Joker (2019) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written October 5th, 2019*

This is a hard one to get into. The outrageous controversy surrounding this by fake woke Twitter who had made up their mind on this before even seeing it. It's kinda funny how an ironic and satirical movement of people online using Joker to mascot their joke about being radicalised incels become something the media deemed a genuine threat. In a way, it's the funniest thing about this all. What was interesting to me is the lack of awareness in people and how they couldn't see what these people were doing was satire. The whole Gang Weed thing is literally a joke, nothing more and the fools fell for it.

Getting to the actual film itself, it is a complete triumph. I had genuine concern that Todd Phillips had the maturity to make a film like this after the abysmal Hangover sequels and crappy comedies he usually does. Somehow he pulled it off. He's crafted an entry in the comic-book genre that is unlike anything that came before it. Joker is a character study first and foremost, as we see how Joaquin Phoenix's Arthur Fleck slowly starts to lose his mind and become the iconic Joker.

There was many risks involved in making this. The idea of demystifying on of cinemas greatest villains never seemed like a good idea, alienating fans of comic-book films who are so used to soulless CGI spectacle over anything close to substance that has more or less taken over the genre at this point and making such a dark, violent and adult film for a franchise that has mostly been aimed at teens and children. It was a risk for WB, one I'm glad they've taken, as I'm getting pretty sick of these interconnected universes and much prefer films that just tell their own story rather than trying so desperately to connect to other films and potential spin-offs. 

Going in, everyone pretty much knew the Martin Scorsese influences, which are pretty rampant. While Phillips pays homage to Scorsese's early films, this still has an identity of its own. This version of Gotham is a dark, ugly and unstable, much like the portrayal of New York in Taxi Driver. Crime is out of control, politicians are doing nothing to change the city and everyone is at breaking point. There is also a strong King of Comedy vibe (Robert De Niro even more or less plays the exact same character decades later).

While the political overtones of Joker are very apparent, the main focus really is on mental health. While there is no attempt to justify or make Fleck's actions anything close to heroic, it walks a fine line of showing what can happen if mentally unstable people do not get the help they need. There's no condoning their actions, but it's sad to watch and it's feels very honest, despite being an extreme portrayal. If people don't get the help they need before it's too late, then they lash out. 

That's the main thing Joker gets so right that could have gone painfully wrong. Fleck is not the hero of this story at all, you feel empathy for his descent into madness, but you never once see his actions as heroic or justifiable. It's very uncomfortable and horrible to watch as it just gets more extreme and out of control. This is far from the claims that the film is "Dangerous" and "Will encourage unstable loners to lash out" the media blew out of proportion for their ridiculous agenda. This film is a warning, not an encouragement. 

I should get to Phoenix himself. He's an actor I've always quite liked and has recently popped up in some films I've loved recently, so I was very interested to see how he would handle this role. To no ones surprise, he's quite incredible and is magnetic to watch. His performance is filled with so many ticks, physical transformations as he goes from, sad, funny, pathetic and terrifying with extreme ease. I know it's early to say, but this might be the greatest performance of The Joker we've ever had. Time will tell. Even with Phoenix being in nearly every scene of film, I was utterly compelled the whole way through as to where this was going thanks to his performance. I'd be amazed if an Oscar doesn't come his way next year, or at the very least, a nomination. I think it might be my favourite performance of the year. He takes a character that's been done to death and creates something new, tragic, beautiful and sad with it. 

While Joker does goes some places you would expect with the story, it does still go to some very surprising places, keeping me on edge pretty much the whole way. This is one of the most uncomfortable films I've seen in quite some time. The violence is messy, bloody and horrible to watch. The story also goes to some very interesting places as it builds up to its pretty shocking climax. 

While I haven't always been the biggest fan of a lot of Todd Phillips films, I've always given him credit for his visuals. His work always looks incredibly cinematic with a lot of stylish visuals and memorable imagery. Joker is no different, it's as gorgeous as it is ugly, making use of a diverse colour palette that and some disturbing imagery that is sure to become iconic down the line. There's even a weirdly comic dance number that worked far better than it should have. Oh, and I must give credit to Hildur Guonadottir's foreboding and tense score that really elevated the tension on screen. 


Todd Phillip's Joker is far more successful than anyone could have expecting, including me. It joins The Dark Knight and Logan as one of the few comic-book films I consider truly masterpieces. An unflinching, harrowing and deeply uncomfortable watch that features one of the best performances I've seen in recent years. I really hope Warner Bros continue to push the DC films in this direction because this really is something special and unlike anything in the genre. It might just be a game changer.

10/10 Dans

Joker is out now in cinemas in the UK with a 4K UHD Steelbook available to pre-order in the UK
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Shazam! (2019) - Review

Review:

*Originally written April 12th, 2019*

What a pleasant surprise this turned out to be. I had pretty much lost all faith in DC's films after the atrocious Justice League and thoroughly boring Aquaman and I was ready to absolutely hate this after the lame, cringe-inducing trailers that had more ready to kill myself than actually go see this. Somehow this not only managed to be great, but is by far the best of DC's offerings so far (which isn't hard, but I gotta give them credit!)

What really put me off from the trailers was the utterly embarrassing tone this looked to deliver. After failing to make darker comic-book films that connected with anyone, it seemed they were trying to change things up by copying Marvel's problem of throwing cringe-inducing, easy and painful jokes into the mix rather than take anything seriously and make you care. As much as I like to rag on Marvel's painful humour aimed at 6 year olds, the trailer for this stooped to the extreme low with Zachary Levi briefly doing a Fortnite dance. Marvel might suffer from tonal whiplash, but hell, they've never gone that far to please the crowd they insult as they clearly believe they can't concentrate on a serious scene without a jokey-joke thrown in the middle. 

Thankfully, I those trailers turned out to be a very misleading idea of what to expect. This is definitely a more light-hearted adventure for DC, but it actually has heart and a story that I actually cared about for once with these films, mirroring a tone more in line with the Christopher Reeve's Superman films and that's a good thing. It's not perfect, but this is still a very sweet and worthy film.

Shazam! follows a young orphan Billy, who goes from foster home to foster home trying to figure out where his mother is after getting separated from her as a very small child. Along the way he ends up receiving powers that allow him to turn into an electricity wielding superpower with the body of an adult and ends up getting hunted by a power hungry villain who wants his powers in order to take over the world.

Yikes, on paper that does not sounds good, new or interesting, but it somehow works! What struck me early on is how little action or CGI there is to Shazam!, there's a bit of that towards the end, but for the most part, this is a very character focused journey following Billy as he tries to find his place in the world. It's helped by just how good Asher Angel is as Billy, a very likeable and compelling lead that slowly changes over the course of the film as he learns he can use his powers for a better purpose and make the world a better place for the world around him. It's a genuinely sweet and hopeful arc that has been very missing from these DC films.

Zachary Levi also does an excellent job as the adult Billy in the form of Shazam (or Captain Sparkles). Levi is an actor I don't think I've seen this Chuck, which is a massively underrated show that will definitely be your thing if you like geeky/nerd culture TV shows. Levi brings so much charm to a role that could have been annoying, he perfectly embodies a teenager coming to terms with an extraordinary event, but also using that to his advantage to do things like get into strip clubs and buy alcohol. 

This does suffer from some of the usual super-hero trappings though. Sadly, the finale is a bit of a CGI mess of not very interesting things happening. I loved the idea of a finale at a packed carnival fair, but they do very little with this, it's just bits of CGI hitting each other and the designs of the monsters leave a lot to be desired. It's says a lot that the film is at its most boring when action actually happens. It might have helped if this had been trimmed to a more lenient run-time as these feels about 20 minutes too long as it is.

Then Mark Strong is pretty wasted as a forgettable villain with very little to make him stand out. He's power-hungry villain with CGI demons who do most his work for him. Completely uninteresting and a complete waste of a talented actor who seems to have slipped back into a role he stopped being typecast as nearly a decade ago. 

With DC's restructuring, I'm glad they've ditched this whole shared universe thing to tell shared stories. Shazam! stands completely on its own, but at the same time does take place in the same universe as the Justice League, there are nice nods to Batman and Superman, plus an odd cameo, but it really does feel like its own thing. I'm very interested to see what happens with these characters and future films. Especially if they focus more on stand-alone stories rather than trying to rush and get everyone together for an event film.


Shazam! is a HUGE step in the right direction for DC and their strongest work yet, which is something I never would have thought of saying after those abysmal trailers. It suffers from an underwhelming finale, but strong character work, two excellent lead performances and a genuine heart beneath all this makes this stand out from most of the other superhero films out there at the moment.

8/10 Dans

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Aquaman (2018) - Cinema Review

Review:

*Originally written December 13th, 2018*

It's no secret the DCEU (Or whatever it's called) is in a weird place. After the disaster that was the truly awful Justice League (A film I was far too easy on), it was clear Warner Bros needed something to refresh the slate and while many people were hoping this was more in line with Wonder Woman, it's sadly, it's streets ahead of Justice League, but at the end of the day its just another very middling and overblown superhero origin story that's more boring than exciting.

We go through very familiar ground that's been touched on countless times before in superhero films. There's the painfully dull flashbacks of Arthur learning to use his powers which includes one of the worst acting performances I've ever seen with the kid who plays him as a teenager and the de-aging effects on a wasted Willem Dafoe are truly awful. Which is no excuse seeing as Disney are able to do such amazing jobs on de-aging actors on screen.

I'm not really too sure how I feel about Jason Moama as Aquaman, his "Dude-bro" look and attitude gets very annoying at times, but for the most part he certainly has charisma and manages to more or less carry the basic plot. There's room for improvement here and he definitely shines more than he did in Justice League, but that annoying cocky attitude is still grating. His character arc is also so very basic and uninteresting, boy who doesn't want to be king slowly learns he must take up the responsibility and overthrow the current maniac holding the crown. Yawn.  

For a film with a cast this huge, it was so disappointing to see them all universally wasted. Patrick Wilson is truly awful as the current King of Atlantis/Aquaman's half brother, hamming it up every second he's on screen with some poorly handled motivation. What is up with all these blockbuster films this year with an environmental message? I mean, if you're gonna go that route, at least commit to it, not just have it as some preachy after-thought. The other minor villain "Manta" at least has some decent motivation due to a surprisingly cold, but justified moment from Aquaman in the opening moments of the film. They just don't really do a lot with these character aside from tease him for further films. Oh, and I hated how goofy and stupid his costume looked.

Amber Heard manages to be part of some of the solid action scenes, but really she's just reduced to a predictable and forced love interest that goes exactly where you think it will. It was bizarre to see Dolph Lundgren here too in a small, thankless role. I've seen two big Hollywood films within the space of two weeks with Dolph Lundgren part of the main cast. What year am I living in? Have I time travelled to the '80s? Nicole Kidman rounds off the cast as the lost mother of Aquaman and she's absolutely fine. There's just so little to say about the cast here.

Where Aquaman does at least shine is within James Wan's direction and action scenes. Nothing reaches the insane heights he's reached previously in his career, but the final act here is utterly insane, a vibrant and gorgeous underwater Lord of the Rings filled with weird and interesting creature designs. I just wish the action in the opening 2 hours were as cool as what happens at the end. A lot of action has its moments, but it's let down by some excessive slow-mo, despite flashes of kinetic energy there.

While there is some excellent visual effects and cinematography, there is also a lot of messy CGI that is downright ugly and feels unfinished at times. Seeing as every shot of this film probably has some CGI in it, it must have been a tough job, but they really do bring Atlantis to life and make it work for the most part. It's certainly a lot nice to look that than DC's much more murky and dark films. 


I don't know how Aquaman will hold up on future watches, but for now it's just a brutally overlong, uninspired mess of a film that has some of James Wan's creative action and flourishes, but fails to bring anything new to the genre. More or less another miss from DC, but it's still a lot better than Justice League. 

5/10 Dans

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The Dark Knight (2008) - 4K Review

Review:

*Originally written September 9th, 2018*

Oh, boy. There is a lot to take in here. I've seen The Dark Knight at least a dozen times since its release a decade ago (A decade ago? What the fuck?), it's a film I'd always loved and was easily my favourite comic-book film up until Logan was released last year. That said, upon this rewatch, this just jumped back up to my numero uno superhero film and it still has a place in the my top 10 of all-time.

It's just such a huge improvement all around coming of Batman Begins. It opens to one of the best and most inventive bank heists in film. It truly is one hell of a way to open things off, yet they still manage to top things from there. Every set-piece is a feast for the eyes and insanely impressive on a technical and visual level. It never goes over the top and it all feels real, much like Fury Road or Mission Impossible: Fallout. I'm always consistently impressed when directors go for practical effects or CGI, it always shows and pays off.

Nolan's decision to use IMAX cameras for some scenes was a great choice and really shows off the impressive scale of what he outs on the screen. Also helped by just how much better visually those scenes look quality wise. The 4K disc is a 5 star ride all the way, but the IMAX scenes shine in particular.

This would all be for nothing though if the story wasn't good, but it is. The Dark Knight is still the defining Batman experience. We dig deeper into Bruce Wayne's psychology than we've ever seen before and Christian Bale seems far more comfortable in his role than he last time, fully embracing his role as Batman while his time as Bruce Wayne takes a backseat. I always forget how fast The Dark Knight moves about, it's 2 and a half hours, but goes by like it's nothing. It's one of those rare films that defies the law of diminishing returns.

I've obviously got to talk about the late Heath Ledger and yes, despite the "We live in a society" and Gang Weed memes nearly derailing the character into cringe, he still holds as one of the best film villains of all-time. I hadn't rewatched this since seeing Suicide Squad, and while I didn't mind Leto's Joker. Ledger's Joker just makes a complete embarrassment of him. Ledger completely embodies the role, giving The Joker an array of small ticks and moments that I'm still only noticing today. One of the smaller things I'd never noticed is that he never looks at someone in the face when he kills them, he's always looking off in a different direction or with his back turned to the person he's murdering.

He's the ultimate challenge for Batman and his plan, or lack of a real plan is what makes The Dark Knight's plot far more interesting than most. It's villain isn't motivated by money or power, he's simply interested in bringing out the worst in people and proving that deep down, everyone is just as crazy or bad as each other. It creates far more interesting tension and motivation for Batman compared to a nuclear bomb going off in the city (Oh, I'll get to Dark Knight Rises, don't you worry).

As incredible as this all is, there are just some things that Christopher Nolan just can't seem to get right and have only been made worse since they've been brought up by the internet. 90% of the dialogue from the police and extras are just awful. Everything a cop says is just a cliche line that is painful to here, made worse by some truly awful delivery. A character genuinely says "I didn't sign up for this"...

While everyone talks about Heath Ledger's Joker as the main talking point for The Dark Knight, it's disappointing how underappreciated Aaron Eckhart is as Harvey Dent. His arc is tragic and compelling. I always forget about him before every watch, but when I'm watching it I'm always pleasantly surprised at how good he is. His chemistry with Rachel (A much better Maggie Gyllenhaal) works and creates an interesting dynamic that goes to horrible places towards the end.

I always remember this getting a lot of people riled up for how dark and violent it was for a superhero film aimed at kids, but while this is a comic-book film, it is so different in tone to what we've seen before, it feels more like a Michael Mann crime-epic than a costumed fluff piece. It's brooding and really violent, it pushes that 12 rating as far as it can go, but isn't without the odd bit of editing that is a little confusing. especially in the scene where The Joker cuts Gumble's throat, but is done in such an awkward manner that it looks like he cut his cheeks open.


I just wish Christopher Nolan was able to keep up the quality of The Dark Knight, as it still holds up. It's not just the best comic-book film ever made, it's one of the best action or crime thrillers, full stop. on a technical level and performance level, everyone is on top form here. It's an unforgettable 150 minutes and one I'll continue watching till I die.

10/10 Dans

The Dark Knight is out now on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD in the UK
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Batman Begins (2005) - 4K Review

Review:

*Originally written September 1st, 2018*

It always feels weird going back to Batman Begins, the reboot of the Batman franchise after Batman & Robin murdered it for 7 years. It paved the way for so many superhero films today, with many directors also trying to apply the vibe of this to many different genres. It's not perfect, and it doesn't hold up as well as I'd like, but Batman Begins is still an excellent comic-book film that delves into the character more than anyone of the films before it.

A big problem with Batman Begins isn't even the film's fault, but the fact is, it is completely overshadowed by The Dark Knight. While obviously that wouldn't exist without Batman Begins and this paves the way for the greatness to come, you just know potential Christopher Nolan has under his sleeve that he wasn't able to unleash until the sequel.

Part of me wants to call Batman Begins safe, which is it by today's standard of comic-book films. It captures a wonderfully dark and gritty tone, delving more towards crime-drama that cartoony superhero flick. Gotham is Chicago, but a dark, fully realised and hellish version of the city that feels real and alive. Much more so than Burton's take on the city.

Christian Bale does get a lot of flack for his "Bat voice", which is understandable, but I forgot how restrained it felt in this, compared to the borderline parody it becomes in The Dark Knight Rises. He carries the role extremely well, especially in the moments as Bruce Wayne, but part of me feels the character would have benefited greatly from him playing it as Patrick Bateman. 

After the stream of Marvel films I've been watching lately, this did feel like a breath of fresh air. It actually feels and looks like a film. It retains the grain and doesn't feel overly polished and shiny. I'd always found the Blu-ray release of this to be ugly too, but the 4K is absolutely gorgeous, the amount of detail retained in all the darkest scenes is damn impressive and my god, those oily blacks look great in UHD. 

Superhero films suffer a lot from the villain problem, which is something DC has always been able to top Marvel over. It's been 13 years now, so it's not a spoiler, but Liam Neeson's Ra's al Ghul is great. His plan is very comic-book, but it's just not silly enough to break away  from tone. A lot of people have a problem with his death scene and how it breaks Batman's rules on killing, but it worked for me and I always found his no-killing policy utterly nonsensical anyway.

Batman's no killing rule also creates a very problematic and overlooked scene early on. In which he refuses to kill a thief in front of the League of Shadows, but then goes on to accidentally kill all of them and the thief... I'm still trying to wrap my head around that scene. Was it a moment showing how under trained Bruce was and was just winging it with disastrous? Or was it a severe oversight in the screenplay? Either way, Bruce does not seem to care he'd murdered a dozen men by mistake and it is never mentioned again. Weird.

I'm also surprised at the lack of action there is in this. The only real highlight being the Batmobile chase. I do always appreciate the amount of practical stuff that went into the making of this trilogy, keeping CGI to a minimum. Everything feels natural, unlike the later Batman antics shown in the Snyder films. I also kinda like the clunkiness of Batman's combat. He doesn't feel smooth like he does in say the Arkham games, it feels messy. 

My biggest gripe with Batman Begins is Katie Holmes who is absolutely awful as Rachel Dawes, thank god she was replaced by Maggie Gyllenhaal. I feel bad picking on one actress out of a cast of people who did universally excellent, but my god, she sticks out badly.


Batman Begins might hit a few beats we are massively familiar with now, but it still holds up for the most part, paving way for all the dark and gritty superhero films we could ask for. A pretty excellent start to this trilogy.

8/10 Dans

Batman Begins is out now on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD in the UK
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The Lego Batman Movie (2017) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written February 14th, 2017*

Batman films have had a rocky road these last few years. I wasn't a big fan of The Dark Knight Rises, Batman V Superman was a mess and the recent animated films weren't great. 2014's Lego Movie on the other hand was a pleasant surprise in a way no one expected and Will Arnett's Batman stole the show, so it was inevitable he would get his own film. I wasn't the most keen on this idea, but somehow they not only topped The Lego Movie, they also managed to make the best Batman film since The Dark Knight.

The story starts The Dark Knight in an interesting place. In denial about his loneliness, he raises an orphan he accidentally adopts at a charity auction and has to stop The Joker from releasing all the villains from 'The Phantom Zone'. It's an incredibly simple concept, which lasted a breezy 100 minutes (Beautiful).

This really captured what made The Lego Movie truly great. It has a heart and all the characters are great. We really care about this Bruce Wayne/Batman who has vulnerability and humanity under his snarky ego and obnoxiousness, far more to root for than Ben Affleck's psychotic kill crazy Batman. Will Arnett is also great as the voice, I'm not entirely sure how to judge voice acting, but I'd say Arnett bought a lot to the role.

Michael Cera also made for a wonderful Robin, who was adorable and annoying in an endearing and lovable way. Cera's voice captures that always at 11 optimism personality of the character. The animation of his facial expressions were great, especially the way his eyes enlarged behind his glasses. It made it impossible not to love this character.

I won't list every cast member, because the array of voice actors on display here is insane. I will say that Zach Galifinakis wasn't the most memorable as The Joker, I liked the design of his character, but he did not leave as much of a lasting impact. The cameos from the other villains were much more enjoyable. The spoof of Dark Knight Rises Bane was particularly inspired, complete with mocking Sean Connery like accent. 

There is an outrageous amount of villains here, nearly every single Batman nemesis you can name is here, and even a display of Warner Bros. characters make appearances from the 'Phantom Zone'. I won't spoil them, but think in the vain of The Lego Movie, I was not expecting any of the out of DC villains to show up here. 

As self-referential and meta as the humour is, they make every prior Batman film canon in Lego Batman's universe. There is an insane amount of references to other Batman films and DC in general. There was always so much on display with all the gorgeous stop-motion animation going on, so it was hard to digest it all in a single viewing. They even go as far as mocking the critically panned Suicide Squad and Batman v Superman in a few quick throwaway gags.

The animation itself really is beautiful. It does a lot of creative and inventive things. Warner Bros really are doing an incredible job with their Lego universe right now, and as great as it was, it was really depressing to see that a Lego Batman film is far better than anything they're trying to do with their actual DC films universe. I wish Zack Snyder had half the creative talent of the guys working on the Lego movies.


Lego Batman is pure joy. Fast, inventive, extremely funny and heartfelt. One of the best on-screen outings for Batman ever.

9/10 Dans

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Justice League (2017) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written November 20th, 2017*

"Assemble"

My expectations for Justice League were never that high to begin with. The road for the DCEU has been rocky at best with a few bright spots like Wonder Woman, but then lows like Suicide Squad (It gets worse with every watch). It's a shame that all of DC's heroes have come together in such a messy fashion in a film that's as boringly simple as it is incoherent at times. If that makes sense.

It seems Snyder has not learned from his criticisms of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Tonally, the film is all over the place. Murky, ugly coloured cinematography then some quips shoved in place to try and balance it. It has no idea what it wants to be. I can only imagine the worst quips come from the talentless hack Joss Whedon, a man who seems to only know how to write in quips. Seriously, Avengers: Age of Ultron is basically Big Bang Theory: The Movie.

At the very least, Justice League does have some very funny moments, mostly at the expense of The Flash, who is played with a sort of awkward charm and sense of childlike wonderment from Ezra Miller. There's the odd lame line that doesn't work, which adds to the tonal mess of the film.

Most of the Justice League do get their moments to shine. Gal Gadot is still excellent as Wonder Woman, bring the humanity to the team. Affleck is still solid is Batman, but they sadly go a different direction with him that they established in BVS. I like Affleck as Batman, but I wish they kept the brutality they led with. The worst off from the team by far is Cyborg, such a bland and ugly character, made worse by such poor CGI. Jason Moama's Aquaman was a pleasant surprise, a functioning alcoholic rock-star who was actually quite bad-ass. 

For such an expensive film, it is outrageous how poor a lot of the special effects are. Nothing feels real or genuine. The designs are poor and the green screens are trash. Every time The Flash uses his powers are some of the worst looking things I've seen all year. The action has moments of fun throughout. Lots of that Snyder slow-motion, so much of it. It's stylish, if a little hollow.

A lot of this film feels hollow. The stakes are low and the villain is poor, a common problem of superhero films and it just lacks any real surprises in general. Everything goes exactly how you'd expect it to go. The Justice League is formed, the bad guy is defeated and everything is okay in the end. It's boring and I'm just pretty sick of it. I won't spoil it, but even Superman's return was exactly how I expected it. At least they solve that "Lois is the key line" from BVS.

Danny Elfman's score is completely forgettable. To the point not a single track stood out. There's some use of familiar themes from previous Batman and Superman films, but nothing new left anything close to a lasting impression. I wish Junkie XL or Hans Zimmer did some work on this. 

Justice League really could have used some work and been made longer, which is not a thing I usually say. Every single side character is wasted. I'm not entirely sure why J.K. Simmons Commissioner Gordon was even in this film. The same problem with Amy Adams or Amber Heard, no one was given enough screen time justify even being in the film. I can only bet there's an "Ultimate" or extended edition of this film coming out on Blu-ray, it really could have done with more.


If Wonder Woman was a step in the right direction for the DCEU, then Justice League is a step back. A bland, generic blockbuster that's watchable and has its moments, but lacks anything close to original or unique. A real disappointment.

5/10 Dans

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Suicide Squad (2016) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written August 5th, 2016*

"Worst. Heroes. Ever"

Suicide Squad will be a strange beast in terms of cinema for 2016. The first trailer hit and no one was excited, it looked like a boring and lifeless slog. Then we got a second trailer, where the tone had a complete face-lift, we were shown a candy-coloured and fun film that looked to drop that dreary takes itself too seriously problem people seem to have with DC films. Then we arrive to 2 days ago and the reviews dropped and they were poor to say the least. Everyone turned on the film without seeing it and reports came out from the behind the scenes problems. So was this the complete disaster people are saying it is? Well yes and no?

There are two words that describe Suicide Squad in equal measure: Messy and entertaining. The film is a complete mess through and through. A lot of stuff doesn't make sense and a lot of it feels like it was left on the cutting room floor. I feel this is going to be another Batman V Superman situation where we get a much improved cut on the Blu-ray release. Saying this, the film is a hell of a lot of fun, it's one the most entertaining films I've seen all year, alongside Hardcore Henry and Deadpool.

Does a film being purely entertaining mean it's good? No, but I went to have a good time and that's exactly what I got. The problems with it are huge though. If a film reminds you of this years 'Gods of Egypt', then that is a big problem. It is so much fun though, the two hours breezed by and it was a refreshing change of pace from the DCEU's two previous films. I'm beginning to think that the problems are very much studio interference. David Ayer is a trusted director, I've not hated anything he's made yet (I'll even defend Sabotage) and there are glimpses of a truly great film here, it's just bogged down with a lot of crude editing and a truly awful finale.

But the main reason everyone is here is for two reasons: Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn and Jared Leto's Joker. They're both fantastic. I fell in love with Harley Quinn based on the trailers and Robbie did an insanely good job and stole the scene whenever she appeared, she was funny, handled action well and she was definitely psychotic. Her performance was anything but subtle, but she did feel like a comic-book character bought to life, which was awesome. The only other point of reference for Harley Quinn for me is the Arkham games and I felt Robbie lived up to that extremely well.

Then we had Jared Leto's Joker. This was the big one. The late Heath Ledger's performance as the Clown Prince of Crime has gone down in history as one of the greatest performances of all-time, which is well earned, he was a true powerhouse. Does Jared Leto match or even top Ledger? Well, no. But he was great. It was hard to tell, as he wasn't in it much, barely scraping in 15 minutes of screen time. He does make the most of every scene he is in though. He was terrifying, his cackle worked and it stayed with me. I was so glad they didn't try and copy Ledger's performance and they did their own thing with it. I loved the look of the character, people complained about the tattoos, but whatever I thought he looked awesome. I was reminded a little of James Franco's role in Spring Breakers at times though. The biggest problem with The Joker was by no means his performance, but what they do with the character. The Joker has no impact on the story of Suicide Squad. He's poorly implemented as a side story to the what the Squad are doing, but his actions have no overall effect on any of the plot. I cannot wait to see what they do with his character in future films, but here... pointless.

We're introduced to the rest of the Suicide Squad several times, which felt so odd. The first act is essentially a montage of introducing these characters, each of the members have their own song. That's another thing, the soundtrack is awesome, especially during the first act, lots of classic rock and whatnot. It just felt weird that we were shown what the character is capable of, alright cool, but instead they decide to show us what they can do again and it's like OK?

For instance when we first meet Will Smith's Deadshot. We see him performance an assassination, showing that he is an incredible shot. Then we're shown this again in an extended scene at a shooting range. I don't know why we had to be shown this twice, we get it, he's a good shot. Did Ayer think the audience was that stupid that we'd forget this information after 20 minutes? It was strange, no other member got this treatment.

That's another strange thing too. I wasn't too sure who the lead character would be in Suicide Squad, but this is very much a Will Smith vehicle. I'm not too fond of Will Smith in all honesty, but he was actually pretty good here. One of his best roles in years. He bought a heart to Suicide Squad that I didn't expect. Sure, it has some cheesy moments, he's doing it for his kid, but it worked and at least added some depth to the character that the rest of the members were sorely lacking.

Which brings me to the rest of the crew, who are utter canon fodder as far as I'm concerned. Jai Courtney gives his best performance to date, but his character is just nothing. A violent Australian who drinks in the middle of a fight. His character does nothing in the finale. The fire one, El Diablo gets a backstory in the form of an expositional talk at a bar that felt unnecessary. Killer Croc is just nothing, his design is awful. The last member of the team is completely wasted, an excuse to show off the explosives planted in their heads. He was essentially the first girl to die Battle Royale to show what the explosive collars did.

On the villain (Well, bigger villains) side of things. Cara Delevingne is awful. When she wasn't The Enchantress she was fine, but when she was, my word was she bad. I had no idea what they were going for. The design of here character was terrible, she looked like the little girl from The Ring wearing a skimpy outfit. The other truly bad guy of the piece, Amanda Waller, was awesome, Viola Davis's performance was more evil and messed up than anything the actual Squad did on screen.

This culminated to an awful and cliche finale. The whole "World destroying portal in the sky" thing has been boring for a while now. And what did Suicide Squad do? Exactly that. Most of the Squad get their moment to shine, one of them has the emotional epiphany and then its over, but not before one of the worst uses of CGI all year. The henchman to Cara Delevingne's Enchantress looks abhorrent, it looks recycled from Gods of Egypt. I cannot believe that this CGI abomination was allowed to make it to the screen. I complained about Doomsday at the end of Batman V Superman, but that looked way more convincing, which is impressive in itself (But not in a good way).


Some minor things that bugged me. This takes place in a post Batman V Superman world. Sure, okay. But where was Batman, The Flash or Wonder Woman during these world ending events of Suicide Squad? I know it's not their film, but if you set it in the same world, it feels weird that they wouldn't be trying to stop in some way. Batman does appear though, with about 3 minutes of screen time, if that. My other complaint, which is isn't the films fault is the age rating. This got slapped with a '15' rating in the UK, which is utter shambles, none of the content in this justifies this at all. I don't understand the BBFC at times, the Ultimate Edition of Batman V Superman is way more violent than this and that still got its 12 rating. So... what the hell?

6/10 Dans

Suicide Squad is out now on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD in the UK
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Batman: The Killing Joke (2016) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written July 23rd, 2016*

"The joke's on me"

I was very much looking forward to this. I haven't read the comic, but everyone talked about it like it was the second coming of Jesus. An R-rated Batman film. It had potential to be amazing.

Well, this is mostly just a horrible mess. The voice performances are great, Mark Hamill is incredible as expected as The Joker. The inclusion of both Hamill and Kevin Conroy makes me feel like it could be canon to the Arkham game series (Which I love).

It just falls apart in its horribly sadistic and pointless feeling story that borders on torture porn with its treatment of the only female character. Barbara Gordon is so sexualized in this, it is disgusting, it felt like Michael Bay directed an animation at some points. What they do in a scene with her and Batman just felt wrong and a little disturbing.

We spend the first 30 minutes utterly destroying what could have been a really strong female character and reducing her to a immature school girl with a crush on Batman that takes things to a place that had no right to be there. They even shoehorn in an awfully offensive and stereotypically camp gay character that just left me thinking "Wow". The writers must have never interacted with a real gay person and based this character on over the top parodies.

The whole thing about Joker's backstory sucked. What makes The Joker great is his mysterious past. By telling us what happened to him in increasingly uninteresting flashbacks really takes away from his character. i'm really, really confused by what the purpose was to that whole entire subplot.
While I really didn't like this. I will admit they were some inspired moments. The Joker's funhouse ride was effectively disturbing and his musical number was awesome. Aside from that and the animation, everything else sucked.

It did at least earn its much talked about 'R' rating due to its content. There's some bloody shootouts, beatings, an implied rape and someone gets beaten to a pulp. I would have liked to have seen this kind of content in a better written Batman film, but instead we're stuck with this.

The script was just awful. Filled with cringeworthy lines and terrible dialogue that was almost laughable. And at 70 minutes this still felt too long. The first 20 minutes are such a drag too. I don't know how big the comic is, but by the looks of it, they really struggled to get this thing up to feature length.

I really have no idea what they were going for with this. If I hear people say "Oh, but that was in the comic". Well, then the comic sucked too, or it translated better on paper. This was just horrible.

If this truly is one of the best Batman stories ever, then this adaptation of The Killing Joke is a complete failure on all levels. I can only imagine how much better this could have been had it had a real budget and been bought to lice-action with a much better crew behind it. One of my biggest disappointments of the year.

2/10 Dans

Batman: The Killing Joke is out now on Blu-ray and DVD in the UK
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Wonder Woman (2017) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written June 1st, 2017*
 
While I think I definitely preferred Man of Steel (Really need to revisit it), I see the criticism's of the DC EU and why people hate them, but fear no more. DC are finally on the right track with Wonder Woman and finally earned the critical acclaim the've been wanting since 2013 and they also have made the first truly good female led superhero film. I also have to point out how disgusting it is that Marvel have had 10 years to make a female led film and still haven't. Shame on you, Disney.

Wonder Woman isn't perfect though. While it avoids the grey pitfalls of DC's films so far, they suffer from the same problems a lot of Marvel's films do, and I think you can guess what that is. That's right, a piss-poor villain and an overly CGI and bombastic finale that feels out of place from the excellent two hours that preceeded it.

I'll get it out the way that Gal Gadot is fantastic as Wonder Woman/Diana Prince. I wasn't massively impressed by her debut in Batman v Superman, but she really proved herself in leading a film by being a fun, charismatic and strong lead. There are some early moments that feel like we've seen them before, but once Wonder Woman is off her home island and experiencing the real world, she really gets to shine. It was fascinating to see her character experience the world and its absurdities, including how silly war is and how unhonourable and cowardly generals are. So she takes her naive charm and thinks she can stop the war by killing the German leader who she believes to be the God of War.

Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman

What Wonder Woman reminds me most of is Marvel's Captain America: The First Avenger, due to its war setting and tone. While I wasn't a big fan of The First Avenger, I do feel like a human war is a great setting for a superhero film. Despite being set during World War 1 and being a DC film, Wonder Woman is a actually a vibrant, bright and colourful adventure and beautifully shot. aside from the excellent theme song, Rupert Gregson-Williams score is sadly forgettable.


The action is fluid and exciting, it might indulge in a bit too much at times in slow-mo and the last fight is CGI shit, but there is something genuinely fun about seeing Wonder Woman fight Germans in the trenches of World War One. There's also fun use of Wonder Woman's variety of different fantastical equipment like her lasso, sword and shield as she leaps around, destroying Germans. We don't get to see her invisible jet though, which is probably for the best.

I was surprised at just how much heart the supporting cast brought to the film. Chris Pine's American Spy brings laughs and emotion, which makes way for a surprisingly touching end. Lucy Davis is fun as Pine's assistant, as is Ewen Bremner's Scottish marksman, who is essentially just playing his character Spud from Trainspotting. It was weird to see Robin Wright as Diana's aunt who trains her to be a warrior, she did a good job, but it was hard not to see Claire Underwood. 

Chris Pine as WW1 spy Chris Trevor

Like I mentioned earlier, the villain is poor. I can't say who the main villain is without spoilers, but once you find out, he turns into some lame giant CGI Skyrim character it feels like a huge mess. There was an interesting visual design to the side villain, but shes' not got a lot of screentime to make an impact, despite how deadly the weapon she makes is. Although I do love the campy name "Doctor Poison".

What I really loved about Wonder Woman is how stand-alone it is. It's not interested in connected to other films. It tells its own story and its refreshing. There's no abhorrent cameos shoehorned in like with the Justice League in Batman v Superman. You can watch Wonder Woman without feeling like its a puzzle piece in a bigger picture.

Wonder Woman isn't a masterpiece by any means, it suffers from a boring villain and bombastic third act finale, but it is a huge step in the right direction for the DCEU thanks to its excellent lead, heart humour, colour and sense of fun that has been missing from DC's films. More of this. 

7/10 Dans
Wonder Woman is out now in cinemas in the UK
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Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) (Theatrical Cut) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written on March 25th, 2016*

Well, here we are, after years of waiting, so much hype, so much backlash and some mixed trailers, the movie fight of the century is here, and it's just OK? It's sure looking to be the most divisive and polarizing film of the year, which is completely well founded. Batman v Superman is entertaining, it even has moments of greatness, but is just far too packed with too much for it to be a great film.

After the events of Man of Steel, mankind is divided by the presence of Superman, many see him to be a hero and a god, others see him as a threat to humanity. Batman is one of those people who thinks he must be stopped, leading to a face off between the two.

Where do I begin with this? The biggest problem is just how stuffed with characters and plots in such a short runtime. It reeked of studio interference. So much could have been trimmed and cut, but was instead kept in because DC are desperately trying to catch up with Marvel, so they can build their own superhero universe and eventually their Justice League film.

Batman and Superman facing off

It doesn't make for great storytelling. There is so much rammed in here that it just seems to jump from scene to scene without any real sense of pace. It was entertaining, don't get me wrong, but a lot of it feels like they were going through a checklist of stuff they needed to add to hint at the wider canon. Far too much dream sequence stuff too, there was some cool visuals, but urgh, it just took away from the film.

I will say I loved the elements of trying to show the fallout of Man of Steel's events. And it even goes into the morality side of being a hero. That has always seemed to be DC's thing, looking at the more mature and adult themes of superhero ethics. Which I love and appreciate, it even made for a compelling first half before it degraded into CGI bombast.

It terms of good. Ben Affleck absolutely killed it as Bruce Wayne and Batman, everyone who complained about his casting must feel embarrassed now. I wouldn't say he was better than Bale, but there certainly is potential and I cannot wait to see what they do with his solo films. His action felt more smooth and Nolan's films and looked inspired by the 'Arkham' game series, which isn't a bad thing. Also, a Batman that killed. THANK YOU, I have been waiting to see Batman do this for so long, I know he has before in previous films, but here it is embraced, he shoots, breaks necks and blows up criminals. Loved the no half measures approach.

Then on the other hand we had Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, who was woefully miscast. He completely hams it up, playing that utter genius psycho with some kind of asperger's. He felt like something from a completely different film. Saying that, he is still the best villain of the film, the final boss of the film (yes, the one that was spoiled in the trailers) is just a generic CGI abomination that looked like utter wank.

Jesse Eisenberg hamming it up as an awful Lex Luthor

Henry Cavill is reliable as he was in Man of Steel. He's pretty wizard and a great Superman, he's good as Clark Kent too, but I find it funny that he's terrible at being a journalist, although it makes sense. I liked seeing a Superman with remorse for some of the things he was inadvertently responsible for. Again, a Superman that kills, fantastic.

The action scenes suffer from the same problems of Man of Steel, it just eventually succumbs into a bombastic CGI fest that just feels plastic and looks fake. The titular fight between the two leads is also pretty disappointing and one sided. Snyder once again delivers some gorgeous visuals that look really nice despite the dark cinematography. I did really love Hans Zimmer and Junkie XL's score, which was awesome and epic.

With not a lot of screen time, Gal Gadot left a decent impact as Wonder Woman, she showed a lot more acting chops than the Fast and Furious series managed to let her. I just got a lot more interested in her solo film.

Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman

So yeah, that was Batman v Superman, a messy, but entertaining watch, it's stylish and has a bit going for it, it's just a shame that is was so packed with so much forced side plots and characters in order to build a world, as there could have been a much better and focused film underneath.

6/10 Dans

Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice is out now on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD now in the UK
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