Christmas movies of all time, it is a little surprising that Die Hard actually came out in mid-July in the US (although it was released in early February here in the UK). I was mildly surprised to learn this given that I regularly watch it around the weeks leading up to the Christmas holidays. The idea of watching it in the summer strikes me as a little off. When it comes to Die Hard, however, it doesn’t actually matter when it was released, or when you go and watch it, because it doesn’t rely on the setting of a Christmas party to make it one of the greatest action films ever made.

The story begins as a very personal tale of New York City cop Jon McClane (Bruce Willis) as he travels across America to be with his estranged family at Christmas. Separated from his wife Holly (Bonnie Bedelia) who moved to Los Angeles in order to chase a successful career, McClane wants desperately to have his family back and still loves his wife dearly. The personal drama stems from their inability to make their marriage work with their careers, even though an easy fix would be for John to move to LA to become a cop there.

Unfortunately their marriage woes are interrupted by one of the best movie villains of all time, Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman), and his group of German terrorists as they take control of the building in order to seal the $640million in the vault.

Die Hard was the feature film debut for Rickman – and the first action movie role for Willis – and would go on to make both of its lead actors into household names. While you can argue that each actor received accolades for this movie based solely on their own merits, I can’t help but feel that the way they are designed against each other plays a big factor to their success. Willis is the streetwise hero, wearing a vest and covered in dirt and grime, whereas Rickman is his opposite; he’s cultured, wears an expensive suit and likes to maintain his composure. They are a Yin and Yang pair who complement each other wonderfully, which is a big reason for their success.

Previously in action films, villains were portrayed as madmen or thugs, but Rickman brings so much more to the role and flips the expected characteristics of the hero and villain.

What makes Die Hard truly entertaining is Willis as the battered and near broken hero. Stripped down to only a pistol (and no shoes) he has to take on over a dozen bad guys armed with machine guns and explosives in a location that he’s unfamiliar with, in a city that isn’t even his own. He’s a fish out of water, doing whatever he can not only to survive, but to stop the bad guys.

Compared to later films in the series, especially the fourth and fifth films, this is McClane at his most human and vulnerable. He isn’t performing over the top feats like driving a car into a helicopter, he’s not even able to find a pair of shoes to steal. He gets beat up, his feet get sliced, and by the end he’s stumbling around because he can barely walk. It is this humanity, this frailty, that makes John McClane so popular and relatable.

It is strange to think that at the time it was made, Die Hard was a gamble for the studio, but with a script that was changing even during production, an actor who had never acted on film in the villain role, and a hero whose film career had stalled, it was a huge risk for them. Thankfully, they took that risk. Without Die Hard we would have lost out on one of the greatest action films (and Christmas movies) ever, and would probably not have had the careers of both Bruce Willis or Alan Rickman. Die Hard is more than just a simple action movie, and with this being the 30th anniversary of its release that should be celebrated.


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Crowhurst – Film Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

Based upon the tragic true life story of Donald Crowhurst and his attempt to sale around the world Crowhurst tells a story about the mental breakdown of a man in over his head.

Donald Crowhurst (Justin Salinger) is an average family man struggling to make money after investing all of his savings into his navigational aid for sailors, the Navicator, which wasn’t selling. Instead of listening to his wife and getting a regular job, he chooses to enter the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race, a single-handed circumnavigation of the world. Designing his own boat, he enters the race but soon realises that he has no hope of winning. Instead of quitting the race he falsifies his progress, hoping to cheat and come last, but find himself in an impossible situation when he becomes the likely winner.

Despite having been beaten to release by The Mercy, the Colin Firth starred telling of the Donald Crowhurst story, Crowhurst was actually filmed first, and takes a very different approach to telling it’s tale. Whilst Mercy was a glossy big budget affair, Crowhurst feels a lot smaller in scale, focusing on the mind of the man rather than his journey.

The film feels very low-tech, filmed with a fuzzy 60’s vibe and shot in tight, confining sets I actually had to check that it wasn’t a re-release of a much older film. It’s made to look very much of the time it’s set, with an older style of shooting not just in quality, but in the way shots are frames and the camera lingers for long pauses. In a lot of ways, the film comes across more like a television drama than a feature film.

What surprised most about Crowhurst, however, is how strange the film decided to be. We know from the real life log books found on board the Teingmouth Electron that Donalds mental health went seriously downhill during his voyage, and most likely led to his suicide, but I wasn’t prepared for how the film would portray this loss of sanity.

Director Simon Rumley, better known for his work in horror, makes the film feel more like an experimental movie. Characters spend time screaming at the camera, scenes are inter-cut with strange and bizarre cutaways, shots linger for no reason, and you’re assaulted by loud noises.

I understand that they’re trying to depict a man losing his mind, but these moments often feel too over the top and bizarre to actually be entertaining, and drew me out of the film on several occasions.

Despite Salinger’s good performance throughout, which is no easy feat given he’s in every single scene and has to show a descent into madness, the film often feels quite dull. It’s no fault of the filmmakers, there’s only so entertaining one man in a boat can be, but often the stylistic choices from the director harm the overall quality of the product.

Crowhurst is a tale of tragedy, of a man who got in over his head and ultimately lost his life. It should be heartbreaking and sad, but by the time the end credits rolled I was relieved that the film was over.


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