Alien Romulus (Guest) review

Director: Fede Alvarez

Stars: Isabela Merced, Cailee Spaeny & David Jonsson

Runtime: 1hr 59 mins

Genre: Sci-Fi Horror

Movie review by Sunil

I was 6 years old when the first Alien movie was released and 13 when Aliens was released.  Two things I loved was food and film!! I still do.. although as you age, other less appealing factors like health and time come into it.. oh and technology, social media and other people's opinions!!

My Saturday nights were a combination of my favourite meal from our chippy along with being mesmerised by the latest VHS rental. I love my food!! And yet, in 1986 when I rented Aliens from my local video store, I could not take my eyes away from the screen and sat there open mouthed with a full plate of southern fried chicken, chips and curry sauce, which by the end of the movie went stone cold... because I hadn't touched it!!

Aliens is not only the best Alien movie in the franchise, despite being a sequel, but simply one of the best movies of all time!! I have seen it dozens of times!! It would be in my Top 10!! Since these two classics, fans of the franchise have sat in hope.. waiting for a sequel to be made to match the brilliance of the originals!! All subsequent follow ups have tried and failed to do so.  They have had their moments but none of them have come close.  Expectation is, after all, what can diminish that!! Maybe we shouldn't have any. Maybe we shouldn't watch trailers!! Maybe we shouldn't watch other people's reviews!! Self-constraint can be a good thing.. can't it!! So, after all that... is Alien: Romulus finally that movie to bring the franchise full circle and re-live the glory days of 1979 and 1986 all over again? ....

Fitting in between Alien and Aliens, specifically 20 years after the end of Alien, Alien: Romulus tells the story of Rain Cassidy, played by brilliant actor, Cailee Spaeny who, along with her one-dimensional character, Android protector/brother, Andy played by David Jonsson, live on a colonised mining planet of limited population that experiences zero daylight.. at any time of day. Having had enough of their environment, a group of their fellow workers come up with a plan to secretly leave the planet to raid an abandoned space station, named Romulus, of fuel cells so they can escape to a better life!! On arriving however, things are not what they seem, as it has been abandoned or more appropriately, become devoid of life for a reason. And being a science and research vessel, we can all guess as to what that reason could be.

What follows are eerie walks through dark hallways, very reminiscent of the set of the Nostromo (the ship from the first Alien movie) and disturbing findings of incubators with certain life forms being developed inside them!!

What starts as a fast in and out mission quickly becomes a race for survival with the infamous face huggers announcing their presence and wreaking havoc on the group!!

This follows up with an interaction with a surprising and familiar character from the first Alien movie, where they are educated on what is know as the Xenomorph, with a very clever connection to the first movie.

The storyline involves 'a mission', one that is very cleverly integrated into the series again.  This movie is intelligent and clever!! It fits beautifully into the franchise and re-introduces us to all the sights and sounds of what we remember about the first movie.. those revolving spiral airlocks and humming computer drives of CRT tube monitors. I love science... and when they introduce us to new knowledge about these creatures, I found it fascinating. There is obviously again, from those who have seen it, the infamous chest bursting scene. This time however, these 'perfect organisms' seem more menacing and aggressive than ever before. People call them Face Huggers.. but in reality.. I call them Face F*kers!! (excuse my language) ... I'm sorry.. but a creature that attaches itself to your head, while sticking it's massive appendage down your throat to impregnate you is not hugging you... it's F*king you!!

The movie takes you through survival, rescues, a battle against time which involves not as much Alien as you may think. We are introduced to further scenes of the metamorphosis, showing the cocoon or sac  before emergence of the Alien.. again parts I found fascinating... with the Aliens, surprisingly, in more of a ... supporting role... but still used to great effect. The design combines clever use of CGI and animatronics. 

There is another part that involves being quiet, in a horror scene that is pure Fede Alvarez and was like the movie Sting on steroids!! The suspense, the spider like movement and the use of dark spaces and mist was all utilised to perfect affect to create a scene that even though we have seen before in other movies, was still very involving and intense.

One such scene involving the Aliens and.. shall we say.. a lack of gravity and use of their concentrated acid for blood was so intelligently conceived and brilliantly constructed that it has to be one of the best parts of the entire Alien franchise!! Very Console Alien: Isolation in feel.. gamers will love it.. and will hope for a version to play soon!! .. I know I do.. and I'm not a gamer!!

And herein lies the controversial twist, or what we like to call these days.. the pivot point!! Giving people a concept and then knowing you need to bring something new always falls into two categories.. will it work and will people enjoy it. .. Well the ending will definitely be controversial and mixed in opinion. On the one hand you have to admire the originality of a certain take on what these so called elitests in the movie are trying to do with the world.. and another on how it is depicted. For me.. I found the constant correlations to other movies in the franchise not necessary (I'm guessing producer, Ridley Scott may have had his hand in this.. or maybe not). I still admired what they did, but the ending  will be mind blowing to some and a little farfetched to others!! The movie also felt in parts that it had several endings with the way it was edited!! In my opinion, I liked it, admiring the originality.. but at the same time thought it could have been even better and even a bit longer. A good effort all the same.

The actors, in particular the performances of Cailee Spaeny and David Jonsson were particularly brilliant with excellent brother/sister chemistry. A special mention must go to Isabel Merced, who seems to have become less of a lead and more a supporting actor these days.. but still played the damsel in distress to great effect. The story was a little confusing in parts and you sometimes thought, 'what's going on here?' But it all pieced together in the end.

All in all, you have to ask yourself, after all this.. does it finally meet your expectations and match the brilliance of Alien and Aliens.. to which the answer is unfortunately, no. However, what it does do is become the best sequel to the first two, along with bringing some of the best scenes to hit the franchise. You have to commend writer and director, Fede Alvarez for that.

The release date can definitely affect how well a movie does. And filmmakers don't always get it right. Coming in hot on the tracks of two Billion dollar plus blockbusters in Inside Out 2 and Deadpool and Wolverine will leave people in a certain mindset with expectation levels high!! Age is also a certain factor... with a sequel that was released 45 years after the original, the younger me would definitely have had different feelings and mindset to what I have now,  especially with four and half decades of other movies, reviews, CGI etc etc to add to it all. If this movie was released in the early 80s, it would have had an entirely different reception. After all the hype dies down, time will tell where it truly ranks, but at this moment I would personally say that I would love to watch it again, in IMAX this time and would not hesitate to recommend it to others. At this stage, I think it is a movie that will grow on you.. but in two years from now though, who knows.

Verdict: Matched Expectations

Deadpool & Wolverine Movie Review

  

Deadpool & Wolverine

No 2 on my Most Anticipated

Director: Shawn Levy

Stars: Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin, Morena Baccarin & Matthew MacFayden

Runtime: 2 hours 7 mins

Genre: Comic Book

It's been six years since Ryan Reynolds has played Deadpool. Since then he's co-bought a football club (Wrexham FC) owned a stake in a gin company (Aviation) and had a 25% share in a mobile phone network (Mint Mobile). He has since sold Aviation and Mint.

One of the reason's he invested so much in business ventures is he genuinely never thought he would get the chance to play Deadpool again. With the family friendly mouse house having taken over 20th Century Fox in 2019, the 47-year old Canadian actor thought his days of chimi-changas were well and truly over.

That was until Hugh Jackman decided he wanted to play Wolverine one last time and finally accepted Reynolds long standing pitch for him to claw-up for a final send off to the much beloved character (even though that happened in Logan). Anywhoo, Feige subsequently green lit the project and with that sealing Deadpool's entry into a much beleaguered MCU.

Time for Maximum Effort.

Let's break it down..

Story and Plot

It's been a few years since the events of Deadpool 2, Wade Wilson (now with a glorious head of implanted hair!) is living his life in what you could call the Fox Universe of the MCU. With his mercenary days behind him, he's settled into domestic bliss with Vanessa (Baccarin) having swapped his katanas for cookery knives. Then the TVA (Time Variance Authority) show up at his door to take him to Mr Paradox (MacFayden) who shows Wade the most glorious place in the world - the sacred timeline. Tasked with having to save the MCU (in more ways than one), Deadpool crosses paths with a variant of an old clawed-friend and from there all hell breaks loose.

My overall thoughts...

Normally at this point that I would breakdown the movie in a non-spoiler sense, but not for this movie. I don't want to risk spoiling anything so I will keep to general impressions only. 

My biggest worry going into Deadpool & Wolverine (the sole entry in the MCU movie canon this year and the MCU's first R rated movie) is that it would equate to nothing more than an endless tirade of rapid snarky jokes & gags, relentless general humour, making it border almost on a straight up comedy (Thor: Love and Thunder I'm looking at you)  Easter eggs, a constant onslaught of cameos and the movie becoming so meta it left audiences bewildered.

I needn't have worried, Deadpool & Wolverine (which is my 2nd most anticipated movie of the year) is an absolute blast in all the right ways. Levy has directed the hell out of this buddy comedy action comic book adventure and will have franchises galore knocking his door. It also acts a fantastic third entry in the Deadpool franchise and is not just another MCU entry. It's tone consistent with the previous two movies. 

Hilarious, profane and packed with thrilling action set pieces and fights, the movie which starts with a very meta opening is a movie that definitely demands to be seen more than once. I can see hundreds if not thousands of YouTube videos breaking down each minute of the movie in the coming months. 

The chemistry between Reynolds and Jackman is very strong, their relationship is the heart of movie. Their performances bring a new dynamic and freshness to a stale MCU. The movie also has a lot of heart, so parking the snarky meta humour to the side for a moment there is actual meat on the bone here. 

Whilst I thought the movie's humour would just be nothing but a constant barrage of snarky quips, it is actually very self-depreciating and genuine. Also despite this being under the Disney banner, the movie thankfully retains the vulgar and violent nature of previous Deadpool entries. Crude & rude - yep, Bloody violence - yep, swearing, lots of swearing - yep. This is one Disney movie not to bring young kids to.  

The movie also hopefully (depending on what the MCU have planned next) will be seen as a potential reset for the MCU, bringing a fresh and energetic approach to a universe that has essentially felt stuck-in-the-mud since Avenger's Endgame. 

My only pushbacks would be that at just north of 2 hours, Levy and Reynolds cram in a hell of a lot of stuff, so time any bathroom breaks wisely! As you will probably miss a crap tonne of cameos whilst actually taking a crap! Secondly the movie drags a tad during the middle but soon picks up pace into the third act.

Finally stay right to the end of the credits, it's Deadpool - you know the score!

Cast

It's no secret to learn that Reynolds and Jackman are very close friends and have been ever since the ill-fated X-Men Origins: Wolverine and as mentioned above their chemistry is as strong on screen as it is off. 

Ryan Reynolds is back to being on top form, he is Deadpool/Wade Wilson from the original movie, I felt he was trying a little hard in the sequel. It has been said more than once that he was born to play this role, and this movie firmly cements that notion. He is hilarious (that's a given) but this time we see there is much more heart to Deadpool/Wade Wilson than previous entries as so much is at stake for him personally. 

Hugh Jackman again resumes his role as Wolverine, but make no mistake this is not the Wolverine from the X-Men movies and Logan -  this is the variant who comes from the MCU. It gave Jackman a chance to change his approach to his most iconic character and in doing so get decked out in the legendary comic book faithful blue-and-yellow costume. It also served as the second time under director Levy, with the first being 2011's Real Steel (which is a great movie btw).

He is superb in this movie, looking nothing like his 55 years of age. He is as ripped as ever and looks fantastic in the suit. It is my favourite turn of his as Wolverine, sitting just behind Logan. It's also finally liberating to see Wolverine drop F- bombs left, right and centre.

This pairing has been a long time coming and certainly pays off on screen.

Emma Corrin play's the movie's villain Cassandra Nova who in comic book lore is Charles Xavier's twin sister. This is my first film for the 28 year old British actor, she is very good in the role, which is great as I was worried that the movie could have been potentially let down by a weak villain.

Matthew MacFayden as the TVA's Mr Paradox is perfectly cast, he is excellent. The agent, who serves as a liaison between Deadpool and the MCU. His relationship with Deadpool is akin to Loki and Mobius in the Disney+ series Loki. 

Wade Wilson's usual crew all return with the likes of Morena Baccarin (Vanessa), Rob Delaney (Peter), Karan Sino (Dupinder), Brianna Hildebrand (Negasonic) Stefan Kapicic (Colossus) and Leslie Uggams (Blind Al) all reprising their respective roles.

As for the cameos, well as the director Shaun Levy himself said "It's an Easter egg farm, this movie". I will neither spoil nor divulge any of them, for this one - you're on you're own, suffice to say you won't be disappointed and each have their time to shine. 

On screen Action

Whilst I won't give away any specifics, I will say that the movie features a wide array of very well directed and shot action set-pieces. The fights are bloody, gritty and organic and feel akin to the original Deadpool. The fights between Deadpool and Wolverine are a particular highlight. The set pieces build up nicely, from the opener all the way to the finale. The main thing is as well is because I genuinely cared about the characters, the action came about because of the story developing not for just for shits and giggles. Action and character are interlaced. 

Cinematography & Effects

Seasoned DP George Richmond (Free Guy and Kingsman: The Secret Service) lensed the movie. It looks universally superb, Richmond going a long to re-create the gritty feel of the original, lensed by Ken Seng. He also uses a wide array of cuts and shots to keep things fresh throughout the movie. Like the Spider-Verse movies as well, this movie really feels like a comic book come to life with vibrant colours and it's credit to both Levy and Richmond for having achieved this. 

Music, Score & Sound

This franchise has had a different composer for each movie. This time round LA based musician Rob Simonsen picks up the baton. I enjoyed the score but as you would expect for this franchise, this movie veers more towards a wealth of varied needle drops (no less than 18 songs are listed on the soundtrack) including The Lady in Red by Chris De Burgh, Angel of the Morning by Merilee Rush & the Turnabouts, and even The Greatest Show by Hugh Jackman himself from The Greatest Showman get's a look in.

Deadpool & Wolverine delivers the goods! It's an absolute blast. Hilarious, fast paced, stonking action set-pieces, a tonne of cameos and as meta as Facebook. Despite Disney's ownership, it's rude, sexy and as sweary & bloody as they come but at the same time has real heart. It's time to deep fry those Chimichangas -  Let's Fucking Go!

Verdict  - MATCHED EXPECTATIONS

Twisters Movie Review

  

Twisters

No 3 on my Most Anticipated

Director: Lee Isaac Chung

Stars: Glen Powell, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Katy O' Brian, David Corenswet & Anthony Ramos

Runtime: 1 hour 57 mins

Genre: Action Adventure Thriller

Coming in at Number 3 on my most anticipated movies of the year, Twisters directed by Lee Isaac Chung (Minari) is a sequel of sorts, reportedly set in the same world as the 1996 original but following a completely new set of characters, set in present day. 

I absolutely adored the original movie back in 1996, I literally obsessed over it. Together with Jurassic Park, three years earlier it became a seminal movie of my teen years. I saw it way too many times at the cinema, bought both the original score and music soundtrack (first and only time I have ever done that). It gave me a life long love of extreme weather, with tornadoes in particular. I read countless books on the history of famous tornadoes, together with books and videos on the science behind them.

Anyway let's not carried away, let's break it down.

Story and Plot

After a fateful encounter with a tornado, storm chaser Kate Cooper (Edgar-Jones) gets persuaded back to the open plains by Javi (Ramos) to pilot a ground breaking new system. Once on the trail she soon crosses path's with Tyler Owens (Powell), he's good looking, charming but reckless. As the storm intensifies, Kate, Tyler, Javi and their crews have to join forces in a fight for their lives as supercell storms converge over central Oklahoma. 

My overall thoughts...

Back in the heady days of the mid to late 90's, CGI and VFX were revolutionising Hollywood. The industry took advantage of this with a proliferation of disaster movies such as Volcano, Dante's Peak, Deep Impact and Armageddon. But Twister (for me at least) was a cut above the rest. 

The thrill of the original movie was the opportunity to see and experience photo realistic tornadoes in thrilling action set pieces, that literally blew audiences away. Twenty-eight years later VFX and CGI have advanced so much that this alone is no longer a draw for audiences.

So was I blown away with this remake?

Whilst for me it didn't compare to the original, in the fact that it lacked the punchy spine tingling action sequences of that movie, it is a damn fun action summer blockbuster with some nice nostalgic member berries (red RAM truck and some lines from the original). The movie should do well as counter programming to Deadpool & Wolverine released next week. 

What I liked about the movie is it never tried to copy the original and very much wanted to stand on it's own two feet. What it does is essentially offer a twist (ok, I had to use that word) on the original story by placing Kate (Edgar Jones) (essentially this movie's Helen Hunt) with the geeks and the audience initially looks in from the outside on Owens (Powell) ragtag bag of misfits. Whereas the original movie told the story firmly from the misfits gangs point of view headed by Jo (Helen Hunt). 

It works well as there is a nice twist (there's that word again) with the geeks crew that ultimately leads Kate to question which side she should be on.

Cast

Glen Powell steals the show as the hunky cowboy scientist Tyler Owens. His presence is fun, disarming and as the movie wears on you get to see another side to his character that makes you warm to him more and more, and whilst the character of Kate is in a sense an amalgamation of Bill and Jo from the original movie, Tyler is a fresh injection into the franchise.

As for British born Daisy-Edgar Jones this was my first movie of hers. Her character Kate is clearly brilliant and has a natural instinct for sniffing out on-coming storms. She is clearly an excellent actress and whilst her story is heartfelt and very well acted, her signature low-key quality can make the proceedings more serious than they need to be.

Anthony Ramos does his usual sturdy job in support as Javi, Kate's friend who also suffers loss in the movie.

Twisters as well has a decent stab of banding together the loveable roguish bunch of misfits that make up Tyler's crew. As the movie is set in the present day, the group led by Owens are a YouTube sensation rather than a band of unknowns as in the original. Whilst never reaching the heights of the original gang, which included such actors as Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Alan Ruck, they are a loveable group all the same. 

Katy O'Brian coming off Love Lives Bleeding is the lead actress in the group. Brandon Perea as Boone Owen's right-hand man is good but does little else other than holler and scream throughout most of the movie, "Twins, we've got twins!!" as featured in the trailer.

One bizarre choice though was to include Ben a British photo journalist played by Harry Hadden-Paton who documents the groups exploits, it just felt out of place and he was there mainly for the comic relief.

David Corenswet, (cast as Superman in next year’s James Gunn led movie)  heads up the rival gang of geeks. He didn't have a huge amount to do, but you can see from his sheer presence and physicality that Gunn has chosen well for the Man of Steel.  

On screen Action

Whilst the set-pieces in Twisters lack the sheer spine tingling impact of the original they are very well done and are really enjoyable.

Whilst Jan De Bont decided in Twister to progressively rachet up the ante with each tornado getting larger than the last (literally F2 to F5). Chung takes a slightly different approach by throwing in a more eclectic mix of tornadoes. This made the action slightly less punchy and focused than the 96' original.

Whilst the action is exciting, Chung wanted to make the science of the tornadoes as accurate as possible. He therefore used Kevin Kelleher, science advisor to not only this movie but the 1996 original.

Cinematography & Effects

As with Twister, VFX & CGI plays a huge part in this new movie. Along with VFX Chung was adamant that the cast got deluged (literally) with in-camera effects. Wind and rain machines with real flying debris was used to bring the storms to life. This is nothing new, Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton were nearly blinded by debris on the set of the original movie.

As for the CGI and VFX, Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) were employed to take the reigns once more after their ground-breaking work on the 1996 film. Chung's biggest fear going in for this movie was that he was more than aware that today's audiences take for granted VFX and CGI. Add to the fact YouTube is awash with real footage of tornadoes. So he decided the logical step would be to immerse audiences in the tornado itself. 

I'm happy to report that ILM have excelled themselves with Twisters, the CGI and VFX are cutting edge and definitely represent that next step in the creation of extreme weather on screen.

This movie needs to be seen on the biggest screen possible, it's also a rare blockbuster that is filmed on 35mm filmstock not digital and you can really tell. 

Music, Score & Sound

Benjamin Wallfisch (Blade Runner 2049, It and Shazam!) takes over composing duties from Mark Mancina who created (in my book) one of the best movie scores of all time with Twister. The iconic score played a huge part in why that movie became so beloved by me.

With Twisters, however I am very sorry to say I found Wallfisch's score all most non existent in the movie. Rather than featuring a rousing and memorable score as in the 96 original, the movie chooses to put a much greater emphasis on a wealth of originally written songs for the movie such as "Ain't No Love in Oklahoma" by Luke Combs, "Never Left Me" by Megan Moroney and "Hell or High Water" by Bailey Zimmerman. It’s needle drop city.

The sound design in the movie supplied by non other than Skywalker Sound is universally excellent.

 

Whilst never quite reaching the heights of the iconic 1996 original, Twisters is a damn fun summer blockbuster that did not disappoint. The action set-pieces whilst less impactful than Twister are very well done with top notch CGI & VFX courtesy of ILM. It has a solid cast with Powell proving to be the movie's MVP, all this and no flying cows!

Verdict  - Unexpected Surprise 

Despicable Me 4 Movie Review

  

Despicable Me 4

Director: Chris Renaud & Patrick Delage

Stars: Steve Carrell, Kristen Wiig, Will Ferrell, Joey King, Sofia Vergara

Runtime: 1 hour 34 mins

Genre: Animated Action Comedy

Despicable Me 4 is released in cinemas today. It marks the longest gap between Despicable Me movies (7 years), not counting the terrible spinoff Minions: The Rise of Gru from 2022. This movie sees the return of Gru and his family. It is the first movie in the franchise to carry a PG rating. Returning to joint direction duties for the first time since Despicable Me 2, Chris Renaud teams up with Patrick Delage. 

This movie is number one on my box office predictions for 2024, it will make a huge amount of money, but the thing is, is it actually any good?

Let's break it down..

Story and Plot

Gru's family welcomes a new family member Gru Jr. who is intent on tormenting his dad. However, their peaceful existence is shattered after criminal masterminds Maxime Le Mal (Ferrell) and Valentina (Vergara) escape from prison and vow revenge against Gru. 

My overall thoughts...

Inside Out 2, which has just become the highest grossing Pixar movie ever grossing (at time of writing) $1.25 billion dollars has a 91% on Rotten Tomatoes. All of this is to say that the bar has been set very high by Pixar. 

So can Illumination Entertainment match them pound for pound? Er...no...unfortunately not.

Despicable Me 4 is an abysmal movie.

The movie fails to capture the charm and wit that made the earlier films in the series so beloved. The plot feels overstuffed and chaotic, attempting to juggle too many storylines without giving any of them the depth they deserve. It’s a movie where so much happens that nothing really happens. A constant stream of chaotic set pieces and forgettable cheap laugh slapstick.

The new villain, Maxime Le Mal, played by Will Ferrell is uninspired and lacks any menace or humour needed to make him memorable. He could have been voiced by any actor, he is generic, forgettable and one dimensional.

The film’s humour, which once felt fresh and clever, now comes across as tired and repetitive. 

The Minions, who were once the highlight of the series, are reduced to delivering the same slapstick gags we’ve seen countless times before. They also decided to try and be meta with an anti-superhero narrative by injecting four unsuspecting minions with super serum to create a Fantastic Four type team. The movie is not clever enough to play this in a smart way and it smacks of desperation of trying to scramble for new ideas of how to use the yellow henchmen. 

Whilst this series has never tried to teach children valuable lessons about life (a la Pixar), they were fun adventures. The screenplay in 4 though firmly prioritises gags over a coherent story, resulting in a disjointed narrative that struggled to keep me engaged.

Additionally, the new characters introduced in this instalment fail to leave a lasting impression. The best I suppose you could say was Joey King as Poppy the daughter of their next door neighbour. Sofia Vergara's character Valentina (Maxime's wife) could literally have been played by any working actor in Hollywood. It's just an excuse to have a well known actor's name on the poster. As for Gru's son, Gru. Jr he is basically Jack Jack from The Incredibles minus the super powers.

The new characters feel like mere placeholders, lacking the development needed to make them interesting or relatable. The film’s attempt to balance multiple storylines ultimately falls flat, making it difficult for viewers to invest in any of them.

Despicable Me 4 may well be a pile of pants, but it turns out at the very least visually you can polish a turd. The animation is fluid as ever and has the usual very colourful palette in line with Illumination Entertainment’s style and look.

Despicable Me 4 is a lacklustre addition to the franchise, offering little more than recycled jokes and a convoluted plot. Fans of the series may find some enjoyment in the familiar faces and antics, but it’s unlikely to win over new audiences or leave a lasting impact.

Verdict  - One to Miss

Kill Movie (Guest) Review

  

Kill

Director: Nikhil Nagesh Bhat

Stars: Lakshya, Raghav Juyal, Ayesha Syad & Tanya Maniktala

Runtime: 1 hour 45 mins

Genre: Action Crime Drama

Kill premiered at TIFF in September 2023 to a rapturous response. It then went onto screen at Tribeca Film Festival in June of this year. Made on a shoestring budget (an estimated equivalent of $2.5 million dollars). The movie has piqued the interest of non other than action supremo David Leitch with his production company 87Eleven Entertainment purchasing the rights to a US remake.  

As for this movie, let's break it down... 

Story and Plot

When a highly trained army commando Amrit (Lakshya) finds out his true love Tulika (Maniktala) is engaged against her will, he boards a New Delhi train in a daring quest to derail the arranged the marriage. The problem is he's sharing the train with a gang of knife-wielding bandits led by ruthless Fani (Juyal) who is terrorizing innocent passengers, so Amrit takes them on himself and turns a typical commute into an adrenaline-fueled thrill ride.

 

Review by Sunil...

My son Nikhil (who shares the same first name as the director!) has been pestering me to watch this movie ever since he saw the trailer. I really watch it for him!! So, was it worth it?...

With a tagline stating that this is the most violent movie in the history of Indian cinema and a Rotten Tomatoes score of 92%, it would seem that it is worth it!!

Kill is the very simple story of a train, that gets invaded by a group of looting bandits that just happens to have on its passenger manifest, two Commandos!!

What happens next is a mix of brutal violence at the hands of both sides as people get mercilessly beaten/slaughtered while containing a light hearted love story.

However...

Things turn from bad to worse when something very unexpected happens and the Commando breaks his own rule and starts to... KILL!!!

What starts off as level 7 violence quickly winds up to 11!!! The movie does not hold back with showing blood, violence and gore (unsurprising given that it had been made in collaboration with Lionsgate Pictures.. makers of the Saw franchise) and is like a combination of John Wick meets Jason!! ... They come up with different ways to showcase killing. You can see the Hollywood influence with the kill types.. but this is definitely a Bollywood movie!!

The movie, like John Wick is non-stop and relentless in its action, but thankfully does give the occasional pause for a breather to allow for some storytelling!! ... That does include a girlfriend!!

The main character, played by newcomer Lakshya, is ok in his debut!! His fights are convincing and he looks the part, although he could have conveyed more emotion in the fight scenes with more intense facial expressions (he was better in the romantic scenes), but all in all, he was convincing!!

The movie is promoted on showcasing violence and does somehow work if you go into it wanting relentless action and fight scenes!! The standout character for me is actually one of the villains, who is charming, psychotic and an absolute nut job at the same time!! In my opinion, it leads to a very sad but sweet and touching ending. I am interested to see what the makers of John Wick do with their edit!!

Stand-out scene: Ghost Rider! You'll know what I mean when you see it!!

Living up to it's name, Kill is "Bloody" Bollywood at it's best. 105 pulsating minutes of non stop violent action cinema. Heart-torn melodrama mixed with thrilling action. Hop on board, grab a seat and enjoy the ride!

 

Verdict  - MATCHED EXPECTATIONS

 

Beverly Hills Axel F Movie Review

  

Beverly Hills Axel F

Director: Mark Malloy

Stars: Eddie Murphy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Taylour Paige

Runtime: 1 hour 58 mins

Genre: Action comedy

It is exactly 30 years since Beverly Hills Cop III was released, and 40 years since the original.

This time round, Murphy who serves as producer as well as returning as the main star has partnered with Netflix to bring us this latest entry in the long running franchise. Originally penned to be a TV series, this movie is the directorial debut for Mark Malloy. So was it worth the wait? 

Let's break it down..

Story and Plot

When Axel Foley's daughter Jane (Paige) is threatened after she represents a suspected cop killer, the wisecracking former LA detective partners up with Detective Bobby Abbott (Levitt) and some old friends to break open a city wide conspiracy and help his daughter.   

My overall thoughts...

The Beverly Hills Cop franchise has never been one that I really followed when I was growing up in the 80s & 90's. Whilst I saw the original and it's sequels (the less said about part III the better), the franchise is not one that I adored, like so many other people have. So I came to Axel F more a casual fan with an open mind whilst not being hugely hung up on the franchise. 

I enjoyed Axel F, Murphy seamlessly slips back into his most iconic role. The movie is at its best (like previous entries) when Foley is wisecracking and speed talking his way into or out of situations. Murphy does a good job at recapturing the magic. 

Axel F could go down as probably the second best entry in the franchise. It definitely beats Part III of which this is not lost on the makers of this movie with a nice meta reference when Foley's case file is being reviewed a character says "94 - not your finest hour".

The movie is however let down by its over convoluted plot points that make what is at heart a simple story (veteran cop protecting his daughter after she represents an potentially innocent man) into something that takes on too many twists & turns involving corrupt cops and drug lords. Also you can spot the main villain a mile off from the first look the character gave. 

The cast is good though with a nice integration of old returning characters and new alike.

Cast

Eddie Murphy is on top form, it was great to see he didn't just phone in his performance. He is effortlessly charismatic and funny together with that million dollar smile. He looks good for his age and is adorned (for the most part) in his iconic jeans & jacket. As he aged by far the best of the returning cast there are no "too old for this shit" gags, which would have been good considering an on foot chase sequence (barring a brief one at the start) is no where to be seen.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a nice addition (he's a fantastic actor) but I thought he was strangely miscast and didn't really have that much chemistry with Murphy.

Taylour Paige as Foley's daughter Jane was excellent. Proving to be a force to be reckoned with and to be more than a match for her wayward father.

Veteran actor Kevin Bacon makes a nice addition to the cast as Captain Grant the BHPD new captain.

As for the returning cast, Judge Reinhold's Billy Rosewood is back (resembling Mickey Rourke sorry to say), who subsequently quit the force since part III.  John Ashton as John Taggart former detective now outgoing captain of the BHPD returns and heavily plays the "I'm too old for this shit" card. Paul Reisner briefly returns as Jeffery Friedmen, Foley's Detroit PD Captain and finally Bronson Pinchot as Serge returns in a brief but fun cameo.

Cinematography

DP Eduard Grau makes the movie look good and works hard to re-create the iconic look and feel of LA as depicted in the iconic 1984 original. 

The movie also makes a great use of practical effects to again make it feel part of the original trilogy. 

On screen Action

A few months back Eddie Murphy said "It felt old man, I did Beverly Hills Cop when I was 21 and I'm 63 now" You can see this from the action which is with the exception of a very brief on-foot chase sequence almost exclusively limited to vehicle chases. The action set pieces are well done though, especially the helicopter chase. 

Music, Score & Sound

Seasoned composer Lorne Balfe provides the score, it's good and nicely integrates Harold Faltermeyer's iconic theme. The movie also features some well chosen needle drops during the chase sequences.  

Whilst the movie never lives up to the performance of it's main star, it's fun to spend time with Axel Foley once again. The movie has an old school feel and a good cast. The villain you however will spot a mile off.  

Verdict  - Good not Great

Fly Me to the Moon Movie Review

  

Fly Me to the Moon

Director: Greg Berlanti

Stars: Channing Tatum, Scarlett Johansson & Woody Harrelson

Runtime: 2 hours 12 mins

Genre: Space Race romantic comedy

Fly Me to the Moon, an Apple Original originally had actor Jason Bateman attached to direct, however he left over creative differences, so Greg Berlanti took the helm. This is Berlanti's first movie in six years with his last movie Love, Simon being an Indie hit. The movie was also supposed to be the re-teaming of Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson but Evans pulled out owing to scheduling conflicts on Red One so Tatum took the role.

 

Let’s Break it down…

 

Story and Plot

During the 1960s Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union, after a meet-cute at a roadside diner, a relationship develops between Cole Davis (Tatum) the NASA flight director in charge of the Apollo 11 launch and Kelly Jones (Johansson) the marketing specialist brought in to fix NASA's public image and stage a just in case "back-up" fake moon landing.

 

My overall thoughts...

I have a soft spot for any movie about NASA and the Space Race, whilst this movie uses the Space Race as the backdrop it is a revisionist version of history whilst also being a rom-com. 

Rom-coms back in the 80's and 90's ruled the box office with hits such as When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle & Whilst You Were Sleeping. As a genre thanks to the likes of movies such as Anyone But You ($219M worldwide BO against a $25M budget) released in December last year, it is starting to make a comeback at the box office. 

I'm happy to report that Fly Me to the Moon continues this trend, I enjoyed the movie. Whist it’s not a great movie it’s solid enough. It has an engaging story, has some really funny parts. It has a good cast which is well led by Tatum and Johansson. It’s also nicely shot and makes the movie feel evocative of the era.

My issues with the movie is there were some pacing issues, especially in the third act which made the movie feel too long. They could have shaved 10-15 minutes off the run time. There are also some tonal inconsistencies, one minute it’s firmly in rom-com territory then swerves more into a drama.

 

Cast

Channing Tatum has had a fairly busy few years, showing up in movies as much in cameo appearances (Bullet Train & Free Guy) as well as movies in his own right such as The Lost City, and Magic Mike's Last Dance and Dog. Here he very much veers back into the The Lost City territory with another rom-com. 

For some the jury is still out on how good an actor Tatum is, but I enjoyed him in this movie. He was well suited to the role of Cole Davis the flight director haunted by the Apollo 1 launch pad disaster. He has excellent chemistry with Johansson. Tatum is a good fit as I actually think given the history of Chris Evan's and Scarlett Johansson in the MCU seeing them romantically involved may have been a bit jarring for some audiences.

 

Scarlett Johansson is the consummate professional, equally at home in a big tent pole blockbuster such as next year's Gareth Edwards helmed Jurassic World sequel or in little known indie movies. She is excellent in the movie and is really its main star. She is gorgeous as ever and out-acts Tatum at every turn. 

 

Veteran actor Woody Harrelson (who serves as the stories narrator of sorts) plays Moe a mysterious government liaison between NASA and Nixon’s administration, he clearly had fun in this role that showed his lighter side.

 

Ray Romano (Everybody Loves Raymond) is also excellent as Henry Smalls, Davis’s right hand man.

Finally special mention to Noah Robbins and Donald Elise Watkins as the two endearing NASA engineers and Anna Garcia as Kelly's plucky and funny assistant. 

 

Cinematography & Effects

DP Dariusz Wolski (Pirates of the Caribbean, The Martian & Napoleon) provides the cinematography for the movie. He does a fantastic job of recreating the look and feel of the 1960's Apollo era. Using real footage and archival TV clips such as the legendary announcement by TV news anchor man Walter Kronkite.

The movie had a nice blend of VFX, CGI and in-camera effects to recreate the Apollo space mission and Kennedy Space Center during that era. Whilst you can see they used cutting edge tech to recreate certain aspects of how the movie looked, it never felt too heavy on the CGI

 

On screen Action

It’s no surprise to learn that the action in Fly Me to the Moon is well, based around flying to the moon. Detailing the building up to, launch of and landing of Apollo 11. For a NASA and space nut like myself, who has visited Kennedy Space Center and had the privilege of seeing the Space Shuttle launch in 2005, I lapped it up. The action is well shot and faithful to the real life events, even though there is a fictional storyline running throughout. 

 

Music, Score & Sound

Daniel Pemberton provides the score which I really enjoyed, at times evoking James Horner’s Apollo 13 iconic score. 

The movie also has great sound design with the rocket launches.

There are some nice 1960’s needle drops throughout, and yes “Fly Me to the Moon” is used but unfortunately not sung by Ol’ Blue Eyes himself.

 

Fly Me to the Moon is a charming Space Race based yarn with great turns from both Tatum and Johansson. Whilst it’s a tad too long and suffers from tonal inconsistencies it’s a solid movie which will play well to a wide audience. 

Verdict  - Good not Great