Remember in 2015 when Creed came out? Everybody, including me, wanted it to f*** off so badly. We did not need to see Rocky again, and as that was to be his 8th outing, it reeked of desperation from ol’ Sly Stallone. But then it came out and was actually bloody good. Sly took a backseat to let Michael B. Jordan’s Adonis Creed became a new icon for the sports film genre while Rocky acted like a muscly old Yoda. It was only a matter of time before we were force-fed a sequel, and that day came in 2018.
Creed II is better than you expect but doesn’t hit the heights of the first. That’s to be expected really, as Creed had the element of surprise. Nobody expected quality from it. But that’s not to say Creed II is a failure. The film follows a fight over 33 years in the making, as Adonis Creed meets a new adversary in the ring: Viktor Drago, son of Ivan Drago, the powerful athlete who killed Adonis' father Apollo Creed. For fans of the Rocky series, this is a pretty iconic and historic plotline to continue now, all these years later.
But it does feel a little lazy – the film’s narrative is pretty reliant on a “hey, remember that?” approach. Nothing about it feels particularly fresh. The strict adherence to the franchise formula gives it a very much cookie cutter approach where each plot beat can be seen coming a mile off, but I guess that applies to every Rocky film. Every sports film, even. But it’s a time-tested approach that resonates with all ages and all generations, so I guess it falls under the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” category.
The film certainly looks and sounds like one of quality. It’s a stylish and solid piece of filmmaking throughout with some terrific performances and some good direction from Stephen Caple Jr who picks up the duty from Black Panther’s Ryan Coogler who serves as an executive producer here. But being the 9th film in the series, the whole thing just feels a little past its sell-by-date. There’s nothing inherently wrong with the film, but there’s nothing to make it feel particularly remarkable either.
On the whole, Creed II isn’t going to win over any newcomers to the Rocky saga. This is strictly fan-service to people who have been following the characters for a while – the central plot of this film, the rivalry between Drago and Creed, is pretty meaningless to anyone who hasn’t spent time with Rocky and his gang before. But hey, these sporting movies are comfort food, aren’t they? For the most part, they’re mindless background entertainment at the end of a long day. If that’s what you want from Creed II, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed at all. 3/5
I’m awful at escape rooms. As my girlfriend will happily confirm for you when I get confused by a puzzle I rage. I would’ve loved to have been staff at the Telford escape room I last played, watching my anger unfold on the CCTV…But despite this, I do love them. They are such a unique and fun way to spend an hour and a great opportunity for team building. But I would’ve been absolutely f***ed in Escape Room, directed by Adam Robitel.
The film follows six adventurous strangers who are invited to travel to a mysterious building to experience an innovative new escape room - where players compete to solve a series of puzzles to win $10,000. What starts out as seemingly innocent fun soon turns into a living nightmare as the four men and two women discover each room is an elaborate trap that's part of a sadistic game of life or death, structured around each player’s dark past.
The film is basically Agatha Christie does Saw, with a group of strangers invited to a mysterious and frightening venue and forced to fight for their lives. But honestly, I love shit like this. I will happily defend the Saw franchise to anyone who will listen. Sure, it’s rubbish, but there’s no denying the layered universe the films created is so full of unpredictable twists and turns that you have to respect it. Escape Room tries to replicate this and honestly, it isn’t far off. The plot packs some real surprises and innovative and exciting death scenes, but being rated PG-13 in the states does suffer somewhat for a lack of violence. I’m not sadistic, but I like a bit of gore in my horror. The deaths here, although interesting, leave a little too much to the imagination for my liking.
But a film like this succeeds or fails on the strength (or lack thereof) of the characters, and I’m happy to say that Escape Room boasts a pretty good cast with lots of interesting material to work with. Taylor Russell, Logan Miller, Deborah Ann Woll, Tyler Labine, Jay Ellis and Nik Dodani portray our mixed group – there’s a selfish banker, an escape room expert, a quiet victim, a young student…all the usual archetypes. But they’re made more interesting than usual here and the chemistry between all of the cast is very solid.
But unfortunately, I felt like the film missed some pretty big opportunities. The big reveal at the end of the film isn’t explored nearly enough, obviously paving the way for a sequel but leaving viewers of this first film with too many questions. There are, obviously, plot-holes (this is a modern horror after all) and some pretty poor dialogue. The lack of gore can be distracting, and there are some scenes that will have you screaming at the TV in utter disbelief of why our characters are making certain choices. But all of this amounts to the norm for the genre and doesn’t detract too badly from the final product. It’s no masterpiece, but it’s fun and thrilling. Escape Room was an entertaining little thrillfest – not without its flaws, but certainly, an entertaining way to kill 90 minutes.
M. Night Shyamalan’s has got to have one of the most inconsistent filmographies in the history of cinema. When he’s good, he’s great (The Sixth Sense) and when he’s bad, he’s bloody abysmal (The Happening). His latest film, Glass, sits somewhere in between his two opposite levels of quality, with a resounding and disappointing “meh”.
In 2016, Shyamalan made a comeback with Split. The psychological thriller introduced audiences to The Horde (James McAvoy), a man with 23 different personalities, as he kidnapped and imprisons three teenage girls in an isolated underground facility. As the film goes on, we learn more about the so-called “Beast”, one of his personalities with super-strength and abilities. If you haven’t seen the film, I strongly recommend it – it’s a bloody good watch, thanks mainly to an absolutely phenomenal performance from McAvoy. But as you all know, the film ended with a shocking reveal that it was, in fact, a sequel to M. Night’s Unbreakable all along. Shortly after the release of Split, Shyamalan revealed the unsurprising news that he was working on a film which would bring together the characters from both films for a showdown. The result was Glass.
Following the conclusion of Split, Glass finds David Dunn (Bruce Willis) pursuing the superhuman figure of The Horde (McAvoy) in a series of escalating encounters, while the shadowy presence of Elijah Price/Mr Glass (Samuel L. Jackson) emerges as an orchestrator who holds secrets critical to both men.
While it is initially rather exciting to revisit the characters of Dunn and Price after almost 20 years, the novelty soon wears off when it becomes abundantly clear that they are both too old for this shit. The whole thing reeks of a missed opportunity – it is, quite simply, too late. Years ago, this might’ve been a goer, but in 2019 it hits the ground with an almighty thud. That’s not to say the film is without positives. James McAvoy is, again, just stunning in the role of The Horde. He makes every single one of the personalities feel like its own layered character and it is simply staggering to watch him work in these films. A straight-up sequel to Split without this shoehorned Unbreakable link would’ve been the way to go because McAvoy’s Horde is one of the best supernatural characters in years.
The film suffers from a feeling of opportunistic desperation, creating a cinematic universe that absolutely nobody asked for. We did not need to revisit Dunn and Price and we certainly didn’t need to expand the universe they lived in – Unbreakable was a nice little self-contained slice of early 00s cinema with a lot of happy nostalgic memories attached. Bringing these characters back is akin to flogging a dead horse, and leaves such a sour taste in the mouth that it actually impacts one’s happy memories of the original film. Glass is a mess. Filled with narrative cock-ups and missed opportunities, you’ll spend the whole time yelling at the television in disbelief and anger at the paths the film is inexplicably taking. It’s an enormous disappointment, but then again, what did we really expect from this convoluted premise from the man who brought us The Happening, After Earth and The Visit? Glass is another shattered mess from ol’ M. Night.
There has been a recent trend in world cinema filmmakers remaking their own films for an English-language audience – I suppose they’re the most suited to remake the films than anyone else! Celebrated Norwegian filmmaker Hans Petter Moland made his Hollywood debut this year with Cold Pursuit, a remake of his 2014 film In Order of Disappearance. Michael Haneke famously remade his twisted Funny Games ten years after his original shocked the 1997 Cannes Film Fest. Now, Sebastián Lelio has remade his award-winning Gloria almost shot-for-shot as Gloria Bell, featuring a phenomenal performance from the great Julianne Moore in the lead.
The film follows the titular Gloria Bell (Moore), a free-spirited divorcee who spends her nights on the dance floor, joyfully letting loose at clubs around Los Angeles. She soon finds herself thrust into an unexpected new romance with Arnold (John Turturro), filled with the joys of budding love and the complications of dating. Despite moving the setting from Santiago to Los Angeles in this US-set remake, the film still has the feeling of independent world cinema and not Hollywoodised tosh.
The film absolutely belongs to the fabulous Julianne Moore who deserves every accolade under the sun for this understated and layered performance. Appearing in almost every single frame of the film, Gloria is a complex character hiding behind a care-free attitude and permanent smile. Julianne puts so much character into Gloria’s eyes and demeanour in a role that isn’t showy or hammy, but incredibly subtle. It is remarkable work from a consistently engaging and unforgettable actress. But the supporting cast – including Turturro, Michael Cera and Sean Astin – are all stunning too and don’t exist purely in Moore’s shadow.
The film’s visuals are utterly wonderful. Shot in peachy and saturated neon by cinematographer Natasha Braier, the film transports the viewer to the world of LA nightlife with the film’s look alone. Complimented wonderfully by a stellar soundtrack – including Bonnie Tyler and Paul McCartney – the film oozes style. But it is not a film of style over substance. Director Lelio has described this film as not a remake but rather a ‘cover version’ of his original film, and that feels accurate. Despite being near shot-for-shot and packed with the same story and character beats, there is certainly a feeling of freshness and originality to Gloria Bell that makes the film feel like it could stand alone – or at the very least, as a loving tribute to the original film.
The film raises an interesting discussion for film fans. If a remake is to be made, should it be reserved for the original film’s director? And furthermore, are remakes ok if they’re made by the original filmmaker? Are they even a remake at all? There’s a lot to think about in the wake of Lelio, Haneke and Moland’s remakes of their own works – and something that we may very well see a lot more of in the future. But for now, it certainly feels like these ‘remakes’ are in the most capable hands and it shows in the final products – Gloria Bell is a wonderful little film full of heart, a phenomenal lead performance and truly beautiful visuals. The film took me by surprise and kept me utterly entranced for the duration, and I think it will have the same effect on you.
Most of us will never see a million dollars. I know I won’t. I’ll never come close to having that kind of money in my life. Mortal Engines, the latest film from Peter Jackson (although he doesn’t direct it, despite the confusing marketing trying to allude otherwise), has suffered estimated losses of $175 million. LOSSES OF $175 MILLION. Can you imagine being in an industry where that kind of loss can occur? F*** me, in my line of work a loss of a £50 is troubling. Let alone a loss of 175 MILLION. Holy mother of shitballs.
Anyway, let’s take a look at the film.
Shitballs is right because this film is a combination of shit and balls. Absolutely dreadful piece of work from all involved. For those of you who don’t know what it’s about, it goes a little something like this. Hundreds of years after civilization was destroyed by a cataclysmic event, a mysterious young woman, Hester, emerges as the only one who can stop London - now a giant, predator city on wheels - from devouring everything in its path. Feral, and fiercely driven by the memory of her mother, Hester joins forces with Tom Natsworthy, an outcast from London, along with Anna Fang, a dangerous outlaw with a bounty on her head.
Now I’m not going to take a shit on the source material because I know it has a lot of fans and maybe the utterly ridiculous story works well on paper. Hell, it must’ve done, because it won a Smarties Children’s Book Prize award. But for a newcomer to Philip Reeve’s universe, all I can say is what is that guy smoking and where can I get some. London is now a predatory city on wheels?! Who thinks of shit like that with a sound mind? Good grief. Totally bizarre. But I’m willing to accept that crazy premise if we can at least have some interesting characters and an interesting story. Oh, no, we have neither!
This totally wooden, vacuous and empty paint-by-numbers YA thriller is just so empty and without character or personality that it is impossible to get even remotely invested with a single character. I didn’t give even a shred of a shit about anybody’s goals, motives, past or present in Mortal Engines. I couldn’t confidently tell you anything about the characters now, either. I don’t even remember why Hester wears that cloth around her face or why London is now on wheels. Because I just didn’t care enough to take it in.
For a film with such a colossal budget and talent like Peter Jackson involved (evidently in a bullshit producer role), you’d think that something entertaining, exciting or at the very least coherent would come out of the other end. But no, we’re left with this steaming pile of filth. I don’t have a single kind word to say about Mortal Engines so I’m just going to wrap this up right now.
The superhero genre is so crowded, it’s getting harder and harder to stand out. With over 20 films in the MCU alone, it seems like every year we get another handful chucked at us whether we like it or not. Some are good, and some are Aquaman. But every once in a while, one comes along that just blows our collective minds. Whether it was the shock ending of the epic Infinity War or the quirky humour of Ragnarok, we occasionally get something so fresh that it skyrockets the superhero genre to the top of cinematic quality. Well, I’d argue that we have just had the best one yet.
Teenager Miles Morales struggles to live up to the expectations of his father, police officer Jefferson Davis, who sees Spider-Man as a menace. When Miles's uncle Aaron Davis takes him to an abandoned subway station to paint graffiti, Miles is bitten by a radioactive spider and gains spider-like abilities. But as he crosses paths with five counterparts from other dimensions in the Spider-verse, Miles must team up and stop a threat for all realities and the Spider-verse itself.
The first thing that jumps out when watching Spider-verse is the breathtakingly gorgeous visuals. Combining Sony Pictures Imageworks’ computer animation pipeline with traditional hand-drawn comic book techniques inspired by the work of Miles Morales co-creator Sara Pichelli, the film is a visual feast that makes the film stand out as one of the most original and innovative animated films…ever. While I’m sure we will see plentiful imitators from now on, these visuals are an absolute work of art and deserving of the film’s Academy Award win for Best Animated Feature alone. But where some films of this nature may suffer from a ‘style over substance’ argument, the film’s style is actually secondary to the content.
Written by Phil Lord (The Lego Movie) and Rodney Rothman, the screenplay is absolutely bursting at the seams with in-jokes and references that even a casual fan can enjoy – a very early dig at Spider-man 3’s dance sequence is a particular highlight. The film’s meta and self-aware humour throughout is something we so rarely see in films of this genre and make for hilarious viewing. This is aided brilliantly by the superb voice acting across the board. Shameik Moore, Jake Johnson, Hailee Steinfeld and many more (including Nicolas Cage, because why not) all lend real quality to the film and create such an enjoyable vibe. Everybody seems to be having fun, and it’s contagious.
I’m not a huge superhero buff so a lot of the references in the film probably went way over my head, but even I can acknowledge that this is one of the most innovative films in the superhero genre thus far. I cannot recommend it enough; whether you’re a casual or die-hard fan, this is a passionate and endlessly entertaining romp with a visual flair to die for. I was utterly in awe of the film from the first to the last second (the post-credits zinger is a delight), and I know you will be too. My film critic sense is tingling hard for this one.
Since 2007, there have been six Transformers movies. With a total of $4.3 billion, the series is the 13th highest grossing in cinema history. We have had 880 minutes of robots smashing the shit out of each other, and evidently, we’re not tired of it yet. But while the films have been on a downward spiral of quality ever since the first film back in ’07, the quality level has skyrocketed to an all-time high with this latest entry which might actually be one of the best action/adventure blockbusters in years. I loved it. And I hate Transformers.
Yes, Bumblebee was an absolute delight. Taking place in an affectionately portrayed 1987, the iconic yellow autoboot Bumblebee finds refuge in a junkyard in a small Californian beach town. Charlie, on the cusp of turning 18 and trying to find her place in the world, discovers Bumblebee, battle-scarred and broken. What follows is a very familiar human-and-robot buddy film in a similar vein to The Iron Giant, Big Hero 6 and more. But while the plot doesn’t bring out anything particularly surprising – nothing at all, actually, it’s ridiculously predictable – it’s still a bloody enjoyable romp.
First up, let’s talk about the setting. We’re clearly still living in a Stranger Things world, with seemingly more and more media set in a nostalgia-heavy 1980s. While this feels like a gimmick for some films, here it feels like such a loving and heartfelt homage to an iconic period in history. The soundtrack alone gives the film a nostalgic feeling of adulation for a bygone era; and also gives us one of the film’s funniest scenes wherein Bumblebee shows his dislike of The Smiths. The film’s 80s setting gives the whole thing a throwback vibe, with the film’s plot, pacing, humour and characters feel like something out of a John Hughes classic – just, you know, with more robots beating the shit out of each other.
The film’s action is actually surprisingly strong – after years of Michael Bayhem in this franchise, Bumblebee feels like a much higher quality product. Yes, Michael Bay is still involved (sigh) but here his presence isn’t quite so uncomfortably felt. The action was actually easy to follow and enjoyable, not the usual frantic, poorly-edited explosion-a-thon. But the film truly shined in the more understated sequences. Our protagonist Charlie played wonderfully by the brilliant Hailee Steinfeld, is certainly the best human character the saga has seen. Complex, layered and above-all not overly sexualised, she is a breath of fresh air for a series with female involvement usually adding up to a scantily clad Megan Fox bending over a car hood. Steinfeld is brilliant in the role and has such remarkable chemistry with Bumblebee that you’ll be convinced he’s real. Sorry kids, he’s not.
Bumblebee was an absolutely brilliant film and one that vastly exceeded my expectations that were already pretty high due to the remarkable critical reception and word-of-mouth. This is a great throwback film, looking, feeling and sounding like an 80s romp and not getting itself bogged down with dark grittiness and overly complicated plot. This is just a fun, simply smash-‘em-up blockbuster, just like mama used to make ‘em. This is what the Transformers films could’ve been all along. The perfect formula has finally been discovered – let’s just hope the inevitable sequel doesn’t take a hot, steaming shit all over it. Bumblebee is the best Transformers film by far. 4/5
Rebooting Hellboy was always going to be a hell of a risk. Guillermo del Toro and Ron Perlman’s 2004 adaptation and 2008 sequel are iconic, and boast legions of fans even to this day - so it came as a shock that director Neil Marshall (The Descent, Dog Soldiers) had the audacity to have another crack at it. But it wasn’t supposed to be this way.
The project began as a sequel to Hellboy II: The Golden Army. Yes, you read that right, this was supposed to be Hellboy III. But Guillermo del Toro was not offered the full writer-director capacity he had performed for the first two Hellboy outings, and Ron Perlman refused to return to portray the eponymous anti-hero without del Toro’s involvement. And so, the project fell to pieces and was put back together again by Neil Marshall, who decided to go his own way and make the film a gore-filled R-rated adaptation. The result is a hot, steaming pile of demon shit. It’s disappointing, absolutely. But it isn’t really all that shocking, is it?
This new take sees the legendary half-demon superhero (now portrayed by David Harbour of Stranger Things) called to the English countryside to battle a trio of rampaging giants. There he discovers The Blood Queen, Nimue (Resident Evil’s Milla Jovovich, obviously), a resurrected ancient sorceress thirsting to avenge a past betrayal. Suddenly caught in a clash between the supernatural and the human, Hellboy is now hell-bent on stopping Nimue without triggering the end of the world.
I feel sorry for David Harbour. He was destined to fail. While his performance – and indeed Jovovich’s, to some extent – isn’t bad by any stretch, it exists in the shadow of Ron Perlman’s beloved performance. Much like when Quinton Jackson portrayed B.A. Baracus in the 2010 A-Team, it’s next to impossible to take on an iconic role without being unfavourably compared to the original unless you do something pretty damn special with the role, as Heath Ledger did with his Joker. Unfortunately for Harbour, the character has already been perfected by Ron “The Perl” Perlman, and to try and make it your own now is futile.
And so, 2019’s Hellboy giveth and 2019’s Hellboy taketh away. While the fans – and casual movie-goers – were hopeful, this film was everything the world hoped it wouldn’t be. But while Perlman’s presence is entirely missed, the most troubling and gaping lack is the lack of Guillermo del Toro. The auteur’s style brought so much to the first two Hellboy films, and it is greatly missed here. While some attempts have been made by Neil Marshall to replicate del Toro’s style, much like Harbour’s attempts, it is futile. But Ian McShane is in it. So it can’t be all bad, can it? Ian McShane elevates the lowest of shit by a couple of points just by being there, the beautiful bastard. It is a shame, but not one that comes as much of a surprise. This Hellboy is utter rubbish.
We live in fruitful and exciting times for Stephen King fans, but there is a risk of too much of a good thing. We’ve had countless remakes, reboots and fresh adaptations of his work over the past few years including new takes on It, The Dark Tower, Gerald’s Game, 1922, Cell, Carrie…The list goes on. We’ve also had TV adaptations of 11.22.63, Mr. Mercedes and The Mist, and of course the stunning Castle Rock series. 2019 promises 3 more big-screen King outings in the form of It: Chapter 2, In The Tall Grass and the long-awaited Shining sequel Doctor Sleep. Are we beginning to suffer from King fatigue?
2019 has also given us a new adaptation of King’s iconic novel Pet Sematary, previously adapted for the big screen 30 years ago back in 1989. Despite the earlier incarnation being a little dated now and certainly not without flaws, it hold a special place in many people’s hearts and so the news of a remake/reboot/re-adaptation/whatever was met with a little concern from film fans – especially as the trailer didn’t inspire a huge amount of confidence, marketing itself as merely a jump-scare riot with little substance and certainly not much of that slow-burning Stephen King dread. Thankfully, the final product is actually a pretty good piece of horror entertainment and an interesting adaptation of the book, doing enough to distance itself from the previous adaptation and stand on its own two rotting feet.
For those who don’t know, the story of Pet Sematary follows Dr Louis Creed (Jason Clarke) and his wife (Amy Seimetz), as they relocate from Boston to rural Maine with their two young children. The couple soon discover a mysterious burial ground – the Pet Sematary - hidden deep in the woods near their new home. When the family cat dies, it is buried in this spooky location which inexplicably revives the cat and returns it to the family, but it returns aggressive and different. When tragedy strikes the family again, a perilous chain reaction unleashes an unspeakable evil with horrific consequences – despite warnings that “sometimes dead is better”.
It’s a fascinating and unique tale, well told and presented with a suitably dark and often harrowing atmosphere. The film is often uncomfortable viewing and it does deal with some very complex themes of loss, grief and family tragedy. But unfortunately, there is – unsurprisingly, it being a recent horror after all – an over-reliance on jump scares that cheapens proceedings considerably. The terrifying plot of this film could’ve easily worked a slow-burner of dread and horror – as indeed, brief portions of the film do. But no, Hollywood had to stuff it with cliché and remove the power from King’s original novel. And incidentally, some questionable changes are made to the source material here that will have die-hard fans scratching their heads and furiously tweeting their disgust.
Now, big-screen book adaptations are never better than the book. That’s a given. But is this 2019 incarnation of Pet Sematary at least better than the 1989 adaptation? Of course, it is – but it’s not really a fair comparison when you consider the larger budget, bigger names and generally better technology available to filmmakers today. Pet Sematary doesn’t hit the highs of the recent It adaptation and certainly will never stand in the same league as the early King adaptations – Christine, The Shining, Misery, etc. – but it’s a decent little horror and worth a look for fans of the genre.
We live in a Marvel world. Marvel’s slate for 2019 includes Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame, Spider-Man: Far From Home and more. Each of these films promise critical acclaim, enormous success at the box office and a general level of quality that no other superhero films can ever reach. You know what I mean? A Marvel film is announced, we can be safe in the knowledge it’ll be great. A DC film however…that’s a little harder to predict. When DC rears it’s oft-ugly head, there’s a chance it’ll be good, sure – but also an equal chance that it’ll be abysmal.
2013 birthed DC’s answer to Marvel’s cinematic universe with the DCEU (DC Extended Universe) with Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel. From there, we were given Batman v Superman, Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman, Justice League and Aquaman. How many of those can you argue are genuinely good films? 1, 2 tops? Well, here’s another one for you to debate. David F. Sandberg’s Shazam!
The film supposes that we all have a superhero inside of us, and it just takes a bit of magic to bring it out. In 14-year-old Billy Batson's (Asher Angel) case, all he needs to do is shout out one word to transform into the adult superhero Shazam (Zachary Levi). Still a kid at heart, Shazam revels in the new version of himself by doing what any other teen would do -- have fun while testing out his newfound powers. But he'll need to master them quickly before the evil Dr Thaddeus Sivana (everyone’s favourite bad guy Mark Strong) can get his hands on Shazam's magical abilities.
Shazam very accurately captures and portrays the childlike wonder in all of us when it comes to superheroes. While DC has often been accused of being entirely too dark with films like Batman v Superman, the same criticism simply cannot be extended to this colourful laugh-fest. Sure, there is darkness here – but it’s certainly a far more entertaining old-school romp than previous DC efforts. Thanks mainly to Angel and Levi who portray Billy Batson/Shazam respectively, there’s a heck of a lot of heart in Shazam and it is evident throughout.
There’s not a huge amount else worth saying about Shazam. It certainly isn’t particularly fresh or original with regards to its plot – an ordinary guy gains incredible powers and must escape the clutches of an evil doctor and learn to harness his powers for good, yadda yadda yadda. The main thing to take away from Shazam is the tonal difference to previous entries in the cinematic universe! This film is FUN and light-hearted. It doesn’t leave you feeling f***ing depressed like Zack Snyder’s attempts. It’s entertaining and enjoyable as superhero movies should be. Strong visuals and a simple plot make the film a nice, easy watch and a hearty slice of escapism from the shit of this world.
But on the whole, it’s no masterpiece. It’s no Infinity War. This is not a film that is going to stand the test of time and certainly continues to prove that DC are no match for the behemoth that is Marvel. DC really need to step their game up if they’re ever going to have a chance to compete. Shazam is good, light-hearted, wholesome fun.
‘Rage 2’, the sequel to ‘Rage’, is the latest game to have been published by Bethesda and was developed jointly by Id (creators of ‘Doom’) and Avalanche Games, who created ‘Mad Max’. It’s yet another open-world first-person shooter, this time set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. You play as Walker, the last surviving ranger who must stay alive amidst the mutants (noted as having cleft-lips and cleft palates as one of their main features, which there has been some controversy over).
You can see immediately from playing that Id took much inspiration from ‘Doom’, with many of the gameplay aspects shooting-wise feeling very similar, with just a few extra abilities. There are abilities from double jump to ground pounds and they are all fully upgradable to suit your personal style. The weapons have upgrade trees however they are quite small and linear.
Avalanche developed the open world for the game and unfortunately, this is where the game falls short, especially when competing with open worlds like ‘Red Dead Redemption 2’ and ‘Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey’. The problem with making a post-apocalyptic wasteland is that it will always tend to be rather dead and lifeless (think brown, with various shades of brown and occasionally some more brown) and I got the feeling that Avalanche just ran out of ideas of what to populate the world with.
Sure, there are many activities littered all over the map to discover, which you can do by yourself or by getting tips in the various towns. But these activities are quite limited in type, being mainly exploration areas or some sort of combat encounter with one of the factions in the game. What I’m getting at is that the game gets fairly repetitive and, because the main story is quite short for a game of this genre, a lot of your time will be spent doing these side activities. I’m sure others will agree that there is only so many times you can shoot the same 2 - 3 bandit character models in the head before it gets a bit tedious.
While you are travelling through the world you will certainly notice that there are some breath-taking scenes, and graphically it is very advanced as you would expect on the Id engine. The developers try to add some colour within its town and so on but it just seems a bit off in this world and doesn’t fit with what a rage game should be.
All of the above might not matter if Id and Avalanche delivered on a story with the excellent writing of the original consoles but again it just falls flat. The main character of the game is unlikeable and not relatable at all, making terrible jokes while slaughtering hundreds of bandits and mutants. I found Walker to be overly arrogant, which made me completely apathetic to his cause. The story is sub-par with a villain straight out of a sci-fi movie from the 90s, and the payoff at the end of the game was really not worth going through all of the tedious activities beforehand. If I’m honest, I felt like I could have spent my time doing much better things.
I loved ‘Rage’ when it came out in 2011. It felt so ambitious despite a couple of issues, but the game had heart and was a labour of love. ‘Rage 2’ feels like a hollow world and a bit of a mess, so should be bought on sale at the very earliest (or second-hand, of course) if you’re considering buying it. The moment to moment gameplay is so fun but it is let down by almost everything else in the game.
Twenty seven years old, violent and beautiful can completely describe the ex-girlfriend that cheated on me all the time, but it also describes Mortal Kombat. As a youth, I remember sitting in school with a copy of GamesMaster looking at an article called Ice and Lemon about the then-upcoming Mortal Kombat 2 and focused on Scorpion and Sub-Zero. As a nine year old boy, I was friends with rich psychopaths, people who saved and ate nose pickings under the desk and one weird girl that collected Magic Trolls. We would argue over whether or not Knuckles was male or female, whether or not Nintendo or Sega was better, and whether or not Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter the fighting game to play. That day the imagery of Scorpion and Subzero ripping people's spines apart was the most exciting thing Duane had ever seen since he got a two-inch booger safely stored in his lunch box lid in lieu of an actual lunch.
Mortal Kombat 11 is the third game in the retconned trilogy of Mortal Kombat games. They have introduced such a heavy time travel element into it now that they have absolutely killed dead any sort've dramatic tension in the story. Well done there. It's a very contrived way to put all the dead characters that people love back into the story. Though people who play Mortal Kombat for the story probably buy cereal for the cardboard.
Mortal Kombat 11 has been slightly slowed down from Mortal Kombat X, don't panic it's better if I was ever to have sex someday I'm sure I would be told that sometimes it's better to take it a little slower. The pacing is much better and allows you to feel like you're improving in a shorter period of time. The tutorials are one of the most impressive in a fighting game I've seen. Normally tutorials feel like they are there because the company demanded an 'extra mode', nothing more than painting the wall behind the picture frame. However this is so detailed it really teaches you what Mortal Kombat experts know, it's a great motivator for when you decide to leap online. You will still get your absolute shit kicked in, but you'll understand why.
The Krypt, a mini-game for unlocking things using money you've earned in the other modes. In MK11 it has become incredibly complicated and gives you an obscene amount of uninteresting and useless shit, which is just a completionist nightmare. The story is a web of time travel continuity issues and everything is crowbarred into place. The addition of Shiva and a couple of others in the game, but not in the character select feels like Netherrealm reminding me to save money for a season pass.
Overall it's probably the best Mortal Kombat game. I have enjoyed playing it, I felt like I was constantly getting better, or could adapt easily. The fatalities and brutalities are daft and gory as usual and it's a great stupid bloody time.
Super Dragon Ball Heroes World Mission is a typically insanely long title for a brand new card game on Nintendo Switch featuring more stats, cards, references and sub-par graphics than you could wave a telescopic stick at. (You know, like Goku had as a child, remember?)
Super Dragon Ball Heroes, was a DS game that has been moved onto the Switch and is a pretty solid card game, which I find frustrating, addictive and I'm confused about whether or not I enjoy. I think I've spent about an hour or two in tutorials feeling like I was learning to play Numberwang… and yet I keep going.
The hero of the game is called Dave, in my version, but is essentially nameless and you can call him Jeff or Chimp Lasher for that matter. Dave is the protagonist of my story, and he has found himself in the middle of a card battle tournament, but all the characters in the card game, based on the 'real life' events of Dragon Ball, have started coming into the 'real world' attacking everyone they can see. This is a bit odd, considering the characters such as Radditz, Cooler, Frieza etc. are intergalactic terrorists, meaning this is the equivalent of us having a card game featuring Saddam Hussein, Pol Pot, and that douche that stole the last table in Starbucks before ordering anything.
The game is packed full of lovely Dragon Ball nostalgia as you would imagine, and each card game resembles a contrived RPG mechanic more than a strict card game like Gwent or that awesome one from Final Fantasy IX. Unfortunately, the graphics look like I've drawn them on my lap in the street because there were no free tables left in Starbucks.
The story is compelling, and the exciting energy of Dragon Ball is here as much as it could be in a card game, which unfortunately goes hand in hand with an intensely steep learning curve at the start of the game, I have no idea why I'm winning, but I assume I should just keep doing what I'm doing. The music is great, and the cards are really awesomely designed. However, here is my main problem. This is a card game. This is, at the time of writing, the same price as a AAA title! You could fly to Spain with a pack of cards, get tipsy in a bar and play with some nerds for roughly the same amount of money. There just isn't enough in the game to warrant the price tag, especially with so many other high-quality games floating about at the moment.
If you get a free copy of it, or you see it on sale and you love Dragon Ball, it's certainly worth playing, but I'd hold off for a while. I'll tell you what, if you are a government employee that can pass a law that means you aren't allowed to sit down in a Starbucks without previously ordering something, I'll give you my copy.
Do we really need another superhero TV series? The answer, obviously, is a resounding no. We don’t. It seems like every year we are getting more and more of the bloody things – The Flash, Arrow, Iron Fist, Daredevil, Luke Cage, Supergirl, Agents of SHIELD, Gotham, The Punisher, Black Lightning, Runaways, Inhumans…ugh. Who on Earth has time to consume all of this? And who in their right mind would want to? The problem is there have been a few great efforts – Netflix’s output, in particular, is of very high quality – so absolutely everybody wants a nibble. And everybody knows when Marvel does something well, DC tries to replicate it…
So we find ourselves in the company of DC’s Titans, a TV series following a team of young superheroes led by Nightwing (formerly Batman's first Robin) forming to combat evil and other perils. The series follows young heroes from across the DC Universe as they come of age and find belonging in a supposedly ‘gritty’ take on the classic Teen Titans franchise. Gritty it is. Teen Titans Go this ain’t, as we are now in a violent and frightening world with these characters. But that’s not to say it’s all darkness and shadows – there is actually a lot of humour here once the show finds its footing later into the season. And therein actually lies an issue with the show, and that’s the time it takes to find confidence.
The show has a very slow and tedious climb to quality and starts out pretty rocky – those expecting Netflix/Marvel collaboration quality will have to be very patient as it doesn’t get off to a particularly great start, thanks to some weak writing and some pretty heavy-handed exposition and introduction of characters while the team assembles. Once everyone is together and the chemistry begins flowing, it becomes a pretty entertaining albeit dark viewing experience. It’s clearly trying to replicate the tone of Netflix’s Daredevil with very mixed results – starting out as something of a tribute act.
The show doesn’t feel to be of particularly high quality, either. CGI is pretty uncomfortably shoe-horned in, and the acting isn’t particularly striking either. The cast all suffer predominantly from being given some pretty mediocre scripts, though, and I can’t fault them on that. Even Robert De Niro couldn’t make some of this shit fly. Unfortunately, the show feels like a 90s B movie a lot of the time with a pretty poor feeling of desperation across the board. But it does occasionally hit a stride and show the potential of what it could be – especially later when the show finds a comfortable tonal balance. But on the whole, it’s a bit of a disaster.
But hey, a second season has been ordered, so perhaps the show will really respond to the criticism of its first season and find a strong footing this year. Time will tell. But until then, there’s not really much reason to recommend Titans. If it stays at this level of quality and ultimately goes out on a disappointing second season (which I suspect it will), there’s no point even bothering with this introductory season. Wait until the reviews of season 2.
What is it about Pokémon that makes people just love them all, all the time. The original Gameboy games, card game and anime were more important to me than exam results, eating food or developing enough social skills that the highlight of my 30s isn't a Pokémon movie. I've such strong memories of the first time I chose my starter (Charmander) and that terrible time when I accidentally transferred my EXP Share to Pete on Pokémon Emerald. I went to see the original movie the day it came out and got a special shiny Pikachu, and now 20 years later, I went to see Detective Pikachu starring Ryan Reynolds.
Tim's father has been found dead after an accident that we see is due to famed ventriloquist Mewtwo escaping from a sphere and doing a massive Mewpoo all over the place. Tim, a failed Pokémon trainer who had about as much luck with building a connection with Pokémon as I did with women at the same age, almost gets his ass handed to him by a Cubone. Tim gets a phone call on a phone that looks like a DS Lite, and has to go and clear out his newly dead Dad's effects from his apartment, and therein meets Detective Pikachu. Pikachu has amnesia, a relatable coffee addiction, and is convinced Tim's Dad, is still alive and wants to help him solve the case. Imagine a very talkative small, yellow and furry Humphrey Bogart with ADHD, I bet off camera Pikachu is smoking all the time.
Justice Smith (Tim) and Kathryn Newton (Lucy) do a solid job at having that anime protagonist team vibe, that is very reminiscent of Ash and Misty respectively. Lucy even has a thick as shit Psyduck that's ready to have a catastrophic headache at any moment. They take a little weight off the little yellow shoulders of Ryan Reynolds so he isn't carrying the whole movie, which he easily could. Reynolds is incredibly..Ryan Reynolds, so much so that the film feels like it could easily be a PG dream that Deadpool is having somewhere between executions.
The first gen fan service, especially in relation to the original TV show, is all over the place in a good way. It's a solid movie for anyone who enjoys simple kids movies with relatively predictable plots, but if you go in as an OG Pokémon fan, you'll be eating up every ounce of every scene. The only thing that's a bit missing, is the climax feels like there is about to be a Dragonball Z level fight and it just never quite happens, which sucks, as a city-destroying explosive battle reminiscent of the end of Endgame (spoiler alert) would have been outstanding.
Mewtwo is back, Charmanders are all over the place, Bulbasaurs are adorable and a very brief Pokémon battle between Magikarp and Charizard will have you clapping your hands with glee. It's a must-see for Pokémon fans, and I am blinded by my fandom, so I've no idea if it's watchable if you don't know anything about the franchise, but I think it's pretty solid for kids and any man/woman/other that has a nostalgia gland that needs rubbed off.
