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Reviews
Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021)
Perfect for a new audience and the old
It is so rare for a revisit to appeal to the previous audience whilst winning over a whole new generation of fans, yet Ghostbusters Afterlife does exactly that.
As a 40+ year old, all I wanted was for the film not to disrespect the original. It did more than that. It followed on from and added to the original. Picking up the story with Egon Spengler's grandchildren, it captures the joy of the original - firmly planting it into the conscience of a new set of almost teenagers (exactly as the first film did for me back in the day). However, the nods back to the original give us oldies a sense of nostalgia which I am not ashamed to say had me crying throughout the final twenty minutes, and about ten minutes after.
Please ignore Ghostbusters 2. Watch the original (again) then watch this; you won't be disappointed.
John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum (2019)
Convoluted Story held together by great fight scenes
But there is only so long you can keep saying, 'yeah, but the action is great.' And even though the action is great, it is starting to get a little tired. There are only so many ways John Wick can get his ass kicked before rallying round and vanquishing his enemies using a variety of different weaponry.
The storyline is dire. This is the world's greatest assassin; a ghost who can spirit away the lives of you and all your family and contacts without leaving a trace behind. Yet his reaction to being made excommunicado by the high table and having a £14m bounty put on his head? Of course, to walk, run or horse ride straight down the middle of some of the busiest streets in the world. Smart.
Do yourself a favour - fast forward past any dialogue or storyline (luckily, there is scant little) and just enjoy the cartoon violence of the fight scenes.
Jonah Hex (2010)
A movie to switch off to
There's nothing quite like a bit of cartoon-like mindless violence played out on screen to entertain you without taxing you. This film delivers that in shovels full.
It is so formulaic that you won't need to spend any brain cells following the plot - you'll know what's coming at every stage.
That said, this film is worth watching just to see how much the actors are enjoying playing their parts. Every one of them hams it up with relish and they're clearly having fun. Not a bad way to kill an hour and a half.
Predestination (2014)
Explosive Ending
I watched this in two sittings. I think it worked so well that way.
An hour in I was a little disappointed that an exciting opening scene had been usurped by a narrated story of a seemingly bit-part character. However, her story was so tragic as to play on my mind for a couple of days.
When I came back to the film I quickly guessed a couple of the plot twists - but not all of them. As they slowly unfolded over the last twenty minutes, I have to say my mind was blown. What an awesome finish. The whole film is tied up there and just pulls everything - and I mean every little thing, nothing is extraneous - together so brilliantly.
No, you don't get back to the exciting action that the opening scene promised, or that Ethan Hawke movies often bring you - but you don't need that. Trust me.
I loved it. It will stay with me, and hopefully you, for weeks and leave you questioning your concept of time more than binge-watching a season of Dr Who.
2307: Winter's Dream (2016)
Easy viewing, easily forgotten
There's nothing here you haven't seen elsewhere. An army unit hunting a renegade. The futuristic setting gives it a sci-fi background, but they were so quick to find an excuse for the laser guns to stop working that I guess they ran out of special effects budget.
It is watchable, without the need to engage your brain. A two-hour diversion. However, I wish they hadn't insulted our, the viewer's, intelligence with a puerile voice- over.
The Punisher (2004)
On a par with every other Punisher movie
It feels as though the director and the producers watched the Dolph Lundgren Punisher movie and said: "wow guys, that film had a bland plot line, cliched action sequences, two-dimensional characters and dreadfully wooden acting. Let's see if we can do that!"
Well, in that respect, this movie is a triumph.
Dark City (1998)
Great premise poorly executed
It is obvious that this film started with the concept: what if all your memories are not real?
How they wove that into a storyline is superb.
Unfortunately, the style does not match the story. The 'bad guys' are cliches - white skin, pointed teeth, dark cloaks and hats. You get the impression that the producers found it easier to make 100 extras look like Richard O'Brian than it was to make Richard O'Brian look human!
Kiefer Sutherland's doctor is a pantomime Igor, complete with lilting gait, scarred eye and breathy voice.
Definitely worth a watch for the storyline, though, and Rufus Sewell and Jennifer Connolly pull off convincing performances.
Oh, and block your ears for Kiefer's opening voice-over - it spoils the later reveals.
The Magnificent Seven (2016)
Watchable yet forgettable fun actioneer
Lots of great action and a few laughs. Even an attempt to reproduce some Sergio-Leone-esque gunfight tension.
The real let-down in this film is that they never manage to create any genuine feelings towards the character's - all are a little two-dimensional, barring perhaps Jack Horne. Shame, because the whole climax relies on the audience caring.
This film will kill two and a half hours, but I doubt you'd ever go back to it.