Category: Film Reviews

Film Reviews, Films

Review: Encanto

ohnoitsjade

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The Madrigal family have been blessed with supernatural gifts for a few generations. Each family member goes through a coming of age ceremony where they’re granted their gift by the omniscient power which seems to reside in a candle and also grants their house magical powers. The family member’s powers range from heightened hearing, super strength, healing, and…. nothing. Our protagonist Mirabel is the unlucky one, the one member of the Madrigal family since the gifts started being granted to not receive a gift.

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Mirabel is a sweetheart, unfazed for the most part about her lack of a gift. In fact, the opening number of Encanto is Mirabel literally singing the praises of her family members and how incredible they and their gifts are. Whilst Mirabel doesn’t treat any of her family members any differently, the same cannot be said the other way and Mirabel is somewhat ostracised from the family as a result.

After her cousin Antonio’s birthday where he is granted his gift, Mirabel realises the house is losing it’s magic and the family members are losing their gifts. Along with her estranged uncle Bruno, Mirabel decides she’s going to fix things and get the magic back.

Mirabel’s grandmother (who I’ll call Abuela, as they do in the film) is easily the worst of all the Madrigal family. I get that she’s the matriarch and the plot of Encanto mostly stems from her being awful, but I just felt like there was nothing redeeming about her at all. She’s controlling, bossy and far too concerned with appearances. You don’t really see anything of her to make you warm to her or think that she might be a good person early on in the film, and so it’s hard to really care about her character. The focus is very much on Abuela’s negative personality traits, which is to the detriment of the plot.

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Encanto is really visually spectacular. It’s wonderfully colourful and seems very authentic to it’s Columbian setting (from an outside perspective anyway). I believe the majority of the cast are Latinx also (please correct me if I’m wrong!), which helps the film feel very authentic. I loved how all of the members of the Madrigal family had a family resemblance but their character designs were so unique to them, and the characters themselves are really fun and it’s really cool to see them using their gifts.

Whilst Encanto is really visually appealing, that’s pretty much where the positives end for me.

The pacing of the film was just terrible, frankly. Far too much time was focussed on setting up the Madrigal home, explaining the history of the family and the gifts of each family member, that by the time the movie got into the crux of the plot there was barely any time to resolve matters so the ending feels incredibly rushed. The plot had a lot of potential but then just flatlined leaving the ending feeling anticlimactic and like things were resolved too easily given the lead up.

I also felt that for all her shortcomings, Abuela’s redemption was really disappointing. She got a second chance she perhaps didn’t deserve, and this feeling is largely in part due to her not really having much positive characterisation. By the time Encanto wraps up, she was very much still a villain in my mind and didn’t do much to endear me to her.

The songs are also largely forgettable, in my opinion. After I finished Encanto, I have thought approximately 0 times about any of the songs. I’m not sure I would even recognise one if I heard it. I know one is called ‘We Don’t Talk About Bruno’ but when I think about it, I just get the tune of ‘Where You Are’ from Moana (understandably that’s more of a me problem than any actual similarities between the songs). Judging from the reaction of the internet, I’m definitely in a minority here, but for me this was one of Disney’s weakest soundtracks in a long time.

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I did like Encanto, there is a lot to like about it but it did leave me feeling quite underwhelmed and frankly, given the hype I have seen about it on social media, a bit confused! What am I missing? Encanto is one of Disney’s weaker films and not one I’d rush to rewatch any time soon.

6 stars

 

Film Reviews, Films

Review: Yes, No, Or Maybe?

ohnoitsjade

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Yes, No, Or Maybe? is a fairly short film – standing at 53 minutes. There’s a lot packed into the short run time, and for the most part it’s a joy to watch. This review will contain spoilers for the end, but I’ll warn you before it’s about to be mentioned, so read with caution.

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The focus of Yes, No, Or Maybe? is Kei Kunieda, a friendly newscaster with a sunny disposition. Kei has a secret – he’s actually pretty grouchy and is pretty much constantly inwardly cursing at other people. This is done to great effect throughout the film showing Kei’s inner thoughts as a little chibi figure on screen, so whilst IRL Kei might be thanking someone profusely, chibi Kei will be cursing them up a storm. It’s a really funny juxtaposition that works really well, and is much more effective than just having a voiceover show Kei’s inner thoughts.

One day, Kei is asked to interview Ushio Tsuzuki, a stop-motion animator. Following the interview, an off-duty and disguised Kei bumps into Ushio (quite literally) outside a convenience store, and after unleashing a barrage of abuse at Ushio reluctantly agrees to help him with his work after injuring him.

What follows is a back and forth between Kei and Ushio as Kei interacts with Ushio both using his work persona and his true self, and struggles to reconcile his feelings with who he truly is as a person. Being a shounen ai, there’s obviously a romantic undertone and typically of a BL anime, there’s some struggle as Kei deals with his romantic thoughts towards another man.

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Yes, No, Or Maybe? presents two really well written characters. Kei and Ushio are both really well developed and each have their own nuances and motivations. I really related to Kei having his private and public personas, as I feel like often I’m very different publicly to how I am privately, and as I said before, the way the film presents this is really effective.

I really liked the animation of Yes, No, Or Maybe?, it felt really soft and natural, with a pretty realistic colour palette, which added to the romantic tone of the movie. Whilst Yes, No, Or Maybe? is primarily a drama, it does have some really funny moments, especially between Kei’s private persona and his inner thoughts. 

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Whilst I wouldn’t want to get into spoiler territory, I feel it’s worth mentioning the end as it could be a huge trigger for viewers and could be the difference between someone watching it or not. If you don’t want to know spoilers, don’t read the next paragraph and just know that I really disliked the final scenes of Yes, No, or Maybe?

The end scene is really hard to bear and features the worst of all BL tropes – dubious consent. Except, it’s really not dubious, it’s pretty clear and repeatedly said that it’s a firm no. It’s a real shame, because up until this point, the movie was golden and the whole scene just sours the wholesome and romantic vibe of Yes, No, or Maybe? up until that point. I’m really interested to pick up the light novel to see how that compares to the film, I would hope that it isn’t so non-consensual but my experience with BL makes me think otherwise.

8 stars

Film Reviews

Review: Tokyo Ghoul

ohnoitsjade

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Tokyo Ghoul is one of my favourite anime, so when I saw that a cinema near me was doing a screening of the release of the live action film, I jumped at the chance to get tickets.

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In all, I really enjoyed the movie. It’s not perfect by a long stretch, but it’s a really good adaptation of the anime and manga, and stuck faithfully to its predecessors. There weren’t really any moments I could nail down where I could comfortably say “It didn’t happen like that in the anime/manga”, and trust me, I’m always the first one to point out that sort of thing.

Tokyo Ghoul is let down by some of it’s not-so-special effects. So much of the plot is reliant on CGI, so it’s really disappointing that the CGI was so subpar. It really took me out of it seeing the ghouls fighting using their kagunes which were just laughably bad. Really, I think this is the only negative I can say about the whole experience.

The movie does showcase some really stellar acting. Masataka Kubota in particular was especially convincing as Ken Kaneki, managing to show off his inner turmoil at becoming a ghoul. There are some really great moments later on in the movie where Ken is being overtaken by his ghoul side where you can really feel how the experience is affecting him and how troubled his mind is.

7 stars

Film Reviews

Review: Downsizing

ohnoitsjade

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Downsizing is a peculiar one. I think it’s really hard to make a ‘serious film’ where the key concept of the movie is that people are shrinking themselves. I don’t know if that’s because I was a child in a time where Honey, I Shrunk The Kids and its various spin-offs were a big thing, but to me the idea of a person shrinking is just funny.

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The thing with Downsizing, though it does have its funny moments, is it’s not really a comedy. The concept of ‘downsizing’ is so that a person takes up less space on the planet and has less of an effect on the environment, so the movie is a pretty serious one with a focus on environmentalism and the selfishness of humanity.

Downsizing doesn’t really deliver its message with much impact. Yes, we all know that the Earth is struggling to cope with the volume of people who inhabit it, as well as the way they treat it. Past this it doesn’t really offer much more exploration into things. There’s no focus on how things change once the project begins, how things are developing or whether the project met its aims. Things just happen, and we’re expected to accept that.

Downsizing touches on a lot of points that would have been really interesting to explore; the import/export business in the miniature world, the wealth divide in Leisure Land, politics between the ‘normies’ and the downsizers to name a few examples, but it doesn’t expand on any of them. It’s disappointing, but throughout the movie Downsizing has a habit of introducing an interesting topic and just leaving it, undeveloped.

The protagonist, Paul (Matt Damon) doesn’t really develop much, and the same can be said for most of the characters. Everyone ends the movie as they started, there’s no journey, no development, nothing to keep you engaged and the movie feels every second of its 2hr15 runtime.

 

Film Reviews, Films

Review: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

ohnoitsjade

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Going into Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri I had very little idea about the film. I thought vaguely, maybe it won’t actually be about billboards, and the billboards might be a sort of metaphor? Nope, it’s about billboards.

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The billboards, whilst not necessarily a metaphor, are a representation of ­­­Mildred’s struggle to get closure and justice for her murdered daughter. Frustrated, Mildred (played by Frances McDormand) rents out the three billboards and puts up some choice words for the local police chief essentially questioning whether he has done his job properly.

There’s a pretty stellar cast, with Frances McDormand being joined by Woody Harrelson and Sam Rockwell, who is particularly fantastic throughout the whole film, portraying a really complex character perfectly. Everything is sublime and it’s really hard to find any faults in the whole movie.

I don’t want to delve too deeply into things, as I think it’s good to go into Three Billboards as I did, not really knowing much about it. I will say it’s a wonderfully emotional film with a really engaging plot.

Three Billboards does comedy and drama exceptionally well, giving you moments that are genuinely hilarious before smacking you in the gut with some well-delivered emotional trauma. The whole thing keeps you on your toes, in a good way, and you’re on an emotional rollercoaster along with the characters throughout the film’s 115 minutes.

I can’t recommend Three Billboards enough.

 

Film Reviews

Review: Assassin’s Creed

ohnoitsjade

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Historically, movie adaptations of video games have got a bad rep. Perhaps the translation of game to movie doesn’t quite mesh, changing an interactive activity into a passive one, or maybe it’s simply because the majority of attempts have been terrible. There are, of course, exceptions to the rule, so where does Assassin’s Creed fit into the spectrum?

Read the rest of my review at Filmoria.

Film Reviews, Films

Secret Cinema presents Back to The Future: The Verdict

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After nearly a week of cancellations, the Secret Cinema finally opened its doors to legions of Back To The Future fans on Thursday 31st July. The event, which saw the building of the fictional town of Hill Valley from the hit movie, and stage the Hill Valley Fair, was held in a secret London location. Though punters were sceptical in the lead up to the event, and on the journey from the unmentionable train station to the event itself, all doubts were erased as soon as you set foot onto the property.

Secret Cinema really live up to their name, and all information was withheld until the last possible minute, including the location of the event which was emailed out to revellers just the day before. Unusually for a Secret Cinema event, the film was disclosed which helped to create the hype – normally customers don’t even know what film they’re watching until it rolls on the night.

Armed with dress codes and new identities, attendees could put in as much, or as little, effort as they liked. The result was overwhelming, and it made you feel a part of something special. The word ‘immersive’ has been paraded around a lot in relation to the event, but rightly so.

Read the full article at Filmoria.

Film Reviews, Films

Review: 22 Jump Street

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Reboots are a tricky business. Sequels are even trickier. When something is successful, Hollywood has a tendency of latching on and ruining a good thing, so when 22 Jump Street was announced the world got nervous. 21 Jump Street was an unexpected hit, with critics and moviegoers alike.

The last words of Captain Dickson (Ice Cube), “You two sons of bitches are going to college!”, in 21 Jump Street left us with no doubts about where the sequel was headed. Though the opening scene was the focus of much of the trailers and press junkets, and you will no doubt have seen it, it’s still hilarious and provides some great jokes and skits which will set you up ready to keep the laughs coming through the rest of the film. Push past the opening scene and 22 Jump Street heads straight to college, where Jenko (Channing Tatum) and Schmidt (Jonah Hill) are set to work the same case again.

Read the rest of my review at Filmoria.

Film Reviews, Films

Review: The Raid 2

ohnoitsjade

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Having not seen The Raid, I entered the screening of The Raid 2 with some trepidation. I understand that fundamentally The Raid 2 is a fighting movie, and as I’m not a fan of the genre, perhaps my mind was already made up before the title credits had rolled.

The story, if you can call it that, follows Rama, the main character from the first Raid film, as he sets to uncover corrupt cops within the Jakartan justice system. Going undercover as a heavy working for a local politician, Rama starts his assignment by befriending the son of the kingpin, Uco, in prison which serves as his in with the family.

For me, the plot quickly loses its way, with the film becoming more and more about how much gore and violence it can cram in at the detriment of any plot that had lingered in earlier scenes. Considering Rama’s assignment is to uncover corruption, there seems it be very little of this, and more acting as a bodyguard for Uco.

The fight scenes, which obviously form a large percentage of the film, are well choreographed and slick. I always find it hard to really lose myself in a fight scene, where the only weapons are fists and feet. I cannot dispel the power of disbelief long enough to assume that the downed enemies will stay down from simply being punched, but they do and Rama is able to take down each foe with ease.

There didn’t feel like there was any real threat posed to Rama. As Rama constantly proves that he is more than capable of protecting himself, taking down enemies with ease, the foes that are presented to him are easily dispatched and it’s only in the final moments of the film that you start to fear for Rama’s wellbeing.

The Raid 2 is in UK cinemas from April 11th, and is a must see for fans of the first film and martial arts films. Viewers going in expecting a plot-driven film will be disappointed, but for pure action alone, you would be hard-pressed to find a better suited film.

Film Reviews, Films

Review: Last Vegas

ohnoitsjade

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Billed as The Hangover for pensioners, my first cinema trip this year was to see Last Vegas. With a central cast of Robert De Niro, Michael Douglas, Morgan Freeman and Kevin Kline, the “Flatbush Four” head to Vegas to celebrate the marriage of Billy (Michael Douglas) and his 31-year-old fiancée (of course), where they meet Diana (Mary Steenburgen), a lounge singer in a casino.

The bulk of the film feels very predictable, with the first 30 minutes introducing the characters and their respective problems. The tone of the film is light, and there doesn’t ever seem a doubt that each problem won’t be left resolved. Some jokes you can see coming a mile off, and in a world where the shock factor seems to be the highest indicator of laughs, a change of pace on that front is not necessarily a bad thing.

Once the foursome arrive in Vegas, the predictability continues with gambling, parties, scantily clad women, and rather creepily, the Flatbush Four judging a bikini contest of girls young enough to be their grandchildren.

One gripe I do have is that what should have been the films biggest laughs, were left a little stale for me as they were featured in the trailer, which by the time the screening rolled around, I had seen more times than I care to count. The average cinema-goer doesn’t go to the cinema quite as often as I do, and judging by the laughs the gags still got, I was perhaps the only person who felt these certain jokes had become over-worn.

With six Academy Awards between the four main actors and Mary Steenburgen, the film is expectedly well-acted. Robert De Niro in particular stands out, stealing most scenes he is in, providing the emotion throughout the film as well as plenty of laughs.

Leaving predictability and perversion aside, Last Vegas is still a pretty good comedy film, more than matching recent comedy films I’ve seen (Anchorman 2 not standing). Whereas some recent comedies have jokes which are few and far between, Last Vegas keeps the jokes coming, and all feel well-timed and at the right level.