Figment Reviews: June 2019

Saturday 22 June 2019

Toy Story 4 (2019) - Review

Review:

*Originally written June 22nd, 2019*

Everything about this sequel reeked of a bad idea. The idea of continuing this series after the perfect ending the third gave us was misguided and felt like nothing less than a cash-grab, then a series of underwhelming trailers prepared me for the worst. My expectations for this were at an all-time low, but that small part of me quickly gained a little bit of excitement for a new Toy Story a few days before I saw this, but like I said, my expectations were weary at best.

I was pretty astounding at how good this turned to be. They did it, those crazy sons of bitches did it. It might not reach the delirious heights of 2 and 3, but Toy Story 4 gives us an emotional, powerful ending to these characters I didn't know I needed. It's not perfect by any means, but it comes very close and feels far from the cynical cash-in I expected.

Like the previous films in this series, it has a huge focus on character over fast paced set-pieces, which is what elevates this franchise above all the over Disney/Pixar franchises for me. It's never afraid to slow things down and spend time with these characters and how they tick, what motivates them and what their purpose in life is.

It was pretty insane and surprising to me at how deep they go into the themes of existentialism. Don't get me wrong, this obviously isn't some art-house meditation on the human condition, but for a kids film, it's not afraid to go places most wouldn't even try to as these toys try to figure out what they purpose is in this world. Are they here just to bring joy to children in an endless cycle of being loved and eventually rejected or were they made sentient to follow their own path and create their own dreams.

Mainly the focus is on Woody, who's existence comes into question with the introduction of "Forky" a new toy made out of trash from their new owner Bonnie. Once Forky is made and declared a toy, he springs to life and struggles to adjust to the idea of even existing. It's kinda fascinating to me that a character made out of a plastic spork was so relatable to me. He spends the opening act believing he's trash and the only place he belongs is in a garbage bag before Woody explains to him the meaning of being a toy.

Except answering Forky's questions about their existence brings Woody's whole being into question as he struggles to move on from memories of Andy and realising his blind devotion to his new owner might not be the thing he wants the most. Along the way he's coincidentally reunited with Bo Peep after being given away between the events of the 2nd and 3rd films, dividing his motivations even more.

It all leads to a soul-crushing ending that left me far more floored than I couldn't prepared myself for. There's a few minor emotional beats throughout that I thought would be as hard as it goes, then it just pulls the rug out from under you in it's final moments. I'm really on the fence at whether this was a more powerful ending than the already beautiful finale of Toy Story 3, but in all honesty, that didn't resonate with me until rewatches. God knows how this one will effect me if it grows on me as much as that did. Hell, I'm even considering this might be my favourite film of the series in future. Time will tell. I also said this about 3, but based on this ending, I do not want another at all.

I can't believe I'm writing this sort of thing about a kids film. It's truly rare we get a film like this with such rich character arcs, motivation, depth and emotion, but Pixar just manage to pull it off again and again. On a technical level, they also manage to push the envelope. The near photo-realistic animation is a marvel to look, it's constantly gorgeous and always varies with its settings, colour palette and details. After rewatching the trilogy last week, it's insane how far the animation has come from the first, which has not aged well in terms of animation in some regards. I cannot wait to watch this in 4K when it releases.

My only real complaints here are that some of the main characters are given very little screen-time or reason to be there. While Buzz does share the most emotional scene of the film, the rest of his role is very reduced and he does very little as him and Jesse are sidelined in a side-plot focusing on them finding Woody, while characters like Rex, The Potato Heads, Slinky and more feel like nothing less than extended cameos for the most part.

While this is disappointing, it is definitely worth mentioning that the new characters are definitely worthy additions and earn their screen-time. From the new and improved Bo Peep, who is a lot better than you remember from the first two films, Keanu Reeves' scene-stealing French-Canadian motorbike stuntman "Duke Kaboom", Key and Peele's two conjoined stuffed bears and a series of really, really creepy old fashioned dolls. Everyone new leaves a very strong impression, almost making the lack of Buzz and Jesse worth it.

After a series of underwhelming franchise films so far this year, Toy Story 4 defies the odds and comes out as one of the best films I've seen so far this year. I'm not even sure if it's a coincidence that my two favourite films of the year so far have been had Keanu Reeves in it (No prizes for guessing what the other one is), but he's picking his projects pretty well these days.

Despite being completely unnecessary on paper, Toy Story 4 is a completely pleasant surprise. A funny, emotional and devastating ride that made it worth bringing back these iconic characters for one last ride. Nothing prepared me for how much I'd like this, but my love for this may continue to grow with each watch and I already can't wait to see it again.

9/10 Dans

Toy Story 4 is out now in cinemas in the UK
Watch the trailer below:

Monday 17 June 2019

Men in Black: International (2019) - Review

Review:

*Originally written June 17th, 2019*

The Men in Black franchise has never been one of the best franchises in the world, but it sure as hell deserves better than this abysmal reboot/spin-off. This is just another generic, uninspired Hollywood film that forgets what made the original films watchable.

It lacks anything close to an identity, as it just steals parts of other franchise films in order to make something so forgettable, it's embarrassing. Every aspect of Men in Black: International just feels like it's from something else. It's got the ugly boring CGI of any other overblown summer film, the lame comedy from Marvel films aimed at 6 year-olds and even the incredibly overdone "Portal in the sky" finale that we've seen countless times for the past decade.

I will admit, I did have some mild faith in this. F. Gary Gray just directed the extremely entertaining Fate of the Furious and Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson worked together wonderfully in Thor: Ragnarok, so it seemed at the very least this would be an entertaining film with some creative action and two likeable leads.

It is not. Hemsworth lacks any kind of charm or charisma that he's known for, with a character so empty, uninspired and boring with quippy lines that do not land in the slightest. I can't believe his comedic chops were put to better use in the female led Ghostbusters reboot from a few years ago. Tessa Thompson on the other hand, fares a lot better, with a much more interesting character arc.

I was worried they were gonna rehash a lot from the original with her story-line by having her mirror the path Will Smith's Agent J went on, but instead she's someone who has spent her whole life looking to join the Men in Black after they failed to have her memory erased as a child. It least meant we didn't have to have this character go through all the same training we'd seen before, as she's instead shoved straight into action in the form of a mission to London and ends up partnering with Chris Hemsworth's Agent H.

From then on it just becomes a boring, generic and predictable story with twists that you'd have to be absolutely brain-dead to not see coming within the first half hour. I don't mind a predictable story, as long as there's something fun going on during it or it at least has interesting characters and creative action. International carries none of that. It all just feels like a painful chore.

Even Thompson and Hemsworth partnership lacks the chemistry we know they have based on Thor, so it was bizarre to see them work together in a way that lacked any sort of charm. They sorely lack anything close to Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones' heart and chemistry that carried the trilogy. Thinking about it know, I assume they were hired based on Ragnarok and then they just assumed it would work, but failed to write a script with any sort of wit or nuance that would suit them.

There's not even the incredible and practical creature designs from the first few films, it's just weightless and flat CGI that feels far too smooth and glossy. What made the originals so great is just how off-putting and weird these creature designs once were, it felt risky and weird to make something that would potentially put people off it. Here, it's just a lame attempt to make the appeal broader in order to obviously continue to branch out the series.

Not a single part of this film felt like it was made by people who actually cared about what they were making. It just feels like a checklist of what these big-budget summer films have as they check it off one by one without any sort of creative input or style. Men in Black 2 is not a great film by any means, but even that had far more going for it than this pathetic piece of garbage.

Men in Black: International is just Hollywood film-making at its worst, completely soulless, cynical and generic to the point I have no desire to see this series I grow up with continue. The last thing I'd expect to be from a Men in Black film is bored, but hey, 2019 continues to disappoint with their franchise films. I shouldn't have expected anything less.

3/10 Dans

Men in Black: International is out now in cinemas in the UK
Watch the trailer below:

Thursday 6 June 2019

Dark Phoenix (2019) - Review

Review:

*Originally written June 6th, 2019*

The X-Men films have always existed in a strange place. They kick-started the whole superhero boom in 2000's before dropping in quality for a few years, coming back and making some of the best films of the genre, then taking a huge step back with the generic Apocalypse. For me I've always liked this series more the MCU, for the most part. Logan is by far better than anything Disney has produced, while the series also never hit the lows of their films like Thor 2 or Avengers 2.

As much as I like X-Men, I had absolutely no faith in this. I was expecting it to be a complete disaster, as did most people. After some appalling trailers and well publicised problems behind the scenes (Seemingly the entire third act was scrapped and refilmed). Then there's the problem with Disney's acquisition of Fox, meaning all these characters will be entering the MCU within the next couple of years, with Disney looking to recast everyone and scrap thing continuity, aside from Deadpool.

This meant that now this entry wasn't just another film in the series, it also had the responsibility of being the culmination of nearly 20 years of X-Men films , to give this broken timelined series a satisfying ending and make way for a reboot under the new Disney overlords. It was also rumoured that the reshoots were to give the series a more definitive ending. Which just turned out to be nonsense, as this ends with clear intentions of continuing these adventures, while the cast know it's not going to happen. It's deeply unsatisfying.

Dark Phoenix itself has a lot going on. I also have to bring up the fact X-Men is completely dropped from the title, what is that about? This tries to retell the story told by the much hated The Last Stand, but without Wolverine and lots of other elements that honestly made that a marginally better film. For all of Last Stand's faults, it at least delivered some genuine emotion in the form of Wolverine having to kill Jean Grey in its finale. There is just nothing here even close to that in terms of satisfaction or emotion.

This is probably due to its truly awful script. With characters spouting lines that feel like something from an era of superhero films we've truly moved on from. Characters do and say things that feel nothing like what we've seen from them in previous films. It is absolutely insane how quickly characters go from 1 to 10 in terms of extremeness with next to no motivation at all, then just change their minds so quickly after. It's baffling.

Aside from a couple of surprising performances, everyone just seems tired and not happy to be there. Jennifer Lawrence just looks like she doesn't want to be there at all, calling out her lines without the slightest hint of enthusiasm. It's no surprise that what happens with her character doesn't solicit any kind of emotion from the audience. Nicholas Hoult is also just completely one note and also bored. James McAvoy's performance is so inconsistent here, his character actually gets some interesting exploration, but some of his line deliveries are questionable at the very least. I was sad his hilarious and widely mocked "I don't know what to do" line from the first trailer was removed.

Michael Fassbender continues to be the best thing about this prequel franchise, being gravitas and emotion to the role that makes everyone else pale in comparison. It would have helped to have in it more, as he doesn't even appear until around half way through the film. He deserves better than this.

The two surprising performances are from Sophie Turner and Jessica Chastain, one for the better and one for the worst. Turner's less than charismatic performance in the previous films was easily one of the weakest parts, but here, she seems to have actually grown a lot as an actress, delivering a far more convincing accent and performance as she actually holds some of her scenes together quite well, despite the script.

Then there's Jessica Chastain as the villain. She is one of the most talented actresses of this generation, so I was actually very intrigued at what they might do with her. It turned out to be nothing. She plays the leader of the boring and badly designed group of aliens looking to harvest Grey's power for their own use. You've got an actress of Chastain's calibre and you get her to play such a bland, uninvolving villain that feels completely wasted. Again, another reason this feels like a superhero film from a different era, these films are slowly getting better with villains and this was a huge step back.

In terms of the good, as bad as some of the acting and the script is, it's still very watchable and quite entertaining in stretches. It even runs at a reasonable length of just around 1 hour 50, which is a whole half hour shorter than the previous film. It's definitely a welcome comedown, considering the last superhero film released was the draining 3 hour epic Endgame.

Some of the action is genuinely creative and fun too. There's actually very little action in the whole thing, but the final set-piece on a train makes great use of all these characters mixing their powers up and combining them to take out these forgettable villains. While I was worried about how some of special effects might turn out, it's actually a very nice looking film with some gorgeous moments here and there. It's a hell of an improvement on the ugly third act of Apocalypse where everything is just ugly brown sludge.

5/10 Dans

Dark Phoenix is out now in cinemas in the UK
Watch the trailer below:

Sunday 2 June 2019

Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) - Review

Review:

*Originally written June 2nd, 2019*

We're only three films into this "Monster-verse" and it seems to be dropping in quality just a little bit with each one. Gareth Edwards Godzilla back in 2014 was a breath of fresh air, a monster film that felt more Spielbergian in its execution than a normal smash-em-up. For better or worse, its slow-burn, apocalyptic approach made for far more interesting viewing than the following two films. Not to say they were bad, Kong: Skull Island is a really fun piece of stupidity.

Many criticisms were levelled against Edwards Godzilla film, mostly the lack of actual Godzilla and monster action, despite an incredible third act that features some of the best use of Godzilla I've seen in the series. They clearly listened to these complaints, as King of the Monsters features Godzilla much more prominently and has an insane amount of monster action. Which, in all honesty, is a good thing.

Everything to do with Godzilla fighting King Ghidora and Rodan is spectacular. Honest to god, some of the best looking big-budget monster action brought to life in film. I was genuinely amazed at how good this looked cinematography wise, Mothra in particular some beautiful shots that had me in awe at times. It's so rare that a big budget Hollywood monster film can look this good.

It's all helped by some fantastic creature designs. I've seen these monsters before in footage from the older films where it's just people wearing costumes, but seeing them this realised in this gigantic form is a sight to behold. King Ghidora is an incredible piece of creation, making use of his three-headed dragon design and terrifying look, while Rodan's extremely powerful flight made for some visually interesting moments. It is a far cry away from the incredibly bland looking generic monsters from the previous film. It has made me wonder, the Godzilla franchise has a ton of iconic creatures to choose from, so why did they decide on two creatures that looked so generic in the 2014 film?

I was very surprised by the use of Mothra, who in itself is a beautiful design that makes use of its blue, luminous glow that made for some of the best scenes of the film. Despite my strange fear of moths, I was surprised at how cute I found Mothra, which is helped with some animalistic sound effects that really made for an interesting take on this creature. I'd always had it in my head that Mothra was just another creature Godzilla fights, but what they do here is far more creative and compelling and probably for the best, as 2 monsters for Godzilla to fight would have only overstuffed things.

Godzilla himself is still the hulking thicc boy from the 2014 film. An absolute tank of a creation, I love the way acts more like an actual creature than a big dumb monster in these films, while his iconic roar is still just music to my ears to me. Although, it might have just been my theatre, but his roar felt oddly toned down and quieter this time around. Either way, he's still a creature I just love seeing on screen and I can never get enough of him.

I sound hugely enthusiastic about this so far, but in all honesty, everything outside of the monsters falls flat. which would be fine, but they dedicate so much time on these human characters that I just felt nothing towards. I was far more compelled by Bryan Cranston in the previous film, despite his short role. It's a shame too, as this wastes a very talented cast of Vera Farmiga, Kyle Chandler, Millie Bobby Brown, Ken Wantabe and Charles Dance.

The opening scene sets up a potentially intriguing set-up for the family dynamic for these characters, in a prologue that strangely echoes the opening scene of Batman v Superman. Take from that what you will. It sadly peaks there though, as there is so little reason to care about this people stuck in the middle of Godzilla's quest to be King of the Monsters. Characters motivations are flimsy at best and their development is next to non existent.

A fairly prominent character even dies early on and it'd be hard to realise it happened, as it is done in such a poor way to the point they had to point it out with a big picture of the characters face and "Deceased" written on it in next scene just so you know who had died. Then there's a laughably bad character sacrifice towards the end that tries to tug at your heart strings, but you know so little about this character that it was impossible to feel a thing when the character died. It was kinda amazing to me how preciously the film treated this character.

It seems we'll see more from him in this franchise, but Charles Dance is pretty wasted as the villain, he certainly carries menace and presence, but it all falls a little flat as his character really has no arc or any reason to be compelling outside of "Hey, it's Charles Dance", I'd even argue he has more to do in the Ali G Movie.

Seeing as this is the last stop before next year's Kong Vs Godzilla, I was surprised at how they didn't try and shoehorn in a bunch of set-up to that film. This is very much its own thing and all the more better for it. Sure, there's a few references to King Kong himself, but I was kind of expecting a sequel bait ending where he appeared, but instead the final shot of the film is something quite glorious and ends of the film on a very high note.

So yeah, Godzilla: King of the Monsters definitely has more monster action than the previous films and that is when this shines brightest, a genuinely gorgeous spectacle of a film that is sadly let down by its storytelling and human elements which make it more of a drag than it needs to be. Still though, long live the king. Can't wait to see Godzilla again.

6/10 Dans

Godzilla: King of the Monsters is out now in cinemas in the UK
Watch the trailer below:

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