Wednesday, 18 May 2022
Everything Everywhere All at Once (Movie Review)
Friday, 13 May 2022
The Northman (Movie Review)
After making a stunning directorial debut with The Witch in 2015, Robert Eggers returns to helm The Northman, his most ambitious project yet. The historical epic is said to have cost somewhere north of $70 million to make, a huge jump from the shoestring budgets behind his two previous films. But does all that additional money translate into a better movie, or does his latest film get bogged down by the conventions of blockbuster filmmaking?
Friday, 6 May 2022
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (Movie Review)
The Marvel Cinematic Universe continues its expansion into realms
unknown in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Billed as the
MCU's first true stab at horror, they'd picked what many felt was the
perfect director to bring this darker side of the universe to the big
screen. But does Sam Raimi manage to do justice to the material, or is
this perhaps another misstep in the highly-beloved franchise.
The
film picks up after the former Sorcerer Supreme's shenanigans in
Spider-Man: No Way Home. But in terms of overall continuity, the movie
has closer ties with the first Doctor Strange film and his involvement
in Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, as well as WandaVision and certain story beats from
Marvel's What If...? Because of this, the aforementioned stories seem
like required viewing in order to fully grasp what is going on here.
In
terms of the film's actual plot though, it is hard to discuss any of it
without immediately falling into spoiler territory. I'm still
shocked by how much of it was already revealed in the trailers. But
believe me when I say that none of that is enough to prepare you for the
true scope of the film, which goes beyond anything you could've
imagined. There are plenty of twists along the way and the fact that
they were able to condense all that storytelling into two hours is a
feat in itself.
So I'll just jump right into my thoughts about the film, which I thought was amazing. Or to put it in another way, the film was every bit as wild and bonkers as its trailers promised, and then some. It delves into areas of Marvel lore that have seldom been explored outside of the comic books, showing once again that Kevin Feige and his writers still have a vast sea of material to craft stories from.
It also paints a bright picture for the future of the MCU, with crowd-pleasing cameos that hint at great things to come down the road ahead. And speaking of paint and pictures, Multiverse of Madness is easily the most visually-striking film in the MCU, managing to outdo the already mind-bending first Doctor Strange movie at every turn.
Sam
Raimi really goes all in with the otherworldly depictions of the
various beings and creatures that call the darkest recesses of the
multiverse home, lending the film his signature touch and never shying
away from becoming too scary or graphic with its violence. It might not
be a straight-up horror film but this is as close to horror as the MCU has
ever managed to get, and I am here for it.
I do indeed need to also touch upon the stars of the whole thing. It is, after all, still a Doctor Strange movie. Both Elizabeth Olsen and Benedict Cumberbatch give what is perhaps their best performances as their respective characters since they'd set foot in the MCU, while Xochitl Gomez makes a memorable debut as America Chavez. It was also nice seeing both Rachel McAdams and Chiwetel Ejiofor reprise their roles from the first film, and Benedict Wong gets to shine like never before.
It is almost
tempting for me to end the review here and declare that Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of
Madness is a perfect film. But if I'm to point out any perceived flaws
in its storytelling, then it's the fact that the film often felt too
overstuffed for its two-hour runtime. It is also worth mentioning that
the horror elements might not be to everyone's taste, especially families with younger children who'd grown to love these characters over the course of the previous films. But if you're a
fan of Sam Raimi and his work on past films like Evil Dead and Drag Me
to Hell, then there's plenty to love about this one.
Doctor
Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is a treat for the eyes and senses.
But even more than that, it is one of those rare sequels that manages
to upstage its original. I haven't been this thoroughly entertained by a
Sam Raimi film since Spider-Man 2. The director once again proves why
his unique sensibilities work so well in the context of a comic book
movie, and it is that vision that carries his latest film through in the
end.
Wednesday, 27 April 2022
365 Days: This Day (Movie Review)
Following the cliffhanger ending seen in the last film, the new one opens with a dreamlike sequence that wastes no time in showing viewers what type of movie it is: a glorified telenovela filmed like a string of music videos masking as an erotic thriller. But if you somehow manage to make it past that opening without clicking off Netflix, then you'll discover that the story begins one day before the wedding between our two protagonists, Massimo and Laura.
The movie wastes no time in brushing aside all the loose threads from the last one. Not only is Laura alive and well, but she is also no longer pregnant. I guess a baby bump or motherly duties would have gotten in the way of all the steamy sex scenes they had planned for the film. That one detail aside, we finally get to see our two lovers legitimize their romance through holy matrimony.
But the honeymoon phase doesn't
last very long and Laura is soon forced to grapple with what it truly
means to be the wife of a mafioso. In the midst of all that grappling
walks in Massimo 2.0, a hired hand named Nacho whose textbook advances
slowly begin to win Laura's affections. Now Laura must also grapple with
her loyalty to Massimo as the very foundation of their ill-conceived
love gets tested.
Let me just start by saying that I realize there is a target audience for these types of low-brow erotic films, and that I am clearly well outside that demographic. That said, every movie is still made up of the same fundamental elements like plot and characterization, regardless of genre. And while individual films might be shaped by genre conventions, those basics still act like the glue holding the whole thing together. So I figured I'd assess this one on those very grounds.
In terms of plot, the story in 365 Days: This
Day is pretty much the same generic "trouble in paradise" tale we've
seen a million times in better films. But here it is cobbled together so
sloppily that the mere act of sitting through it feels like a chore.
The characters are likewise one-dimensional with often questionable
motives, spouting meme-worthy lines of dialogue while failing to show
any meaningful growth or development. But I bet no one was heading into
this film expecting any different.
In case I haven't made it clear enough at this point, 365 Days: This Day is as bottom-of-the-barrel as it gets. It caters to the lowest common denominator in a way that even defenders of the original film (all two or three of them) are bound to feel insulted. There are, quite frankly, far better erotic films out there for those that care enough to seek them out, making it very hard to recommend this one to anyone but the laziest of Netflix subscribers.
Thursday, 31 March 2022
Morbius (Movie Review)
Coming fresh off of the success it had gotten with Spider-Man: No Way Home last Christmas, all eyes are on Sony and the third film in their villain-centric Spider-Man Universe, Morbius. This is after several delays that saw the film get moved out of its original 2020 release date, all the way to April 1st, 2022. And as trailers continued to sell us on the film's connections to Spider-Man and the other villains in his rogue's gallery, so also did our interest continue to grow. But like a cruel April Fool joke that nobody saw coming, the movie finally arrives to show us that things are not quite what they seem.
The film stars Jared Leto as Michael Morbius, a doctor who was born with a rare blood disorder. In his quest to find a cure for his illness, he begins to conduct experiments with a peculiar breed of bats he believes have the enzyme needed to reverse his condition. But the experiment ends up also giving him some of their other vampire-like qualities, including their insatiable thirst for human blood. Now Morbius must wrestle against becoming the monster people already see him as, before he ends up hurting those who are dearest to him.
On the surface, Morbius looks like a film with lots of potential. We have a fairly popular antihero from the Spider-Man comic books being played by a more-than-capable Jared Leto. We also have the promise of connections to the larger Sony Spider-Man Universe. Most importantly though, we have an origin story that looked like it would deliver both the heart and thrills we've all come to expect from these comic book movies.
And sure enough, the movie starts off with all of the aforementioned promises intact. But it doesn't take very long before the whole thing quickly loses its way with an incoherence that needs to be seen to be believed. Everything from the dialogue, to the one-dimensional characters reeks of a script that needed more than a few more passes in the writing room.
The one area where the film could have scored any kind of redemption points is in its action scenes and even those are marred with a CGI-heavy style that seems ripped straight out of the mid-2000s. It is difficult to tell what is happening at any given moment and most times you just want the whole thing to stop before you develop a headache trying to decipher any of it.
But the movie's biggest offense in my opinion is its utter failure to live up to expectations. The film was heavily marketed as a part of the larger Sony Spider-Man Universe. But any connection it has with the recent Spider-Man films is tenuous at best. In fact, many of the scenes and connections shown in the trailers are nowhere to be seen in the actual movie, in what is probably the most egregious case of false advertising I have seen in recent memory.
It is not all doom and gloom though, as the film did have one or two areas that managed to shine through the murk. First there is Jared Leto as Morbius, whose performance was heartfelt and restrained. Then there was the opening bit like I said, which looked like it should've led into a far better movie than the one we got. Except none of that is enough to save what is essentially another movie more concerned with building an interconnected universe than actually telling a coherent story.
To say that Morbius is a barely comprehensible mess would be putting it lightly. It is, quite simply, one of the worst comic book movies to grace cinema screens since Vin Diesel's Bloodshot. Anyone planning to catch the film on the big screen is advised to do so with heaps of garlic and holy water in tow. And even then, you'll be hard pressed to glean any kind of enjoyment out of its 1 hour and 44 minutes, other than perhaps chuckling at just how bad the whole thing ends up becoming.
Friday, 11 March 2022
Turning Red (Movie Review)
Pixar Animation Studio continues to deliver the goods with Turning Red, their latest coming-of-age adventure film. The movie is helmed by Domee Shi in her feature film directorial debut, whose work on the 2018 short film, Bao, had earned her an Oscar for Best Animated Short Film. So anticipation for her latest project was always going to be high, which has only been further heightened by its intriguing premise and good-looking trailers. But does the film itself live up to those expectations, or does it manage to exceed them?
Saturday, 5 March 2022
The Batman (Movie Review)
It is no secret that The Batman was my most anticipated movie heading into 2022. Following in the footsteps of the 2019 film, Joker, this latest iteration of the Caped Crusader was intended as another standalone DC project, existing outside of the DCEU and divorced from everything that came before it. And from the time that the very first trailers dropped, it was clear that director Matt Reeves had a vision for the film that was steeped in film noir sensibilities. But does all that style translate into a worthwhile movie or is this yet another case of style over substance?
Friday, 11 February 2022
Uncharted (Movie Review)
Monday, 3 January 2022
My Top 10 Most Anticipated Movies for 2022
As the 2021 holiday season slows to an end, the time has come to set our sights on what we can expect in 2022. I am of course talking about the many movies that will serve as escapism over the course of the next 12 months, be that at the cinema or on the various streaming platforms like Netflix. Thankfully, we don't have that many carryovers from the previous year this time around, as the film industry continues to adapt to the new climate, even in the face of the latest variant of concern.
I've tried as much as possible to limit my selection of 2022 movies to those ones that currently have concrete release dates, as well as some form of teaser, trailer or promotional material shared detailing what the film is about. That said, I might still sneak in one or two pie-in-the-sky movies simply because my anticipation for it cannot be contained, even in the absence of said details. So with all that out of the way, here are my Top 10 Most Anticipated Movies of 2022.
10. Morbius
One of the few films to get bumped into 2022, Morbius is an upcoming superhero movie wherein Jared Leto plays the eponymous scientist turned vampire. Sony Pictures Entertainment is currently busy building its own shared cinematic universe to rival Disney's, with their Spider-Man movies serving as its foundation. And so far, it would appear that they've scored nothing but hits with both Venom movies and all their Spider-Man films managing to resonate with fans. This is why all eyes are currently set on Morbius to keep that winning streak going.
9. Jurassic World: Dominion
The highly-anticipated third film in the current Jurassic World trilogy (itself a spin-off of the prior Jurassic Park trilogy) should be hitting cinemas just in time for summer. And if the 5-minute prologue that was shown on IMAX screens last year is anything to go by, the film looks primed to follow in the footsteps of both Jurassic World and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. Colin Trevorrow returns to direct, after stepping away for the prior installment, and his latest film is set 4 years after the last one, following that film's surprise ending.
8. Lightyear
Pixar once again returns to the property that helped make them a household name in the realm of animation, but not in the form of another Toy Story sequel. Lightyear is rather a prequel of sorts, going over the exploits of the astronaut that served as inspiration for the Buzz Lightyear line of action figures from those other films. Little is known about the project beyond that premise, but if the studio's body of work is anything to go by, then moviegoers are in for a treat.
7. Black Adam
The Rock steps into the realm of superhero fiction in Black Adam, an upcoming film in the DCEU. The long-in-development project is being positioned as a spin-off of the 2019 film, Shazam!, which is itself set to receive a sequel in 2023 (keep an eye out for it on my 2023 most anticipated films list). Fans got their first real look at the movie in last year's DC FanDome, with a short clip that shows plenty of potential for what would hopefully be another win for the DCEU.
6. The Flash
Speaking of DC FanDome, one of the films that had the most buzz heading into the event was the forthcoming Flash movie. Simply titled The Flash, the film finds Ezra Miller reprising his role as the DC speedster from Justice League. But what had fans most excited was the news that both Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck would be reprising their roles as Bruce Wayne/Batman in a story that involves time travel and multiple timelines. And those fans finally got their first glimpse of the former in the short clip that was shown during the event.
5. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Following the incredible success of the first Black Panther film in 2018, as well as the tragic passing of Chadwick Boseman in 2020, a lot of speculation has been had regarding what direction the next film in the series would be forced to take. The first film remains one of the most widely beloved films in the MCU, and a lot of that has to do with the man at the center of the film. And while the new film's production is still very much influx at the moment, it is currently slated for a November 11th release date. Here's hoping that it not only honors and carries on Chadwick Boseman's legacy, but also meets and exceeds expectations in other ways.4. Turning Red
We return to Pixar yet again on my list of most anticipated films for 2022 with Turning Red, an animated film about a young girl with an uncanny tendency to turn into a giant red panda whenever she gets anxious. The premise alone is reason enough to get excited for the film, but when you couple that with some truly gorgeous animation and the studio's pedigree, then it quickly becomes one of 2022's most promising titles.
3. Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse (Part One)
As though the highs of the recent Spider-Man: No Way Home were not enough to tide Spidey fans over until his next MCU appearance, Sony upped and dropped a trailer for the sequel to their Academy Award-winning animated film, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. This time around, it appears that Miles Morales and friends would be going "Across the Spider-Verse" as its title alludes. The film is just the first part in what is currently being billed as an overall trilogy, so buckle up for what is sure to be another wild ride.
2. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
And while we are still on the topic of Spider-Man, or Spider-Man: No Way Home specifically, the next movie in the MCU looks set to address the ramifications of the events of that film. In Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Stephen Strange would have to join forces with Wanda Maximoff as he attempts to deal with the consequences of his actions. The film also appears to tie into his appearance in the animated What If...? series, so there's plenty riding on it as things currently stand.
1. The Batman
After suffering a delay that saw it get bumped from October into March 2022, Matt Reeves' The Batman is presently slated to do gangbusters at the box office. The film will have Robert Pattison putting on the caped crusader's cowl in the masked vigilante's latest attempts to clean up the streets of Gotham. And if the trailers are any kind of indication, then this version of Batman might just be the most brutal we've gotten thus far.
Friday, 24 December 2021
2021 in Review: Looking Back
2021 marked the start of the second year since the COVID-19 outbreak. And while vaccines had slowly began to become widely available at the start of the year, this did not come quick enough to prevent most countries from being hit with second, third, fourth and even fifth waves of the deadly virus. Add to that the introduction of more contagious variants like Delta and Omicron and it would seem there is presently no end in sight.
In spite of all this, things have continued to open up as we were all eager to return to a semblance of normalcy. Most countries have been able to avoid going back into full lockdowns,
even though international travel restrictions are still a thing. Movie theaters have also started to see the kind of business they once saw before the pandemic, with some records even getting broken. If there is one thing all these facts illustrate, it is our collective ability to persevere.
One of the things that has helped us persevere this past year is our access to social media, of which Facebook remains the biggest platform. So one can understand the panic some of us felt when on October 4th, the entire platform had seemingly vanished off the face of the internet, taking with it our access to other Facebook owned apps like WhatsApp and Instagram. Thankfully, the outage had only lasted a few hours, but it was still long enough to show the dangers of being dependent on such services in the first place.
It wasn't all doom and gloom over at Facebook this year though, as its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, had made some pretty exciting announcements during its Connect 2021 virtual presentation. It was revealed the company would be changing its name to Meta as a part of their push for helping realize the metaverse, a 3D representation of the internet that would leverage emerging technologies like VR and AR. For those wondering what exactly this proposed metaverse would look like, just think of it as something close to the OASIS in Ready Player One.
Despite numerous health and safety concerns and calls for its cancellation, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games were finally (read: stubbornly) held between July 23 and August 8th this year in Japan. According to statements released by the Japanese government, the Games were to serve as a beacon of hope during the ongoing pandemic. So events were held without spectators in a bid to curb any further surges of COVID-19 cases in the country. But that could only go so far as record numbers of daily new cases were recorded both during and after the event, peaking at 156,931 on August 23rd.
A total of 205 countries had taken part in the Games, across 339 events. And by the time it was all said and done, the US had won the most medals, taking home a total of 113. This was followed by China and Japan with 88 and 58 medals respectively. Nigeria only managed to bring home two medals, one silver and one bronze, which I guess was still an improvement over the one bronze medal we won in 2016. But the fact that the Olympics had managed to take place at all this year is an accomplishment in and of itself.