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The Marvels (2023)
Lots of Fun
Great cast, very nice visuals, a breezy tone for the majority, cool action scenes, a very lean story with lots of pace, and a sequence in the middle that was so bananas it had me laughing out loud.
The bad guy, whilst having a very strong motivation, was a little one note. I'm not sure it completely nailed the landing, with some squiffy logic at the conclusion. And I personally would have enjoyed a bit more Carol Danvers character stuff.
But overall, this was a thoroughly enjoyable entry into the MCU (even though they didn't include the MCU fanfare music at the beginning which is always a crime).
After Life (2019)
Takes a long time to do very little
I understand grief doesn't have a cure. I understand that the road to wellness isn't marked with act breaks and episode structure. But that's why I don't watch people who are grieving in real life and instead look to storytellers to tell me a story. The craft comes from sculpting a story out of a real life emotion or situation, controlling what the audience sees and what it doesn't and in what order. To show 5 episodes of someone being understandably miserable and then have them get better with a series of long winded monologues doesn't display a lot of craft to me. And if you're going to just build up to a big final episode, make sure you make that last episode a big celebration of catharsis. I watched it all in one sitting, partly because I wish more TV shows had 30 minute episodes, but partly because I was waiting for something to happen. Very disappointing.
Manhunt (2003)
Not a brilliant game, but you HAVE to play it just once!
This, to me, is a game that is built on one thing and one thing only - atmosphere. From the virtually music-less title screen to the uber-gritty game itself, the entire game is dedicated to setting you on edge. As a game, it isn't fantastic, it can get a little repetitive and really frigging difficult, but the tension that is there at all times takes any attention away from the gameplay and puts it onto how scared you can actually be of a video game. And to Rockstar's credit, they do it fantastically, by using all the dirty tactics you can think of:
SOUND: Heartbeat - BGM only when you're spotted - Brian Cox as the maniacal Director, always urging you to kill
GAMEPLAY: Poor visibility - A radar that still ensures you can turn a corner and be surprised by a friggin scary hunter - Having everyone else in the entire game's sole purpose being to kill you - The fact that if you are spotted, and they find you, and you get into a fight with more than one of them, you WILL die
Overall, a scary game? Yes. A tense game? Yes. A good game? There are many games that are a great deal better. But you should rent it out, if only to see how much sick enjoyment you'll get out of splattering the contents of someone's skull all over the wall using only a baseball bat. I think you'll be surprised.
6.5/10
Van Helsing (2004)
The name's Van Helsing, Gabriel Van Helsing
Now, to start, let me first acknowledge that this is not a 'good film' in the classic sense of the word. It does not have a deep and twisting plotline, full and insightful character development, or cinematography so beautiful that makes you weep into your popcorn with joy. What this film is, is a blockbuster, and therefore must be judged as such.
It is, essentially, akin to a James Bond film. Cool hero, deliciously wicked and seemingly unbeatable villain, incredibly attractive female companion (who's good, but not so good that she doesn't have to be saved once or twice), a comedic sidekick (who gives him gadgets in a scene beautifully reminiscent of one of the many Q/Bond scenes) and (essential for this kind of film) some moments that just make you regress to the age of 10 and say to yourself 'Good God. That was cool'.
The film doesn't attempt to do too much. It gives you a kick-ass film featuring kick-ass characters taking part in kick-ass action scenes aided by some kick-ass CGI. A blockbuster it is, make no mistake about it, and one of the best I've seen in a bally long time.
8/10
X2 (2003)
Better than expectations *spoilers*
Don't get me wrong from the summary, I thought the film was going to be really good, but it was better than really good. It was...erm...really, really good!
The new characters were really good, especially with Pyro being a bad guy good guy, which I think everyone could relate to. I mean if you could manipulate fire and someone had a gun pointed at you, you would burn them all wouldn't you? Iceman and Rogue were good (even if I did expect Rogue to be a bit more part of the action than she was). Nightcrawler was good, and the opening sequence with the assassination attempt was the best bit of the film, and one of the greatest uses of CG I have ever seen.
Wolverine was kick-ass! When the troopers were storming the Institute and Wolvie just went sick on them was brilliant. Magneto was...Magneto, which will always make me happy. His escape from his prison was absolutely brilliant. Manipulating the iron in the guards blood? Who woulda thunk?
The direction of Jean Grey's character pleased me, and the faintest outline of the phoenix at the end almost gave me goosebumps! I can't wait to see how they pursue that in the 3rd installment.
Overall, a brilliant movie, probably the best superhero one ever. 8.8/10
Chasing Amy (1997)
Genius
Now before I start, may I point out that I am a Kevin Smith fan, so this is likely to be overly complementary, but try to get something out of it, please.
I love this film, in my eyes it is the best of all the ViewAskew films, which is saying something. Being a Kevin Smith film, it of course has large monologues and stacks of quote-able lines for those of us who are sad enough to memorise and recite at parties, but moreso than any other film he has done it has a coherent storyline and a good message. It deals with some good issues and, except the end, the story progresses believably.
And the performances of the main 3 actors are really good, even touching at times. Jason Lee in particular is brilliant as a man desperately trying to keep his best friend as his. And it had Jay and Silent Bob, which is enough for anyone to see the film surely?
Brilliant. See it. Buy it. See it again. 8.5/10
Léon (1994)
The film that has it all
This film is brilliant, I love it. Right from the start it hooks you (with the opening 'job' he does), and it never lets go. Another thing I like about it is the amount of variation in it, and the range of emotions it makes you feel: From the gripping action scenes, to the touching scenes of Leon bonding with Mathilda.
The actors also deserve a lot of praise for their performances: Jean Reno is brilliant, simple, and just strange enough for you to believe that he could kill people for a living, Natalie Portman is incredible, the best performance I have EVER seen from a sub-18 year old, and Gary Oldman is fantastic, making you love him and hate him in (more or less) equal measure. And his performance in the scene where they kill the bloke and his family, absolutely hilarious.
See this film, and then see it again. 8.5/10