John Wick (2014) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written October 29th, 2015*

Good films by Keanu Reeves are a rare thing, amazing films are even rarer. John Wick is luckily one of those rare Keanu Reeves films where everything just mashes together perfectly, it is a blast in every way. Violent, kinetic and just 95 minutes of pure joy.

Keanu Reeves plays the titular John Wick, a retired whose wife had just recently died and as a last gift, he is given a dog to look after to fill some of that void his wife left. Shortly his prized car is stolen and his dog his killed, leaving way for a sympathy of revenge.

I pretty much loved everything about John Wick, it is everything an action film should be. The action is gorgeously shot and choreographed, all the death is lingered on and mostly all practical, no dodgy CGI or annoying as shit shakey-cam. Olivier Megaton really needs to a take a note or two from this film. Just looked and saw that this was from a first time director too. Wow, this guy has seriously talent.

John Wick being neon lit

Nearly every set-piece was strong and memorable, the story takes about 20 minutes to kick in, but from then on it is just jumping from action scene to action scene. The best of the bunch has to easily be the club scene, which is just beautiful, filled with neon lights and topped with a pulsating and pumping score. It was just a shame that the finale is really lacking and lackluster compared to the insanely high standard that every other action scene that came before it.

The cast are all great, so many memorable faces here like Willem Dafoe, John Leguizamo, Ian McShane, Adrianne Palicki and the always excellent Lance Riddick. Each of these characters served their purpose and the surviving ones have the potential to return to the universe for the announced 'John Wick 2' which is set for next year.

Keanu Reeves as John Wick

Of course then there is the lead, John Wick himself, Keanu Reeves, was he any good, or does he give another wooden and emotionless performance? Thankfully, Reeves was great, while being a cold-blooded and bad-ass killer, he still manages to emote and bring some heart to the role, especially during the early moments when he is grieving over his wife. It was so nice to see Reeves be good again, it's great to have him back too, I just hope this a new beginning for him and he doesn't go back to doing films like The Day the Earth Stood Still.....

John Wick is everything an action film fan could want, filled with so many amazing action scenes, gun-fu, gorgeous settings and one of the best performances of Keanu Reeves' career.

9/10 Dans

John Wick is out now on Blu-ray and DVD in the UK
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Alien: Covenant (2017) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written May 11th, 2017*

Well, Alien: Covenant is a noticeable improvement on Prometheus at the very least, but it still has a few of the same problems and I can't just help but feel a bit disappointed seeing as this was one of my most anticipated films of 2017.

Ridley Scott returns to the Alien universe once again with the direct sequel to the Alien prequel 'Prometheus' and it answers a few of the lingering questions Prometheus left behind and creates some new questions to be answered with the inevitable and planned sequels.

Alien: Covenant opens with a new crew and a new ship of future Xenomorph victims who decide to respond to a distress beacon on a previously unseen planet that is capable of holding alien life. Things soon go awry and get gory when they discover eveything is far from safe on this new planet.

Where Covenant improves on Prometheus is with its cast and sense of momentum. The crew of the Covenant are far more likeable and well rounded than anyone in the previous film, there's even a surprisingly good role for Danny McBride, who actually doesn't play Kenny Powers for once. There's an added sense of dread when it's revealed that the crew members are all actually married couples. Bringing a bit more weight once they start getting picked off one by one.

An ugly CGI Xenomorph

I was surprised at just how much it seems to follow the original Alien beat for beat. The lead character played by Katherine Waterson doesn't really have much focus until the final act, much like Ripley in the original. That said, Waterson cannot hold a candle to Sigourney Weaver, as her character is fine, but not massively worth investing in.
Michael Fassbender returns once again, delivering a wonderful dual role as two seperate androids (Playing both David from Prometheus and the new Walter). As sinister and terrifying as Fassbender's performance is, which does get more and more horrifying as more is revealed.

The problem with Covenant, is once again within the writing. It's all fairly straight forward, but once it hits the second act, it succumbs to that annoying self-important and pretentious philosophy that annoyed me more than anything. While it does also answer some questions from Prometheus, it does some frustrating and very disappointing things with it. Two well known actors who were confirmed to be in this film are wasted and pointlessly. There is an horrific visual with one of them, but it doesn't make up for the fact it wastes the actor completely.

Speaking of horrific visuals. Alien: Covenant really does earn its 15/R rating. It is so much more gory and horrific than Prometheus. With the new alien creatures involved, there's a variety of different ways these version of Xenomorphs burst out of people, some of these are sadly spoiled by the trailer, but it was none the less, horrific.

Sadly, once the fully grown Xenomorph enters the picture, the blood and gore sort of loses most of its impact. The Xenomorph itself is annoyingly all CGI, really noticeable CGI and seeing it tear through people lacks any sort of impact and has nowhere near the same effect of seeing that perfectly designed suit burst through someones head in 1979.

Lovely Fassbender

The aliens itself might be disappointing to look at, but everything else is gorgeous. The wide shots of the environments are beautiful to look at, brimming with detail. The ships also feel and look practical with no noticeable green screen in site. I have to give Ridley Scott credit, he's 79 and still making these huge blockbuster films and risky ones at that. Alien: Covenant is a weird film, it's really uneven and tonally messy, but it's also a massive budget R-rated sci-fi film, which is a rarity these days, so while I didn't massively love it, I hope people support it and it is succesful.

I did really like the end at least. It was predictable, but it was at least a fun nihlistic ending that puts the series in an interesting place for the next entry. I would have liked the third act as a whole more if they'd gone a bit more practical with it. They seem to have gone back to its roots with its finale, but it loses most of its tension and fear thanks to that terrible CGI Xenomorph.

Alien: Covenant isn't a great film and I am a bit disappointed, but it is a marginal improvement on Prometheus and a step in the right direction for the franchise, it also might be the best in the series since Aliens.

6/10 Dans

Alien: Covenant is out now in cinemas in the UK
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Prometheus (2012) - Film Review

Review:
*Originally written May 11th, 2017*

On the road to Alien: Covenant, I decided to revisit every film in the Alien series (Excluding AVP, although I did shamefully rewatch those recently by mistake). With Covenant landing tomorrow, I finally got to Prometheus, the first prequel in the franchise.

This might be the fifth viewing of Prometheus for me since its release in 2012, and it is still the confused and frustrating experience I remember it being. I did at least appreciate a few things a bit more this time around, although my opinion still leans towards a negative overall feeling towards the film.

I know Prometheus was never intended as a direct prequel to Alien when it was made and released, but seeing as it is now part of a series leading up to the original Alien, it feels a bit messy. I do like that we're leading up to the eventually creation/discovery of the Xenomorph race, I even didn't mind the that little stinger at the end of that baby proto-xeno thing, but everything with the giant albino aliens was laughable at best.

Some giant albino alien *Shrugs*

It's a common criticism of Prometheus, but still a criticism. This film asks way more questions that it answers, which isn't a big concern, in fact it could be a positive if I was invested in these characters or journey, but I'm not. My biggest problem is the characters. I never once cared for any of these crew members, who range from annoying to stupid. Aside from Michael Fassbender bringing more class than the rest of the cast put together, everyone is wasted and forgettable.

I can suspend my disbelief so far, but it is borderline insulting to the audience when the script treats them to the dumbest scientists possibly to ever be put on screen. They do things no real human being would do, it's more script based than the actors fault, but these characters are frustrating to say the least. On top of these dumb characters, the script is full of cringe-worthy and terrible lines.

It is quite amazing that Michael Fassbender is playing an emotionless android, but manages to bring more life to his character than anyone else in Prometheus. Some of my favourite scenes were from the short time we see with him on the ship during the opening where he's just passing the time by watching Lawrence of Arabia and imitating what he saw in the mirror.

Michael Fassbender and Android 'David'

The biggest shame really is that this was director Ridley Scott's first time back into the Alien universe since his 1979 masterpiece that started it all. None of the personal terror or shock is there. It all feels bloated and up its own arse with its self-important philosophy on gods and where humans came from. I'm not asking for a mindless slasher fest, but something a bit more than this.

While Prometheus feels insanely tame for a film in the Alien series, there is one geniune moments of body-horror involving a self-induced abortion that was harrowing to watch, it was probably one of the most nerve-wracking scenes in the entire franchise.

Visually at least, Prometheus really is a feast for the eyes. Every scene is detailed, beautiful and filled with information. A lot of sets are practical and feel lived in, which I have to praise. even the CGI doesn't feel distracting, as it looks really, really good. I particuarly loved the the hologram maps.

Prometheus is a frustrating and unrewarding experience, it also doesn't have much to offer for Alien fans thanks to its terrible script, bland characters and general messiness, but for whatever reason, I seem to come back to it frequently.

5/10 Dans

Prometheus is out now on Blu-ray and DVD in the UK
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Crash (2004) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written May 4th, 2017*

This feels like one of Will Smith's disgusting vanity projects along with Collateral Beauty and Seven Pounds. Horrific on every level. But somehow, William Smith was nowhere to be seen.

If this was made today, it would have been critically panned, but somehow, in 2004 it managed to be a best picture winner at the Oscars. Dear, fucking Christ. There is nothing okay about this film. Offensive to anyone of any race anywhere with such a farcical, surface level portrayal of race.

This feels like an incomplete film too. Most these characters don't have a completed arc or anything close to that. It reminded me of Love Actually. Holy shit, that is actually perfect. Crash feels like Richard Curtis trying to make a "serious" film about race, but equally as horrifying and vomit inducing. Every scene is heavy-handed and misguided. The characters arcs range from not racist to racist, or vice-versa, with no real explanation or reason.

Matt Dillon not being racist for 5 minutes and saving Thandie Newton

I, at the very least burst out laughing at times with some deeply unintentionally funny moments. If you've seen it, then the scene with Michael Pena's daughter in the front garden is incredible. Despite watching this on my own, I did verbally proclaim "Fuck off!" several times due to the outrageously coincidental nature of some of the scenes that involved random members of the ensemble cast meeting.

I'd say the weirdest part of this whole ordeal was Ludacris Bridges playing what was essentially his character from the Fast and Furious films, but played straight. It was bizarre and impossible to take him seriously. It was also strange to see Brendan Fraser on screen again, seeing as his career is more or less dead now.

I'd heard nothing but bad things about Crash, but wow, it shook me to the core at just how disgusting and misguided this vile mess of a film was with its heavy handed, after school special treatment of race problems in L.A. By far the worst film I have ever seen to win Best Picture. Good god.

2/10 Dans

Crash is out now on Blu-ray and DVD now in the UK
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The Raid (2011) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written May 3rd, 2017*

I seem to enjoy The Raid less with every watch, I still like it, quite a bit even, but the more I watch it, the more the problems glare out at me. It's the same problem people have with the first John Wick (Which isn't a problem for me), but The Raid severely lacks in story and feels a lot longer than its 100 minutes runtime.

The story is fairly simple, a SWAT team get locked in an apartment complex and have to fight their way to the top to kill the big bad. It's video-gamey stuff and sadly came along way to close to the Dredd film with an extremely similar concept.

There is nothing wrong with The Raid's simple concept, it's just there is not a lot there, the main character is the only one given any depth, while everyone else is pure cannon fodder for the chaos that ensues. It doesn't help that the sequel is so much richer in character and story, but this was a decent jumping off point for the series.

Where The Raid obviously excells is with the action, the choreographed martial-arts and stunt work is incredible, it's brutal, extremely violent and kinetic. It's sadly let down by some glaringly CGI blood, but I can forgive that for such a low-budget film. The whole film is one long fight scene, to the point where it does get a little repetitive and some action scenes go on a bit longer than they need to, to the point where they start to lose impact.

The general look of the film is quite ugly too, everything looks washed out and quite dull, almost like a straight-to-DVD film. Again, I assume this is due to the budget, but a bit of colour could have gone a long way here. It's also made uglier by just how much prettier the sequel looks.

The Raid is certainly one of the best films of recent years due to its incredible stunt-work and action, but on rewatches and other films doing this a lot better, The Raid is slowly losing its impact.

7/10 Dans

The Raid is out now on Blu-ray and DVD in the UK
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T2 Trainspotting (2017) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written January 27th, 2017*

I was really excited by the idea of a Trainspotting sequel, I'm a huge fan of the first and have come to really love the characters from rewatching the original many times. That said, this had a lot going against it. For one, the awful title, T2 Trainspotting. What the hell even is that? What was wrong with simply 'Trainspotting 2'? The next problem is the 20 year gap. The first trainspotting is a film of its time, a time capsule of the '90s Britpop era. So is Trainspotting even relevant anymore? In a way no.

Time's have changed and Danny Boyle has matured as a filmmaker delivering a far more meditative drama rather than the style fused energy of the first. While T2 is a change of pace from its predecessor, I still loved it nearly as much. If the first was a film about making the choices while you're young to change your future, T2 is about realizing you've hit your middle-ages and wasted your whole life and have nothing to show for it.

While it takes place 20 years after the first and everyone is now in their 40's, every character was still just great to see. Everyone slipped back into their roles effortlessly. Ewan McGregor was still great as Renton, even delivering another great "Choose Life" monologue, Johnny Lee Miller was the same Sickboy we know and love, Ewan Bremner is still the heart and moral compass of the group, providing some of the most heartbreaking scenes. Then we have Robert Carlyle as Begbie, who is still as dangerous and unhinged as ever.

Spud, Renton and Sick Boy

Being 30 minutes longer this time was very needed. The first act works as a catch-up with the characters and seeing where they all are. While the rest feels like a nostalgic trip down memory lane while paving way for the future. Some people will not be a huge fan of the amount of callbacks to the original film (There is a lot), but it all worked for me. Thanks to Boyle's direction, they managed to use a lot of creative ways to incorporate footage from the first mixed in with T2. They even answer a few lingering questions from the first and manage to add some stuff from the books too, which I appreciated.

What a lot of people remember the first for is its soundtrack. T2s' soundtrack isn't as strong as the first, but there is a ton of great tracks. The Wolf Alice song 'Silk' is used beautifully for the end, there's some Queen, Frankie Goes to Hollywood and The Clash. What really surprised me though was a gorgeous slow remix of 'Born Slippy' from T1, which was used effectively in the more reflective and emotional moments.

One of the things that disappointed me a little was just how much story there was. The first Trainspotting was low on plot and was just more of a hangout film with a lot of kinetic style, which I loved, but T2 feels like much more of a drama. There's a lot going on with each character. Renton comes back to Scotland after 20 years and goes into business with Sickboy, Spud is borderline suicidal and trying to kick his addiction and Begbie has broken out of prison and tries to get revenge of Renton for the events of the first.

Begbie goes bananas

The Renton and Begbie reunion was the stuff that excited me the most going into it, and that doesn't really happen till the last act, but when it does, it is fantastic. The scene where they see eachother for the first time again is so wonderfully done. As was all the character moments. That's one of the reasons T2 really worked for me, every emotional beat hit for me, these are characters I've enjoyed for years now and everything felt earned and honest. This doesn't feel like a cash-in. You can tell Danny Boyle really cares about these characters and wanted to tell more of this story.

Returning as the director. Danny Boyle directs the holy fucking shit out of T2. Not a single frame is spared where he can try and get some style in. It's beautifully shot, using an absurd variety of camera shots. It's not as fast paced and aggresive as the first, but damn, Boyle still has it. From what I've seen, Trance is the only blip on his filmography for me.

T2 Trainspotting is everything I possibly could have hoped for a sequel to a 20 year old film. Fan-pleasing, emotional, nostalgic and beautifully shot. Could go up to a 10 on rewatches. I need more films like this.

9/10 Dans

T2 Trainspotting is out June 5th on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD in the UK
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Paterson (2016) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written May 1st, 2017*

I am shook. What a beautiful, beautiful film. This is hard one to recommend to most as I imagine a lot of people would say "Nothing happens", which is right, but this isn't a film about plot or story, it's about one man's struggle of what he really wants to do.

Adam Driver delivers what is probably the best performance of his career, it's so understated, yet powerful. Paterson is a character could just watch for hours, going through his day to day life, listening to different people during his daily journeys as a bus driver at work and his daily visit to the bar at night.

This is such a hard film to talk about, it's simplicity generates so much complexity. It's a look at every day life, it's something we can all relate to. Following around a guy who has a mundane job, but has a hobby as a genuinely good poet and whether he should persue that or not. Like most people, I imagine you have a hobby outside your usual job that you would love to do for a living, but can't. It's drenched in that reality of sadness that you probably can't and ever will do what you love for a living.

Adam Driver as poet and bus driver, Paterson

I loved there was no moments of forced drama or any real conflict at the centre of the film. There is one moment of danger that is quickly resolved and turned out to not be dangerous at all, but for the most part, you're just following the ins and outs of Paterson's life in a week, and it is so strangely engaging and wonderful.

My favourite moments are when he bumps into other poets, including a little girl and she reads him a poem while she is waiting for her mother. Little moments like this that sound boring on paper are bought to life with the incredible and engrossing writing that just took me along for the whole ride.

I wish I had something smarter or more insightful to say about Paterson, but for now I'm having a hard time gathering my thought. I will say Paterson is a masterpiece, although it won't be for everyone. I can't believe the lack of awards recognition this got, especially for Adam Driver, which is a damn shame.

10/10 Dans

Paterson is out now on Blu-ray and DVD now in the UK
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