(film review) - The Oddysey

As some of you may know, Christopher Nolan is one of my favourite directors. Bar two films, I've seen everything he's directed, and I'll get around to those eventually. What I never thought I'd say, though, is that I'd be halfway through a Christopher Nolan film thinking, "Yeah... this one isn't for me."

Don't get me wrong, I really liked 'Oppenheimer', and I enjoyed 'Dunkirk', but neither reached the heights of 'Tenet' for me. I know Tenet divides opinion, but I absolutely loved it. Yes, Nolan maybe pushed audiences a little too hard with that one, but I was completely on board.

This? Halfway through, I genuinely wasn't. Something just wasn't clicking. I couldn't put my finger on what it was, but I remember thinking, "This isn't connecting with me at all."

Then something happened. It's like someone flipped a switch.

By the time the credits rolled, I'd gone from questioning whether this was for me to walking out saying, "That was amazing." Let me explain.


The story opens on a beach, where Elliott Page's character encounters advancing soldiers near the Trojan Horse. Fatally wounded, they manage to utter one final warning—that the horse is a gift. Naturally, the Trojans accept it. From there, Nolan does what Nolan does best, jumping across timelines as we're introduced to Odysseus' home, his family, the aftermath of the war, his legendary bow, and the trials he and his men must endure on their long journey home, all while exploring his defiance of the gods and the consequences of his choices.


I'll be honest—I don't know The Odyssey particularly well. I know bits and pieces, but it's been years since I've revisited the story, and I genuinely wondered whether my lack of familiarity was hurting my enjoyment. Maybe it was that. Maybe it was simply the way the narrative unfolded. Whatever it was, I wasn't invested... until I suddenly was.

By the final act, I was completely hooked. In fact, if one particular moment had gone the way I feared it might, I'd have wanted to flip a table in the cinema. There weren't any tables, thankfully, but the rage would've been real.

I genuinely have no major negatives.

The Cyclops sequence was the first moment that completely floored me. Without venturing into spoiler territory, the design alone was enough to make me feel genuinely uncomfortable. It was unlike any Cyclops I've seen on screen before, and it was honestly terrifying.

Then there are the giants in the forest.

You've seen them in the trailers. You've seen them on the posters. Trust me... you haven't seen them. That entire sequence is astonishing.

But the standout moment of the entire film comes later. It's graphic, brutal, incredibly tense, and, in my opinion, the best scene in the entire movie. I was completely captivated. Matt Damon's Odysseus has spent the whole film trying to get home (like other Matt Damon films — trying to get home), and for the first time, I genuinely believed he might not make it.

The remaining trials are all handled brilliantly. Some are visually stronger than others, but every challenge feels distinct, memorable, and cinematic.

Performance-wise, everyone turns up.

Regardless of where people stand on Elliott Page personally, their performance here is exceptional. There's one particular scene that absolutely had me invested emotionally and reminded me just how talented they are. The only thing that didn't quite work for me was one brief running sequence at the end of it, which I did not buy, but that's about as nitpicky as I can get.


Matt Damon is excellent throughout, while Anne Hathaway, Himesh Patel, Charlize Theron, Tom Holland, Jon Bernthal, and Robert Pattinson all bring their A-game whenever they're on screen. The cast is stacked, and it absolutely delivers.

Ludwig Göransson's score is phenomenal. At this point, the man simply doesn't miss. Every emotional beat lands exactly where it should.

If you've seen Christopher Nolan's work before, you'll know linear storytelling isn't exactly his thing. Even Tenet, arguably one of his more straightforward films structurally, literally plays in reverse. The Odyssey is no different. It jumps around, trusts the audience, and never spoon-feeds you.


Visually, though, this might be one of his most breathtaking films yet. The crashing waves at the beginning instantly reminded me of 'Inception', while the forests, landscapes, and sequence involving Elliott Page are absolutely stunning. You can also tell just how much of this was achieved practically. Yes, CGI is used where necessary, but Nolan's commitment to doing as much as possible in-camera gives the film a scale and authenticity that's becoming increasingly rare.

The giants alone left me wondering, "How on earth did they pull that off?"

What surprised me most is just how much this film grew on me. I genuinely thought I was watching my least favourite Christopher Nolan film... only for it to completely win me over.

I'm already considering seeing it again.

And if this really is only the beginning of Nolan's take on this world, then I want him to direct every single sequel, spin-off, or connected story. Because if history has taught us anything, it's that when Christopher Nolan commits to a world, you're almost guaranteed something ambitious, unforgettable, and worth watching.

(trailer review) - Solos

First things first, what a cast! From Morgan Freeman to Constance Wu to Anthony Mackie to Nicole Beharie and Uzo Aduba.  This looks like it is going to be a great series!  It goes without saying Helen is great and British and I am off the hate-train for Anne Hathaway due to her part in Interstellar...let's not even retread that, but these are some quality actors and a lot of them with Academy Awards or Emmys.

Secondly, this also comes across like another Black Mirror Episode in some instances, the San Junipero episode? I'm definitely getting that vibe from it, but also I feel this series will be touching and very emotionally triggering and also make me sad and possibly cry and maybe even smile and be happy...a whirlwind of emotions really.  Am I ready for this Anthology?  A quote from one of the characters played by Morgan Freeman, "We all feel alone in different ways and in feeling alone, somehow we are all together", damn...I felt that.  It kind of reminded me of mental health and people whom are suffering feeling alone, but a lot of people suffer and people you may least expect or are close to you, you know.  It is meant to be out this month on Amazon so I guess I'll slot it between episodes of This is Us.

Directed by David Weil and starring Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren, Anne Hathaway, Uzo Aduba, Constance Wu, Anthony Mackie, Nicole Beharie and Dan Stevens.

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(trailer review) - The Witches

I can honestly tell you that I haven't the foggiest to, if I remember reading the Roald Dahl book 'The Witches'.  I remember 'The BFG' and 'Matilda', I may have even read 'James and the Giant Peach' but The Witches, not a clue.  I liked his books too.  However, having watched this trailer, it looks like the book may have been a fun read as this trailer looks really really good.

First off for me was Chris Rock, it sounded like him narrating.  I actually don't mind his voice as a Narrator as he has been in animation with voiceover work and he IS really good.  Secondly, Octavia Spencer.  Having just recently seen 'Ma' which was decent but sinister and with voice work in 'Onward' and 'Dolittle', she's really getting some good roles.  Thirdly, last but not least, Anne 'you silly woman, why did you go for the data!?' Hathaway (I'm only now slowly forgiving her for what she did in Interstellar), she is looking and projecting something amazing.  The way she looks and the way she is portraying the character, I didn't even know it was her at first.  With the slits at the sides of her mouth, the accent AND the baldness, her character is looking a lot different from the Angelica Houston version from 1990, THIRTY YEARS AGO! However, I do feel I saw this back then.

This film looks like it's going to be very entertaining, it's just a wonder as to when we will ever see anything in the cinemas as everything is either being pushed to streaming or pushed to 2021 because of this pandemic.  What I might also add, with Kenya Barris and Guillermo del Toro as joint writers with director Robert Zemeckis, this may be a well put together project, I mean the trailer looks excellent.  I did't even recognise Stanley Tucci.

Directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Anne Hathaway, Octavia Spencer, Stanley Tucci & Chris Rock,

(film review) - Interstellar

Christopher Nolan flew onto the scene for me when he directed Batman Begins.  Who is this guy?  People were talking about Memento, something I had never heard of and how he is a good director.  Up and coming, I think I heard somewhere, "could be the new Spielberg.  Having seen Batman Begins, then The Dark Knight (in which I really enjoyed), then Inception (a film I LO VE!!!), Christopher Nolan was a house hold name at this point and I surely wasn't going to let this film slip by me.  I heard about The Prestige being a great film, but I was already invested with this movie from the moment I saw the trailer.  Space, futuristic space travel, saving humanity or something, vague first initial trailer, but I was going to see it regardless.

Joseph Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) is an ex NASA Pilot and now farmer, living with his two children, daughter Murphy Cooper (Jessica Chastain), son Tom Cooper (Casey Affleck) and father in law Donald (John Lithgow).  As the world is slowly becoming inhabitable due to servere dust storms, Cooper embarks on a journey instructed by Professor Brand (Michael Cain) to travel to inhabitable planets with Dr. Amelia Brand (Anne Hathaway), Romilly (David Gyasi) and Doyle (Wes Bentley).  However, when one of the scouting trips going horribly wrong, the crew are now racing against time, desperate to find a planet to colonise before it becomes too late for those living on Earth.

This film was a lot!  I loved it just like how I love Inception, but I also hated a singular moment in this film which now has me hating Anne Hathaway.  I know it's a character and I know it's a role, but there is something she does in this film that infuriated me to no end that even now as I am typing this, I'm getting angrier and angrier.  The film also touches on love and how love can transcend space and time, the future of humans and the need to live/survive no matter the cost.  Towards the end of the movie, it does get really confusing and abstract that you may not understand what is happening, but Nolan has definitely directed this film in order to have repeat viewings.

The sound, the cinematography, the acting, everything was beyond superb.  The tension in this movie is at a very high scale and moments in this movie will have you on edge whilst other moments may have you hating an actor forever! I joke, although right now she isn't in my good books.  The film isn't JUST set in space either, so the dynamics on the ground, well...Earth also contributes to the overall story and the ongoing mounting pressure.  Lies, betrayal, love and will, is littered throughout this movie and for me, I will need to watch it again, but not because i didn't get it, well the end, a little maybe, but it is such a good film, it deserves a rewatch.

(film review) - The Dark Knight Rises

I've said this before and I will say it again, people will always compare, it's human nature. With that said, I completely understand why this film has mixed reviews.

Let's put this film into prospective. Everything about this film is Human. What I mean by that is, throughout the Nolan Trilogy, Nolan was able to bring a fantasy character in a semi fantasy universe alive in the real world to make it seem real enough to be believeable rather than fantasy. With that said, this is why you don't see a character like Clayface or Poison Ivy. I mean in a real world, how would this work? Marvel have successfully translated this in the films leading up to The Avengers, but I'm more curious as to how NOLAN will make it work. Some people already proclaim him as a God and watching his films, damn. I digress.

So, without a shadow of doubt, Heath Ledger's Joker stand's tall among all the character's in the Dark Knight Trilogy, but with the success of the second movie which virtualy paid for the world to keep spinning (I joke - The Avengers took that mantle), the third film is somewhat slightly lack-luster and less action paced.

I'll explain.

After the "Death" of Harvey Dent/2Face, Batman was blamed and took the fall while prisoners under the Harvey Dent Act were sent to Blackgate Prison for their crimes. The death of Harvey Dent held heavy on Chief Commissioner Gordon's head and this also led to the next 8 years of guilt for the chief as well as Batman retiring and Bruce Wayne becoming a recluce within his Mansion.

For whatever crimes Bane (Tom Hardy) is convicted of, he manages to escape and make his way to Gotham to basically crush it along with Batman in the process. Batman only arrives on cue as Selina Kyle/Catwoman (Anne Hathaway) appears which then triggers a series of chained events leading to Bane and Batman battling it out.

Things get a bit trying for Batman as well as Bruce Wayne which is where both Bruce & Batman are to rise, from the ashes as it were, like a phoenix and defeat the bad with good triumphaning over evil and defending the people of Gotham in the process.

You'd think this could be explained within two hours. However, this "two" hours (regular film time) is dragged out in such a way, for me personally, the extra 45mins or so actually felt like a 2 hour film until you look at the time afterwards. For me, the action was evenly paced with the drama but compared to the previous film, there was not enough explosions, fire and random anarchy/carnage in which the Joker (Heath Ledger) provided and more drama this time around. Alot more stress pain and torture in this film. Bane is a totally different character and one who, in the comics, puts Batman through his paces and out of comission by breaking his back.
In the midst of everything that is going on, young cop John Blake (Joseph Leonard Gordon-Levitt) is the only one guy who represents what Batman and Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) used to stand for and the one person who actually does a lot to save the day.

For me, I took this film on it's own merit and after reading a few stories and background surrouding this film, I completely understand how the film was directed and why, so that not any one character would stand out more than the other, i.e Joker over 2face or any other chracters in The Dark Knight. Not to say that oscar winning performances are dubbed down or ruled out, but the main characters are somewhat more evenly stretched and play very good parts.

The bottom line is, this is a great film and no one should expect this film to be better than the last film. as the dynamics of the chracters involved are very different from one another. If you like Batman, you will definately enjoy.

(film review) - Alice In Wonderland

Everyone knows the story of Alice in Wonderland! If you don't, where have you been? I mean, really? It's basically about a girl called Alice who ends up in a crazy world where a weird headed tyrant queen, who chops off heads of anyone who upsets her, a cat that floats, disappears and re-appears at will and a crazy man called the 'Mad Hatta' who is a little bit barmy. Not to mention a smoking catapilla and two dim-witted twins that are as dumb as each other. This is a crazy world where drinks make you shrink in size and food makes you grow in height.

If you know who Tim Burton is, you will know what to expect from this film. A dark, gloomy, maybe a bit twisted kind of film and well, to be honest, although it was a very colouful film, with that Tim Burton magic all over it, I got to say, I wasn't as happy with the outcome of this film as apparently, the film was labelled 'Alice in Wonderland' but was more based on all 3 novels which involves Alice. So I was fairly surprised when the Mad Hatter was, well, not as MAAAAD as I thought he was going to be. I thought he was going to be like, mad crazy and totally insane like, but he wasn't.
A lot of people liked it and well my faults with the film were that the Mad Hatter wasn't barmy enough and why wasn't it Alice's first time down the hole. They could have done that in the film or at least had shown it in the opening credits like how they did with Wolverine.

The Special Effects were good and could not be faulted. The acting was fairly decent too, but on a whole, I was just disappointed on how it was promoted to what actually happened. I felt Johnny Depp has had a better acting role in 'Pirates of the Caribbean' and i felt he was under-used due to the fact that I expected more from his character. Who stole the lime light and I thought was absolute class, was Anne Hathaway. How her character was portrayed literally had me in stitches.

This is a good film watch if you love Johnny Depp, Tim Burton films or even Matt Lucas as he is quite funny. The story isn't THAT bad and the special effects carry the film nicely. With a few note worth characters and a concept that seems to be, a girl lost in a land full of drug addicts, if you bare that in mind, you will love this film.

Out now, go watch it.