Roger Beard – Google

A fanciful film, no more or less accurate than many other Hollywood depictions of 'history'. It serves up a fantasy that it hopes the audience will want to see. There's a straightforward storyline involving slave trading, tribal conflict and female warriors, with a bit of character development of the two main women. The dance sequences, are all shown at unimaginative angles that made them look like choreographed stage performances. The village scenery looks like a twee studio setting and the outfits all look like they were mass produced (which they probably were). As per many films, there are interminable fight scenes with all the 'good guys', sorry - gals, making Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee look a bit pedestrian with plenty of time for sword swirling and dramatic posturing. The dialogue isn't too bad, although hearing a character say that she wasn't 'dumb' made me laugh. Oh and it's 45 minutes too long. This is most definitely not a 'great' film. It's a basic storyline and basic script with so-so acting, bad scenery and lots and lots of fighting.

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore

I hadn't seen the previous Fantastic beasts films but decided to watch this one anyway. It was full of magical CGI effects which were okay at the start but what followed was a long winded and over embellished storyline which seemed to be an excuse to include more strange creatures and effects. At the conclusion there were plenty of magical battles and a reasonable ending. Overall, I didn't think the characters were authentic and it just looked like a bunch of actors trying to be a bit quirky. It doesn't deserve high praise and I wouldn't watch it again.

It's preposterous from the start and the storyline and dialogue are both so awful that I couldn't help laughing several times. As it drags on each new scene seems more ludicrous than the last. The actors have absolutely no chance of rescuing this disaster, it is beyond recovery. Even the extensive special effects make an entirely unbelievable contribution. In conclusion - this film is dreadful. Total rubbish.

When it first started I thought it might be good, but so many historical landmark events and characters quickly make their way into the storyline that it all becomes a bit laughable (I wll not spoil it by mentioning them all). Then, of course, there are the endless action and fight sequences which are doubtless very clever, but so long and way too theatrical. It's fair to say that it's not boring, but about 3 or 4 times when I thought (and hoped) it was about to end - it didn't and we got to see a bit more action. The acting is okay, but with a rather daft storyline and matching script, it's hard to say anyone excels. I've given it 2 stars and that is a fair mark.

I'm at home watching the original 1984 Ghostbusters film and it's great fun right from the start and I'm really loving it. This is after watching the new 'Ghostbusters - afterlife' film yesterday. And there is no comparison. Ghostbusters afterlife is way way too slow, uninteresting and no fun at all. It leans on the legacy of the original story which is okay, but it introduces no new interest of it's own. As a stand alone film - it's not very good or memorable at all. I'm really disappointed, because I heard it was good. It isn't.