Super (2010) - Blu-ray Review

Review:

*Originally written March 16th, 2016*

2010's Super is a bizarre little film that was sadly over shadowed and mostly forgotten due its release so close to Kick-Ass, a film with a similar premise and ultra-violence. The comparisons are there and while I feel Super is definitely the weaker of the two films, it still holds up on its own and has its own unique feel and quirk to it.

After losing his wife to a drug dealer played by Kevin Bacon, Rainn Wilson takes up the misguided journey of winning her back by becoming a vigilante called the 'Crimson Bolt', he eventually is joined by Ellen Page's kid sidekick 'Boltie'.

The tones all over the place, it jumps from drama to pitch black comedy mostly very well, but there were a few moments that did not sit well with me at all. The rape scene in particular just felt off to me. Some of the jarring violence also just didn't sit with me either. While being a comedy, the violence is so graphic and gory, like way more than Kick-Ass, which went for more cartoony and over the top. Super on the other hand feels far more grounded with its portrayal of violence, you see people get killed in such brutal and low-key ways that it just felt disgusting. We're meant to root for this guy, but at one point he smashes a guy and woman's heads in with a wrench purely for butting in line, it really drew the line for me in whether I should be rooting for the "hero" of the story.

Rainn Wilson's character Frank is clearly a disturbed guy who justifies his violence and sees his mission as a sort of calling from god, which he sees in his own delusions. So the guy is clearly mentally ill, something I wish was explored a lot more. Wilson's performance was excellent though, I can't imagine anyone else in this role, he goes from pathetic, to sympathetic, to bad-ass over the course of 90 minutes and it felt right.

Ellen Page was also great as the sidekick, although her character was grating at times, she started off as really annoying, but her character grew on me as it went on and she delivers some of the best lines of the whole film. Her character's end is also extremely shocking and unexpected. 

I do appreciate James Gunn's use of practical gore, it truly is horrific and disgusting at times, which I'm sure is the intention. I do sound like I'm being negative about it, but I do really like Super, I like the idea of a more grounded normal man as a superhero film, despite the shortcomings. I don't believe this deserved to flop or be forgotten as much as it did either, but I'm glad Gunn managed to move on and get a gig directing Guardians of the Galaxy, which he did an amazing job with. 

I also really like how it subverted expectations with some of the twists. Involving a subplot with a police officer which comes to an unexpected and abrupt end, and the same with Ellen Page's character who goes down during the final battle.

One of my biggest problems is just how cheap this looks too. It feels very televisual, which is due to the low budget, but it does look ugly despite a nice colour scheme. Some of the editing is also really weird, I didn't like the use of '60s style Batman cartoon fonts popping up either, it just felt weird. 

There was a surprising heart at the centre of it all too, all thanks to Wilson's performance. You really do care for Frank most of the time and at moments it is really touching. Helped by Tyler Bates excellent score which delivers some genuinely nice tracks like "Two Perfect Moments", which I have loved since ever since the films release. 


Super is an angrier and more nasty relative of Kick-Ass, but it still holds its own thanks to Rainn Wilson's performance, Gunn's writing and direction and some nice gore, you just need to look past the bitter taste and the insane tonal shifts.

7/10 Dans

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The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019) - Cinema Review

Review:

*Originally written February 10th, 2019*

I honestly wasn't sure how this would turn out. I've been a pretty big fan of these surprisingly good Lego Movies so far, which seemed to have come out of nowhere. Who thought something as cynical as a film about Lego could spawn a franchise of excellent kids films? With that said, I was massively underwhelmed by the trailers for this, but thankfully, the film itself turned out to be a worthy and possibly better effort than the first.

With all the meta aspects of the original sort of making a sequel hard to do, they fully commit to it with ideas that build upon the first and takes the story into some surprising and interesting places. It takes place 5 years after the first as Emmet and his friends have to take on an invasion of Lego DUPLOs as they try and fight to save their world.

Off the bat, it is so great to see Mad Max: Fury Road get to the point where it's even being massively homaged in a big budget kids film, as the opening act takes place in a dystopian destroyed version of the city as most of citizens have embraced the new status quo and have their own Fury Road style vehicles. This all quickly becomes a sci-fi adventure though as Emmett's friends are kidnapped and forced into an alien wedding ceremony as he has to learn to grow up, mature and save them. 

Once again, the story and jokes seemed to resonate far more with adults than it did with children. Most the kids in my screening didn't really seem to laugh a lot at some of the jokes, but there was a lot of subtle stuff there for people my age to enjoy. Including a fantastic cameo from an '80s action star. It was also relieving to see this one didn't rely too heavily on gratuitous cameos from licensed characters, like the first did. Sure, there's still lots of characters, but they're mostly returns from the original, which was fine. 

I was also massively impressed by how creative the animation is with this. I remember being a little put off by the look of these films before they were released, but they really are some of the most creative animated kids films going today. There is always so much going on with every scene, making for some excellent rewatchability. From it's gorgeous, vibrant and colourful pallet to the detail on display, this really was a feast for the eyes.

As gorgeous as the animation is, thankfully there really is a great story to go along with it. Emmett's journey is far more interesting than the one he went on previously and introduces us to a a new character also voiced by Chris Pratt as a bad ass action hero style character clearly inspired by his films. Emmett is just so immensely likeable, although his naivety can get on your nerves at times, but it was great to see a lot of the film dedicated to his journey of self-discovery, leading to some genuinely emotional and touching beats towards the end.


The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part brings the Lego Movie franchise 4 for 4 in terms of quality now. Another incredibly animated, funny and sweet journey packed with heart. I really hope they continue this streak and I can't wait to see where the series goes next. 

8/10 Dans

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Brigsby Bear (2017) - DVD Review

Review:

*Originally written January 15th, 2019*

It's such a shame that Brigsby Bear wasn't more popular than it was, an extremely sweet, funny and original comedy-drama looking at the power film and creativity has over us. It's a small indie-gem that so very little people have heard of. I was lucky enough to see it in cinemas a couple of years ago, but its release was extremely limited. 

I remember going into this having no idea what to expect. All I knew about it was the positive buzz coming out of its festival screenings and a couple of people comparing it to Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (Which I also loved). Plus Mark Hamill was in it and it involved a kidnapping plot. 

It's perhaps a farcical take on a subject matter that might have needed a bit more drama behind it, but it doesn't mean Brigsby Bear lacked in genuine moments of drama and maturity. The film follows James (Kyle Mooney) a man in his late 20s who spent his entire life unknowingly in captivity with only the show "Brigsby Bear" and the studies forced on him by his kidnappers (Who he believes are his parents). 

Brigsby is James' only thing close to resembling a hobby, it's all he's had as an escape his entire life. The problem is it's a made up show made entirely for him and once he's rescued, he has to adjust to the real world while all he knows is Brigsby, so with the help of his new friends and family, he sets out to finish Brigsby Bear in the form of his own homemade movie.

James is a little hard to get behind at first, he does get a little frustrating with his constant obsession with Brigsby, but it pays off in the end as his homemade movie gets going, leading to some wonderful scenes of them attempting to make their own film with next to no experience or knowledge how.

Brigsby Bear itself is a wonderfully creative invention, a no-budget homage to tacky kids and sci-fi shows of the '70s. Thinking back, this really tapped into nostalgia in a way that works, which is rampant in cinema at the moment. But the difference here is showing the importance of how nostalgia and love for art is a great escape from reality and you should be proud of what you made as long as you put heart and commitment into it. It's oddly like the same year's "The Disaster Artist" in reflection. 

I really have a soft-spot about films involving film-making and this was no different. It hits some familiar beats I've seen before in films like this, but it works all the same. Even the surprisingly emotional ending goes exactly where you'd expect, but after the journey we've spent with these characters, it still hits a satisfying spot and makes you wanna make your own film.


Brigsby Bear really is an underappreciated gem that I highly recommend seeking out. It's sweet, funny and only 90 minutes. I'm really interested to see what Dave McCary does next, because if its half as genuine as this, then I'm sold. Oh, and once again, no Blu-ray release in the UK? What in the fuck. No 4K release is understandable, but not even a Blu-ray release in these times is simply pathetic and unacceptable. 

8/10 Dans

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Holmes and Watson (2018) - Cinema Review

Review:

*Originally written January 1st, 2019*

Holmes and Watson is everything I expected from the trailers, it's 90 minutes of brainless, lazy jokes and crude attempts at humour. A film so pathetic and lazy that it's managed to make the headlines because of the amount of walkouts the film had seen over its opening weekend. It really is that bad.

The idea of making a spoof of Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes films feels outdated considering those films were a decade ago. Will Ferrell and John C Reilly are two actors I really like when they have a good creative team behind them. I wasn't a huge fan of Step Brothers, but this makes Step Brothers and Talladega Nights seem like masterful pieces of comedy genius in comparison.

There's just so little to talk about here, it's more interesting to talk about the news surrounding the film. Like the fact even Netflix turned this down after terrible test screenings. Netflix turned this down, the same company that release dozens of lazy and awful films every few months. Even they wouldn't touch this. 

Part of me does have a soft spot for really dumb comedies. I grew up watching the Ali G movie a lot and even the Daddy's Home films I adore, and if you want some insane genius, then John C Reilly's music biopic spoof Walk Hard is a work of art. But everything in this proved to be too much for me, aside from one moment in the opening of scene of Holmes tending a giant marrow he's growing and referring to it as a "Dirty bitch", I didn't laugh once, although the Victorian era equivalent of drunk texting was an fun idea, it was just executed horribly. 

Then there's the horrifically lame jokes aiming at Trump and contemporary issues brought up in a Victorian setting. It's brutal, there's selfie sticks, cringey hip-hop music and awfully on the nose visual gangs like Holmes wearing a red hat that says "Make England great again". Fuck my life.

What's most shocking about this mess is how it managed to attract this many talented cast members. It's a disaster almost on the scale of Movie 43. outside of Ferrell and Reilly we have Kelly McDonald, Ralph Fiennes, Rebecca Hall, Steve Coogan and Hugh Laurie. Was this just an easy paycheck for them, or did they actually think what they were in was funny? Based on their careers, I can only fathom they were in it for the cash grab.

Holmes and Watson is truly awful. One of the worst films of the year, a lazy and cynical attempt at comedy that isn't even worthy of being a Netflix original. Pathetic. 

2/10 Dans

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Johnny English Strikes Again (2018) - Cinema Review

Review:

*Originally written October 9th, 2018*

We live in a society that now has 3 Johnny English films. Yes. 3 of these things. I'll admit, as a child, I loved the first one, I rented the VHS pretty frequently to the point of annoyance. I remember being so excited for the second one, but it turned out to be a piece of shit. Then I rewatched the first one a couple of years ago, and that did not hold up as well as I'd hoped. 

Johnny English Strikes Again is at the very least better than the previous film, yet that doesn't stop it from being a low effort spy spoof full of lazy jokes and strange moments. That said, there is still the odd moment of creativity and a couple of genuine laughs that keep this from being a total dud.

Now retired from MI7, Johnny English Strikes Back finds Johnny English coming back into the game after a cyber attack on the government leaves every known agent exposed. It's a pretty easy story for them to come up with, it feels eerily similar to Skyfall. An analogue agent in a digital world trying to adapt to the modern spy life.

It's all just very serviceable, predictable and straight-forward. I can't be too massively harsh on this, I have to remember this is a kids film and not a character study about a clearly mentally challenged man who became a secret agent. I wasn't expected Mission Impossible: Fallout in terms of action, but everything felt pretty cheap and forgettable, but like I said, there is an odd moment of inspired genius. A scene involving Johnny going bananas during a VR exercise was a real highlight, as was a surprisingly creative scene of a car chase in a learner car.

Atkinson still does slap-stick humour really well, it's exactly what you'd expect. English is remarkably stupid and I genuinely believe he's mentally challenged. I just feel I've grown out this sort of thing and it starts to get pretty grating before thankfully ending after a brief 90 minute run-time. So at the very least, it barely outstays its welcome.


Johnny English Strikes Again is exactly what you'd expect from the third entry in the British spy spoof. I don't know what else to say. It's merely fine and an easy way to kill 90 minutes as a long as you can put up with some painful and outdated jokes (Someone actually plays Temple Run in this). I just hope Johnny English 4 is a more grounded character study about what it means to be a mentally challenged secret agent. 

5/10 Dans

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Bad Boys (1995) - 4K Review

Review:

*Originally written September 12th, 2018*

Michael Bay actually shows some promise with his first film, Bad Boys. While it has the "Bayhem" flair, it actually shows the talent of a first time director with potential. All the Bay problems here are kept to a minimum and only unleashed in his later and more abhorrent films.

Bad Boys is a fairly generic buddy-cop film about two detectives who are polar opposites of each other, working together to solve the case of a drug robbery and murder of a woman that involves a witness they must protect. 

Will Smith's Mike Lowrey is a playboy millionaire who is only a cop as a hobby, while Martin Lawrence's Marcus Burnett is an honest family man. I'd like to say these two have great chemistry and are a match made in heaven, sadly they are not. Will Smith plays it with his usual Will Smith charm that has only grown stale. Martin Lawrence is just annoying. All the side characters are horrible, especially Marcus's wife, who is a just a total uptight buzzkill and nothing more. Way to write women characters, Bay....

Bay's flourish for action works much better on a small scale here. All the set-pieces look nice and feel unique. The finale at the airport is the standout, while throughout there is a couple of smaller moments. This whole thing feels weird. It's a Michael Bay film with not a lot of action, which I appreciate. It's just a shame his characters are utterly horrible and the writing is appalling.

The plot is messy and makes no sense. Marcus and Mike have to pretend to be each other in some deeply unfunny scenes. As a comedy this falls completely flat. All the jokes are either cringe-worthy or uncomfortably racist. There's the two Spanish cops and one of the them is named "Mendez", because of course. 

I sound negative, but I do appreciate this film on a purely throwback level. It reeks of '90s and Bay clearly comes from a music directing background that shows. There is so much '90s cheese, especially in the music with some laughable guitar riffs. It really was a product of its time.

Even looking at the poster, Michael Bay clearly has a huge hard-on for the colour yellow. Bad Boys is non-stop yellow, from the opening to closing scene. The whole film is over saturated in a piss coloured yellow aesthetic. I hated the colour scheme. I actually much prefer his blue look he uses in his later films. Even with the overbearing yellow colour scheme, this is a gorgeous 4K release, brimming with detail and vibrant improvements on the colours. The previous "Mastered in 4K" Blu-ray release was excellent too, but this more than tops that. Another class UHD release from Sony. Can't wait to see how Bad Boys 2 looks.

The bad guy is utterly forgettable too. I'm looking at the IMDB cast know and am having a hard time remembering what the bad guy was called and who played him. He pops up in a few scenes and leaves no kind of impact whatsoever. 

I don't feel I've talked enough about how awful these characters are. Will Smith is a complete douche-bag, we get hints of his womanising, his home is basically a shrine to himself, which would be fine, even pretty funny had the character been written better, but he's just an asshole. I don't get Martin Lawrence either, his character never goes beyond doing a high-pitched voice in a tense situation. So annoying. Oh, these people are awful cops too. I don't know how they weren't fired.


For better or worse, this is where Bayhem begins, and I say "Game on".


6/10 Dans

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The Spy Who Dumped Me (2018) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written August 29th, 2018*

Urgh, I went into this with at least the expectation of a throwaway, but entertaining action-comedy like last years The Hitman's Bodyguard, but I didn't even get that. What I got instead was a pretty unbearable two hours that felt like three. A completely forgettable and eye-rollingly bad comedy. 

I just don't know where to begin with this. Everything is just so plain, safe and boring about this. It's another adult rated spy comedy that is clearly trying to be a good time, but just comes off as boring. I'm usually a fan of Mila Kunis, so I was shocked to find myself wishing I was watching either of the Bad Moms films instead during the run-time. The only moment of real enjoyment I got out of this was Kunis playing Point Blank on an arcade machine. The Point Blank light shooter games are something me and my sister used to play on PS1 all the time and they are so underappreciated, so it was weird to see it pop up out of nowhere in this film. 

You could argue that Kate McKinnon and Kunis have decent enough chemistry together here, but it's always undercut by McKinnon just being utterly annoying. I remember McKinnon being one of the better parts of Ghostbusters (2016). Here she is in nearly every scene and she is grating. I came to the shocking revelation that she's the female equivalent to Jim Carey at his worst. Annoying, overbearing and filled with so many punchable facial expressions. It felt like an endurance test at times. It's also shame that 90% of the conversations between the two female leads is just talking about men.

McKinnon aside, all the other comedy completely fails. I didn't laugh once. It's a complete mess of tone. One moment we get some crude joke and some cock and balls thrown in our face, the next we've got our lead characters cracking jokes are an innocent Uber driver is shot in the head next to them. It was bizarre, these characters are put in this situations where innocent people are murdered in front of them and they just joke about it. It all felt so mean-spirited and made Kunis and McKinnon so unlikable. 

As a spy film it goes exactly where you'd expect. Every reveal and twist is in your face from the get-go and it goes on and it. This film in no way earns its 2 hour run-time. This could have been so much more bearable with a leaner 90 minutes. So much of this is just annoying overlong filler. I just wanted it to end. 

There are at least some decent action scenes here and there, it's a little frantic, but the ideas are there and I did appreciate how messy some of the violence was. Usually the deaths in these sorts of comedies are pretty clean overlooked. Here, it is messy and bloody. The aftermath of a restaurant massacre made for a more disturbing moment than funny. Just seeing the place covered in blood and dead bodies was just so off. I really don't know what they were going for here. 


If you like shit comedies and enjoy Kate McKinnon you might have a better time than I did with The Spy Who Dumped Me, but for me, this was just a painful and boring chore to get through. I only saw it yesterday and most of it has left my mind already, so that's probably for the best.

3/10 Dans

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The Happytime Murders (2018) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written August 29th, 2018*

I wasn't massively sure what to expect with The Happytime Murders, I remember being massively intrigued by its premise (It was around the time I watched the hugely underrated puppet crime show 'The Fuzz', which I highly recommend seeking out), but I expectations were pretty much shattered by a lack of interesting trailers and the inclusion of Melissa McCarthy. 

My main problem was the lack of dedication to a hard-boiled detective film with puppets, it frequently derails itself with a bunch of cheap and crude gags rather than tell an engaging story, although there are flashes of genius here and there. I have a huge soft-spot for private detective stories and a dark, adult rated one involving puppets could have been excellent. 

If you've seen the trailer, then you know a lot of humour is based around sex or swearing. If cute, child-friendly looking puppets saying "fuck" a lot will make you laugh, then you're in for a great time. That's not to say it's massively unfunny, there are funny moments here and there, mostly due to it just embracing how crude and juvenile this is. I was reminded of Sausage Party, but this was nowhere near as boring as that. The biggest shame is that the best jokes are in the trailer. The excessive silly string jizz scene is by far the most outrageous moment and it does work, it just sucked they decided to spoil it in the trailer.

Where the film mostly lands is with its puppetry and characters. There is real creativity on display here and it pays off. The puppet work is some of the best I've scene in film, it's helped by the work of CGI, but it all works and made for some impressive set-pieces. As much as this film doesn't work a lot of the time, I am glad someone got given the budget to make an original and creative film like this, which is rare.

I'd also happily see a film franchise with these characters. Our lead character Phil Phillips is an array of private detective cliches, an alcoholic with a troubled past who has to get things together to solve the murders of the cast of a loved '80s kids show while dealing with his ex partner. It's a character that embraces the cliches and it works. I just wish they played it a bit more straight. Oh, and completely dropped Melissa McCarthy, she is just the worst in this. Every joke on her part is just about how unattractive she is. It's the same overplayed joke she does in all her films. 


I wish I had more to say about The Happytime Murders, but I enjoyed it. It's crude, offensive and not clever, but it knows this and creates an interesting world of humans mixed with puppets. There are far worse ways to spend 90 minutes. Nowhere near as bad as the critics made it out to be. Shame we'll probably never get a sequel.

6/10 Dans

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Bad Santa 2 (2016) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written November 25th, 2016*

Bad Santa 2 is another one of those belated sequels that not many people had been asking for, well, they did, but that was 13 years ago when the first came out. 13 years later and the belated release of Bad Santa 2 is just another film to add to the list of sequels that were too much, far too late. It joins the 2016 list along with Zoolander 2 and Independence Day 2.

Taking place 13 years after the original, our protagonist hasn't changed much. He's still a foul-mouthed miserable alcoholic and a sex addict. It's just that all of the charm is gone by this point. Billy Bob Thornton still gives a game performance, but the character just feels charmless and unfunny this time.

We hit a lot of the same notes as the first, but in a more bitter, cynical and mean-spirited way. Think The Hangover: Part 2, which hits a lot of the same beats as the first, but ramps up the humour in a more nasty way. It tries far too hard with its political incorrectness, which should feel like a breath of fresh air in this oh-so politically correct and sensitive world we live in now, but it's not. It's just bitter and horrible. 

It also feels very cheap. While the first was hardly a masterpiece of cinematography, it at least had some visual style and its own voice. This feels like it was directed by anybody and almost felt straight to DVD.

This time we're joined by Willie's toxic mother played by Kathy Bates, who is just a charmless racist. They attempt to shoehorn in the same time of heart with the first by bringing back Thurman (The Kid from the first), who is now in his 20's, but the cute naivety of the character is gone and this time it feels like they made him closer to mentally challenged than innocent. Christina Hendricks is here as the new love interest, although shes' completely wasted and degraded by this material, which is a shame as she's an actress capable of much better.


Everything here feels like it aims to offend. It's rampant in the nihilism that made the first so great, but it just doesn't work this time. From it's double suicide attempt opening to its predictable and by the numbers ending, it was all just a vapid and pointless exercise and just another piece of evidence that not all belated sequels work.

4/10 Dans 

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Pain and Gain (2013) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written June 11th, 2015*

Pain and Gain is a film that shows people can still surprise you. That person being Michael Bay, one of the worst directors of all-time, a man responsible for some of the biggest cinematic abortions of our time: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Bad Boys 2, and the very worst of them all... Transformers: Age of Extinction. He's a director whose films are bombastic, tasteless, racist, disgusting, obnoxious and portray women in a way that sends films back to the stone age.

I have no idea what happened here, but Pain and Gain is great. It's funny, it's violent and the story is interesting throughout. It tells the true story (The film even reminds you that when the more disturbing and crazy things happen) of Daniel Lugo and his American dream ambitions which involve kidnap and extortion. These things get out of had and the kidnap escalates to murder and torture. 

It may seem tasteless, taking these horrible events and putting into a film that is mostly a comedy. While it certainly is an acquired taste if you're able to laugh at something this dark. It worked for me, but there will certainly be people who find this offensive and disgusting.

The film has the usual Michael Bay flare and trademarks, as much as I hate him, I can't knock him for his visual style. It opens with a super slow-motion shot of the end of the film, accompanied by an excellent score, which was done by the guy who did the music for the Transformers films and a lot of other garbage. He must have been on a good day as well.

The cast are excellent. This is probably Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson's first real acting performance. He is probably the closest thing we have to a likeable character here, you feel sorry for him because he's an ex-con trying to change. Mark Wahlberg is great here too, playing an asshole, who you root for (Mostly)


If you only have to see one Michael Bay film in your life, make it this one. Pain and Gain might be a little much for some, but it's a blast and a lot of fun. There's an argument for this being absolutely tasteless and offensive, turning these horrific crimes into a satirical swipe at the American Dream, but I feel that's what Bay was aiming for, and he succeeded well.

8/10 Dans

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Deadpool 2 (2018) - Film Review

Review:

I don't think anyone could have imagined how big the first Deadpool turned out to be, I remember loving it when it first came out, but slowly went down in my books with each viewing. It's good fun, but ultimately a very safe and boring origin story mixed with childish humour and adult rated violence.

2 years later and we have the inevitable sequel that had a lot to live up to, and for the most part, it more or less exceeds expectations, despite a few problems. Deadpool 2 is essentially everything the first did, but dialled up to 11. This feels like a hyperbolic statement, but this is one of the most grotesque mainstream releases I remember seeing in quite some time.

It picks up a few years after the first and Deadpool is now an international assassin, taking out kingpins, drug dealers etc, but after some spoilery events he gets involved with a young mutant with fire powers and a time travelling soldier trying to murder the kid. It's straightforward enough, but the stakes are much more worth investing in than the first. 

What everyone came for in Deadpool 2 though is the humour and that is both the best and worst part of the sequel. The run-time is extended from the first and the joke rate is so outrageously high, it's a bit relentless. Meaning, since there are such a huge amount of jokes, only a good chunk of them actually hit, with a lot of the gags being instantly outdated and not very funny. 

There was a lot of Deadpool saying random things with no real context that mostly left a shrug from me. Where the jokes exceed most though is with its jabs at superhero films, pop-culture and Ryan Reynold's career (The mid-credits scene is genius). It does feel like cameo galore at times too, with a couple of great ones and a couple I didn't even realise till I read online after. 

What really interested me in Deadpool 2 was the change of director. The first was directed by a first time filmmaker who did a fine job, even if his action wasn't massively memorable and I was surprised re-watching it recently just how little action there was in it. 2 on the other-hand is a huge improvement in terms of action. John Wick and Atomic Blonde director David Leitch brings such energy and brutality to the action. There's nothing as memorable or impressive as the club scene from John Wick or the stairway fight from Atomic Blonde, but it's still extremely fun to watch and there is a ton of action here that stood out. The opening montage and convoy attack for one. I hope Leitch returns for part 3.

The sequel also includes a much more impressive cast. Josh Brolin is damn good as Cable, a time-travelling cyborg Terminator with a personal mission and a huge improvement over "Francis" from the first. The "X-Force" are also introduced kinda, and in all honesty they are pretty wasted, but done so in way that makes for a genuinely funny and expectation diverting scene. Also did not expect Zazie Beetz Domino to leave much of an impact, but she was definitely one of the better characters. Lastly, T.J. Miller's Weasel is massively sidelined and barely in the film, which is easy to see why, I imagine there is a lot of his work left on the cutting room floor.

None of this really matters though, because this is Ryan Reynold's film through and through, he is still the perfect version of Deadpool, continuing to seek redemption for what was done to the character in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. While a few of his jokes don't land, Reynold's still carries this film and makes it an endlessly watchable ride that is just a blast despite its shortcomings.


Deadpool 2 isn't perfect and it might be a little too relentless, but it's one of the most entertaining and grotesque mainstream releases I've seen in a while. Insanely violent, a lot of fun and makes up for a lot of the originals shortcomings. 

8/10 Dans

Watch the trailer below:

Deadpool 2 is out now in cinemas in the UK
With a 4K UHD Steelbook available to pre-order from HMV

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Downsizing (2017) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written January 31st, 2018*

What a waste of potential. Downsizing has a unique and original idea behind, but one that is squandered after a promising first act. Things quickly go downhill as the characters get more annoying and the situations become more aimless and boring.

I never would have thought a film about shrinking humans to try and save the planet could be see bland. The jokes are exactly what you'd expect and it's brutal. After Matt Damon gets shrunk he checks his penis to make sure it's in proportion to his body, it's that sort of thing. All the real jokes are in the trailer and the film is played straight for the most part, apart from bizarre and unfunny jokes about the word "Fucking" instead, most of the film is played relatively straight. 

Most of the time I was just annoyed about the quirkiness of it all and the film is nowhere near as smart as it believes it is. There's a few lines about the humans impact on the environment, immigration and if little people should have the same rights as fully grown human beings. Any potentially interesting story-line is wasted in place of a boring romance that descends into a grating final act. If I had the choice, I probably would have walked out. 

I need to get my biggest gripe out the way, Hong Chau's character, a Vietnamese woman with one leg who becomes Matt Damon's love interest for the remaining two acts of the film. She is brutal. What shocked me is that the actress was actually Vietnamese and she took this role, as she's written as this frankly tasteless and annoying character that comes off as just a huge bit racist. It feels like a Team America archetype brought to life. 

It's not all bad though, there are some things to like, Christoph Waltz is fun in his role as a party hard European and has a lot of likeable charm. Then there is a lot of creativity on display here, we've come a long way from Honey, I Shrunk the Kids in the ability to create convincing effects for shrinking people and in all honesty, it looks pretty good. That's it though, the rest of the film is garbage. Matt Damon is fine I will say, completely fine, nothing special, but he does okay.


Downsizing is a complete waste of potential, a fascinating sci-fi premise that starts well but ends up as one of the worst films I've seen so far this year. A huge misfire from Alexander Payne.

3/10 Dans

Downsizing is out now in cinemas in the UK
Watch the trailer below:

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In Bruges (2008) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written January 26th, 2018*

It's been a while since I've seen In Bruges and when I last saw it, I was far too young to appreciate how truly great this hilarious, violent and horrific crime-comedy was. After seeing Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri recently, I knew the time was right to finally revisit this.

And it was worth it, this was far better, meaningful and more funny than ever remember it being. Yes, it's violent, foul-mouthed and mean-spirited at times, but it does have a beating heart at the centre of it with the two lead, morally confused hit-men played by Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson. 

After two hit-men fail a job due to the accidental death of a bystander, they are ordered to lay low in the Belgium city of Bruges. Much of the film is just these two characters exploring the city while discussing their feelings of regret and guilt surrounding their work, and it works very well. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about Colin Farrell as an actor overall, but he nails it here as the conflicted hitman who caused the death of a child. Brendan Gleeson is also great here as the more focused and more member as the duo, which surprises me as Gleeson is an actor I usually associate with atrocious British crime films, so it was nice to see him pop up one one that was actually good.

By far the most memorable performance was Ralph Fiennes as the boss of the two hit-men, he plays it utterly psychotic and it is just a pure joy to watch every scene he's in. He reminded me a lot of Ben Kingsley's character in Sexy Beast. There's something about his performance that adds a lot to what could have been a one-note psychopath, but Fiennes really manages to bring complexity to the character.

The titular city of Bruges is actually a really gorgeous place too and made for some gorgeous cinematography. The city in surreal and fairy tale like. I always appreciate a film that takes place in a sleepy town that mixes chaotic, extreme violence and bizarre scenes that include a dwarf on ketamine. I'd forgot just how violent this film was too, there is some really extreme stuff here, especially in the last act, which it builds to perfectly.

Even with its dark subject matter, it's extremely funny too and filled with a ton of memorable lines and jokes. There are some fantastic pay-offs to throwaway scenes that are there if you pay enough attention to the dialogue, it almost reminded me of Edgar Wright. I'm sure I'll find even more to love on rewatches with In Bruges. 


Martin McDonagh's debut film is a triumph and so far, the strongest film in his career, a darkly funny, brutal and often touching story of two hit-men in Bruges. I can't wait to watch this again.

10/10 Dans

In Bruges is out now on Blu-ray and DVD in the UK
Watch the trailer below:

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David Brent: Life on the Road (2016) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written August 22nd, 2016*

"Gervais. Stop."

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from watching Ricky Gervais’ latest film, David Brent: Life on the Road, it’s that David Brent was never what made The Office truly great. While he was a likeable and misguided buffoon, he had a heart that brought an emotional core to the show, but it was the rest of the cast that brought balance to the show. Life on the Road is 90 minutes of non-stop David Brent in your face, and it is insufferable.

Life on the Road takes place several years after Brent’s run on The Office and a documentary crew catch up with him as he takes a month away from his job as a tampon salesman in order to take his band ‘Forgone Conclusion’ on the road in one last effort for a shot at fame.

Ricky Gervais still plays David Brent to near perfection, he’s just as pathetic, embarrassing and cringe-worthy as he was in the early 2000s. For the first 20 minutes I was in a state of euphoria, I was loving it. While Gervais’ recent output has been anything but good, I was really hoping he could bring it back with the revival of his most loved character. And he did. For 20 minutes.

Before Brent actually goes on tour, things seem great and hopeful. The jokes come thick and fast, they mostly all land, but then it hits a slump that it never recovers from and being with Brent is insufferable. I will admit I wasn’t the most positive about going to see Life on the Road, but I never wanted it to be bad. But spending 90 minutes with Brent and his annoying laugh is a tedious chore that should have never left its 20 minute segments on TV.

There are a few moments of greatness littered throughout and there some really, really good songs. ‘Don’t Make Fun of Disableds’ was a highlight, and we once again get to hear ‘Equality Street’ from the Red Nose Day special. This was all fine, but when the focus shifted from the gig to Brent, things came tumbling down.

My biggest disappointment was with what they tease us with, but never explore. We early on discover that Brent has been clinically depressed, been in therapy and is on anti-depressants, which would have made for far more interesting material than him desperately trying to cling to fame. These elements are talked about in all but two scenes then are quickly discarded like it’s not important. Any time they go anywhere near interesting or dark, they back away in favour of crude and cringe-worthy humour, which was frustrating to say the least.

In terms of Brent’s arc throughout. None of it is earned. His band members hate and find him annoying at the beginning, refusing to drink with him unless they’re paid, but do a complete 180 in the final moments which felt completely unnatural and weird. There was no real reason for this character change. I feel Gervais bullet pointed that at the beginning of the film the band hate him, but at the end they like him, but he completely forgot to write why this happened. It was very lazy and a way to force an emotional moment for the audience that didn’t work at all.

The lack of characters from The Office was very disappointing too. I know this a David Brent film and not an Office film, but aside from a couple of references to gags from The Office, it added an extra layer of disappointment that Brent doesn’t even mention or stay in contact with any of the characters from The Office. Which is pretty much against everything the perfect Christmas special delivered. It was all just depressing, I’m not saying a forced cameo from Tim, Dawn, Gareth or Finchy would have helped things, but some acknowledgement would have gone a long way.


I’m really in the camp that Stephen Merchant should have been part of this . While Brent is Gervais’ baby, Merchant has been there since his inception and really helped mould the character to what  we saw in The Office, without him, it all just fell flat. I wouldn’t say I “hated” Life on the Road, but I wouldn’t say it’s a good film at all, it is definitely  bad, disappointing, annoying and a far cry from the once great work from Gervais such as The Office and Extras. There’s a certain irony to all this. Gervais has practically become Andy Millman from Extras, a sellout trying to milk characters that should have stayed buried. It’s sad and pathetic, and quite upsetting that Gervais has slumped so low after such greatness. Please, Gervais. Just stop.


3/10 Dans

David Brent: Life on the Road is out now on Blu-ray and DVD in the UK
Watch the trailer below:

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The Disaster Artist (2017) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written December 7th, 2017*

"In Los Angeles, everyone want to be star"

The Room is a flash of demented, once in a lifetime genius created by one of the most fascinating people to ever grace the planet. A film based around the production of the film and the friendship between its creator and co-star was a hard thing to pull off, yet, somehow, James Franco pulled it off. Delivering one of the funniest and most heartfelt films of the year.

Let's get the strongest and most anticipated part out the way. James Franco. He completely loses himself in the role of the enigma that is Tommy Wiseau, a bizarre man with a mysterious background full of contradictory stories. 

Franco nails Wiseau's unique accent and mannerisms while managing to be both hilarious and a little sad and heartbreaking. If Franco doesn't at least get an Oscar nomination for his role, I will be outraged. Dave Franco also does a great job as Greg Sestero, an actor who gets sucked into Wiseau's Planet and becomes more and more disillusioned by his behaviour.

Franco does an excellent job as a director too. Setting up the complicated relationship between Wiseau and Greg Sestero. Greg being an aspiring actor in San Francisco who becomes fascinated by Tommy after seeing how fearless he is in an acting class. They quickly become friends and move to Los Angeles on Tommy's seemingly never ending supply of money. After having trouble finding acting jobs, they decide to fund their own film 'The Room' 

Greg and Tommy's relationship is easily the core of The Disaster Artist. Two people brought together by the dream of becoming an actor. It really is an ode to creativity and friendship. Sure, The Room was a disaster, but they tried hard to create a piece of art that people would enjoy, so in a way, they succeeded. 

Their road to making the film is not an easy one though, as Tommy's behaviour becomes more and more outrageous, controlling and a little bit unstable. He's clearly a very damaged and not right in the head person, making his a relationship with Greg seem more like something from Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master than your usual comedy.

While this is based on a true story, this is most definitely a comedy at heart, which it exceeds at incredible and might just be one of my favourite comedies of recent years. No question the best comedy of 2017 at the very least. Even among the drama and genuine poignancy on display, I laughed so much. Pretty much every word that came out of Franco's mouth was pure gold. Him as Wiseau is just an endlessly watchable creation.


The Disaster Artist is much more than just a film about the making of the best worst film of all time. It's a tribute to the creative process and following your dreams, being proud of what you've created, no matter what people think. The best comedy of 2017 with a ton of heart and possibly the best performance of James Franco's career.

10/10 Dans (First time watch)

The Disaster Artist is out now in cinemas in the UK
Watch the trailer below:

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