Owen Brown

I would have given 1 star if not for Donnie Yen, as I enjoyed his physical performance during the fight scenes. I found the rest of the movie very dull. Near non-stop action but with zero emotional stakes and little physicality. It reminds me of old side-scrolling best em up games where yet more bad guys are waiting to be killed, but only after they give the protagonist a chance to deal with the goons they are currently wrapping their legs around before shooting in the head. The character of John Wick is a total bore. The character of Mr Nobody has pretty odd motivations, but everything about the John Wick world has developed into total nonsense. There are nods to specific pop cultural items (top-down shooting games, the radio presenter narration from The Warriors) and broader homages/takes on the action genre, but that didn't elevate the film for me beyond eliciting the thought "I recognise this bit." I find it hard to understand why this film hasn't been slated by the critics and assume it must be down to outlets not wanting to annoy fans, in the same way that the fast and furious franchise gets more respect than it deserves.

A bit of a snooze-fest, all in all. Quite bad. Themes from the first film feel retread rather than developed, and the climatic battle is executed in a bland and tonally confused manner.

I am somewhat torn as to whether to give The Menu 2 or 3 stars. It was a reasonably entertaining watch, and I laughed a few times throughout it's showtime, but the more I reflect, the more I dislike it. I found it underwhelming. The satire is basic and the plot plays out very predictably. Still, worth watching if you have it available on streaming. Why not, eh? Better than a kick in the face.

There are many who believe that this sequel's somewhat Avant Garde choice to literally go inside the characters was likely inspired by Inside Out. To my mind, however, it was much more reminiscent of the classic Beano strip, The Numbskulls. The tiny workers, revealed to be responsible for Rey et al's actions and dialogue, were ultimately shown to be technocrats, rather than the emotionally driven beings of the Pixar outing. There is an argument to be made that we, as viewers, were asked to tolerate a little too much time spent inside Rey's colon, and the movie as a whole may be somewhat confusing for those of us who do not have a working knowledge of our own internal anatomy, however I for one found the film to be a refreshing break from the norm. Not what I was expecting from the final installment of the Skywalker arc.

A solid, albeit unnecessary, entry in the franchise. It is too beholden to T2 to feel like it was born from a genuinely creative place, but it is watchable. The script tries too hard to be humourous at times, and a scene involving the T800 fighting to make his own decision, over his corrupted programming, is cheesily handled. The cg effects are judiciously used in the main and hold up quite well considering the film's age, although I would have preferred even more physical stunts and action. It is more family friendly than the previous films, but still contains brutal scenes. It has a strong ending, and a direct sequel to this could have been worthwhile.

It became enjoyable once the murder took place but it felt like it took an awfully long time to get there. Despite the time spent with the various suspects etc., few stood out in terms of their performances or dialogue, although Russell Brand and Emma Mackey delivered their roles effectively. Gadot's character was described at one point as someone "as easy to love as to hate" but this is something one needed to be told rather than an aspect to be gleaned from their actions. I hope this is due to the effects of Covid rather than a reflection of what is acceptable today, but most external shots were poorly realised via green screen and CGI. Brannagh makes a decent Poirot in my opinion, although I found his expanded backstory unnecessary.

I enjoyed the humour and pace of the first fifteen minutes or so but found the film to become increasingly formulaic the longer it went on. The plot, centered around the ancestral/matriarchal pressures felt within the Chinese diaspora of Toronto, coupled with the mysticism, felt hackneyed to me and it is strange that the lead creator has used these same old stereotypes rather than choosing to show a different aspect of their culture. I would have preferred more time spent among the adolescent characters (the lead's friends could only be one-dimensional with the screen time they had) and less dealing with the intergenerational conflicts. The animation felt like another progression from the studio; this is their best human modelling yet. Our younger viewing companion enjoyed it a lot.

A big, silly fantasy film that I imagine pre-teens and young teens will enjoy more than any other age group. It is refreshingly unreliant on the other Marvel films and largely stands alone. Ben Kingsley's reprisal as a kooky, jobbing actor in over his head was the highlight for me.