Tom Heasman

It's not often I find myself becoming distracted to other things during a flim I've wanted to see since it was announced but unfortunately, Gladiator 2 just could not hold my attention. As a film about ancient Rome and its corruption. It held its own. But as a sequel to the original Gladiator starring Russel Crowe... it falls flat. The fight sequences are impressive but unfortunately, fail to capture the weight of the moment. That includes a rather impressive yet pointless naval style battle. The actors from the original still impress with their performances, but don't get enough screen time to really shine so when one of them falls, it feels hollow and meaningless. While Pedro Pascal plays a haunted General Acacius exceedingly well, his character development feels forced and out of place and is cut short too soon for it to have any emotional impact. Joseph Quinn (Eddie of Stranger Things) plays the part of Emporor Geta as a maniacal despot. And he excels at such portrayals. But again, not enough is given to his character development so his performance suffers greatly. Now I love Paul Mescal as an actor but this was the wrong role for him. He just could not capture that tortured persona his character was meant to have. His character goes from hating his mother to trying to save her so fast I almost got whiplash at the sudden turn around. This wouldn't haven been so bad if any sort of reconciliation had properly happened between them, but beyond a brief conversation that solved nothing and meant nothing... it felt like scenes between them were missing. There were many other issues but the main one this had was that not enough thought was placed on character development. In the original. You come to know the character of Maximus so well, he almost feels like a brother. You feel the power and weight of his emotions as if they are your own. You feel the betrayal when he is blamed for the death of the emperor, a close friend and father figure, by a man he has known his entire life. You feel the pain when he loses his family and weeps for them. And you feel the power of his conviction and wish for a better Rome. All the supporting cast in the first Gladiator cement their positions well in the story and their portrayals feel genuine. This is what Gladiator 2 lacked.

As supervillain origin stories go... not great. Plenty of superhuman, not so much villain. The Kraven I remember reading comics about growing up was a genius level megalomaniac who took great delight and pride in being the best. He had hunted every known predatory animal the world over and took trophies to prove his dominance and then when the animal world held no more challenge for him, he switched to hunting the superhuman. Whether they be villain or hero did not matter. The Aaron Taylor Johnson version of Sergei Kravinoff is more tortured greenpeace anti hero who hunts the worst of the worst criminals to make the world a better place. He takes no pleasure in his work and bemoans his past ties to his father (played masterfully by the legendary Russel Crowe) In fact, Russel Crowe's performance was more accurate to the comic book version of Kraven than Aaron's. I digress. The story was predictable, the writing lacklustre at times and the CGI was more reminiscent of something I would expect from the early 2000's. But... and this is a big but. It's a good watch. The fight scenes are brilliantly done while showcasing Kraven's feral and animalistic side How he gains his abilities isn't something stupidly explained away by science like a lot of films have started to do, they left it down to its mystical roots. The pacing can be a little odd but it works in its favor and the family dynamic between Sergei, Dmitri and their father is well done and believable. How Kraven remains so clean throughout the film is beyond me and I really want to know who his tailor is because he's got some very immortal clothes. For example, one action sequence involves a car chase, bullets and plenty of getting thrown around and into things at high velocity, yet somehow, Kravens perfectly white suit shirt and black trousers stay clean and crisp as if they were just laundered. Amazing! To be fair, I found those moments amusing in the grand scheme. This is not he Kraven you remember from your childhood and if I'd chosen the actor I'd probably have gone with Momoa as he has the size and intimidating presence Kraven is known for. But it's worth giving it a go.

An unusual mishmash that tries too hard. We've had many crossover superhero films over the years and while not all have been fantastic, there has never been as much of a catastrophic flop as The Marvels. Where many of these crossover films succeed is they stay true to their original character and their personality. The marvels throws that concept out the window with disney favouring to turn Carol Danvers into a literal disney princess, including ridiculous dress and exceedingly camp Prince husband alongside musical numbers that..... just make you roll your eyes in utter shame and exasperation at the blatant pandering and inclusion for all they seem to be trying to go for. The premise for the film itself isn't a bad one. Captain Marvel makes a mistake prior to the film causing the fall of the Kree empire. In comes the bad guy who wishes nothing more than to save what's left of the Kree homeworld and their people while also dragging Captain Marvel down a peg or three. Thrown into the mix is Kamala Khan, who if you've watched the Ms Marvel TV show, you'll know is a bit too childish for what is supposed to be a relatively serious tone. She does a little better in her first film outing as the character but still tries too hard to bring levity to the franchise. Completely fangirling for all of 5 minutes and then seemingly getting with the programme. Not forgetting the now adult Monica Rambeau who fulfills the role of Captain Marvels sidekick and true north heart and grounds her in reality and the things she left behind. It's not an awful film and I'd suggest people watch it for themselves but I found it difficult to sit through it's overly long runtime.

For those reading this, there are some spoilers ahead but no film ruining moments mentioned. A strange yet terrifying addition to the monster genre of horror films. While it's called "The Boogeyman" this dark and chilling monster has no resemblance to its past iterations in other film and TV shows. This monster is closer to a striga, an immortal child terrorising beast that feeds on the life force of its victims, then it is a boogeyman. The scares are subtle yet effective from the get go. It follows the usual ptsd family dynamic after a father loses his wife and his two daughters lose their mother. How this happens is never truly mentioned but its left the family broken. The father who doesn't know how to communicate with his children, his youngest in denial and his eldest trying to understand what's happened to them and communicate with her deceased mother. All seems normal until a man arrives and inadvertently brings something with him that slowly begins to terrorise the family. Starting with the youngest daughter. The creature itself resembles a human, but its limbs are longer and contorted, It mimics its victims to lure them in then terrorises them relentlessly. It doesn't like the light but less from fear of it and more for the effect the darkness has on its victims as it stalks them. I've seen many monsters movies and not much scares me, but this definitely gave me a chill or two. Definitely worth a watch.

Picked this up in spite of all the bad reviews around it and regretted it almost immediately. The story is terrible. Yes it "loosely" follows season 1-4 but a lot of important parts are left behind from the series. The graphics.... I've still got ps3 games that look so much better and play better. The controls are like playing a mobile game. They're clunky, delayed and at times completely unresponsive. The only good thing about it is the cutscenes made me laugh. Not because they are good.... because they're not, like at all. But because of how bad the voice acting and facial animations are. There are good zombie games out there that prove it can be done well. Most people would think resident evil but no. I'm talking about Days Gone. That was an amazing game with great graphics and traversal that would fit a walking dead game so well. Proving that a game like the walking dead can work and work well if done right by a decent studio. The studio who produced this walking dead game needs to be shut down for robbing customers and refund everyone who bought it. It's trash.

I've been a fan of AC since the first game with Altair. It's gameplay really made you feel part of the world ubisoft had created and the story, while a little loose in areas, kept you hooked right up till the end. Since then i have loved the games through their many evolutions and improvements. Seen great worlds created with history at its helm. Seen the wonder of the Caribbean and pirate age. Traversed the rooftops and seen the great structures of Italy. Fought alongside great American patriots as they battled for freedom. And of course, marveled at the great pyramids of Egypt. Through all of that, right up to Valhalla. The story was always the central focus. The evolution of the main character and his comrades. From watching beloved characters fall in battle. I think we all remember "in a world without gold, we could have been heroes!". To betrayal of the worst kind. Then comes Assassin's Creed Mirage. Yes, in many ways a return to form for a franchise that has changed so much over the years. The graphics are good. Not amazing but still just as good as Origins. The parkour has been dialed back a little and with a little control tweaking, really flows well with the more stealth heavy gameplay compared to more recent entries. Speaking of stealth. I'm proud to see it return and be relevant in mirage. But that's where it ends for me. I am frequently wracking my brain trying to remember the main characters name. He is completely forgettable. Has the personality and emotional range of a plank of wood. The story is bland, lifeless and has no impact at all. Just a point and shoot storyline. "Go here, kill that guy" why? Because he's part of the order. What did he do? No idea. Yes, you do find out why these people deserve their fate. But it has no impact at all. The story would fill a single piece of paper. There's no punch, no feeling or emotional weight to anything you do. Is it a good game? Yes. But will you remember it? No. That's why I gave it 3 stars.

I've read a few of the bad reviews for this film but thought I'd judge it by my own eyes and I came to realise that many of the bad reviews are by people who actually didn't watch the film or just saw a trailer. The information they share is either a half truth or outright fabrication. Someone mentioning the lack of tiger lily's tribe being in the film for instance when in reality they do make an appearance however brief. I go into all film remakes with an open mind without trying to compare it to its predecessors. And I must say that while it's not as great a film as I would have wished, it still is definitely worth a watch. It paints Peter Pan's and Hook's (fantastically played by jade law) relationship in a slightly different light that I won't spoil. But I will say that you end up caring for Hook for all he has lost and seeing a slightly darker side of Pan as evidenced when the core of their fued comes to light. Ever Anderson makes a very believable Wendy Moira Angela Darling and acts the part brilliantly alongside her co-stars. While I'm not a massive fan of Tinkerbell in this adaption, she is played well and I quite enjoyed the new spin on her character. Less sassy, yes. but now more mysterious and quite intriguing. She's gone from a mute companion to one that can speak aswell as anyone else... if they have the heart to listen, as revealed at the end. While it's not the same style as its predecessors, it still keeps enough of what made Peter Pan great to be enjoyable and I loved the ending because of a small yet heartfelt smile between two characters who came to realise there were still adventures to be had. I hope you all watch it and judge for yourselves but my personal opinion is that it deserves a chance.

I've read so many supposedly professional reviews for this film prior to seeing it today and almost all of them flout the fact it was not done by Disney, has terrible effects and tears apart the acting of the main cast. But I disagree entirely. When Venom first released, the onscreen effects, stunts and acting of Tom Hardy were crucified for how bad they were yet now those same critics who did a 180 switch for Venom are judging another Sony spiderman villain film. I loved the Venom films. They were cheesy, witty and weren't afraid to self criticise themselves. Yes the effects were a little lack lustre, yes the acting was bad and downright strange at times. But as a Venom film, they were spot on for a company not connected to the Marvel/Disney lineup. Now comes Morbius. The comic book Michael Morbius was a self obsessed narcissist who turned himself into a vampire by accident trying to one up Peter Parker. Good for a comic story but you can see how it would fall flat on the big screen. What Sony have done with the character is nothing short of brilliant. They took a bit part character who was never taken seriously and turned him into an in depth man suffering an illness that has plaqued him since birth. An illness he has seen claim the lives of the only friends he had as a child and he makes the decision to do something about it while he has life left in him. Not only to save himself, but his best friend/brother and all those others who suffer like them. But like with many plans born from best intentions, not everything works out for the best and he becomes very much a Jekyll and Hyde type vampire monster wrestling with his own humanity while trying to find a cure. The effects are amazingly done. From the particle movements that drag behind as he zips back and forth across screen, to the way he feels and sees the air currents that bore him aloft. The facial effects, while a little cheesy are still many times better then a lot of horror makeup sfx done today and are masterfully worked into the scenes. One example being a single blood drop having Morbius's inner monster trying to push through as he holds it back. The strain showing in the partial transformation of his features and quiet intensity of the moment. The best moments have to be with Matt Smih and Jared Leto both on screen. One grappling with his humanity and trying to do what's right while the other would rather rellish the monstrous gifts he's been given. I'm not saying the film is perfect. It isn't. But it lays so much ground work for future possibility. The ending credits scenes do feel forced but give you a glimpse into what's coming in the near future. My advice to those who have read reviews for the film and been put off.... just go and watch it. It's worth the few £/$ and is by far better then many recent blockbuster flicks