(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) - A Quiet Place: Day One

(TRAILER ONE)

What is really wild, is that an actor turned director, known for his role as Jim in the American version of The Office, directed two movies before he directed the first 'A Quiet place' and now, he is simply hitting them out of the park. The first A Quiet Place was great. Whilst everyone was talking about Birdbox, there was a strong rumble about A Quiet Place that I watched it and was blown away. Anyone who has watched it, REMEMBERS THAT SCENE! you know which one. The one with the stairs!!! Never in life have I ever felt the tension in a movie more than that scene in a movie. I am pretty sure, the bathtub scene (I cannot remember clearly if it was exactly the same scene, but that) was also a moment where I was under a lot of stress. He then comes out with a sequel and whilst not as great as the first one, in regards to tension, still an amazing second entry to the franchise. However, this trailer, although not directed by John as he was likely busy directing 'IF' and this trailer looks like we are here again, at the edge of our seats, stressing out and I love it.

This second trailer does it for me. Not like the first one did not, especially as, by this point I am already bought into the franchise, but I noticed in this trailer, the military bombed the bridges so whoever is IN New York, is stuck there. It reminded me of Batman Begins and 21 Bridges if I am honest, but the share pandemonium is phenomenal. As I stated in the last trailer review "This trailer gives me Hollywood big budget horror and somewhat, a catastrophe vibe like a Cloverfield". I can see when everything hits the fan, the town scene in A Quiet Place Part 2 where everyone is running and they are driving in reverse and trying to get away, this trailer is show us, again...day one and and how a bustling city like New York, with all the loud sounds, music, people, trains, taxis, will be silent. Seeing Joseph Quinn here will be good for the Fantastic Four and MCU fans, but in all honestly. I only hope this Michael Sarnoski guy does not fluff it up. I heard Pig with Nicholas Cage is good, so we shall see. It looks epic though! I cannot wait.

(trailer review) - A Quiet Place: Day One

I think I watched 'A Quiet Place' for the first time at a friend's house. I feel like I remember everything about that week and what led up to me watching it. I remember having not gone to the cinema to watch it for whatever reasons and having such a great weekend, I was starting to have a terrible week. It was December 7th and I had recently seen the trailer to Birdbox. There was a lot of buzz around the Birdbox movie and although I do think Sandra Bullock is a great actress, I was not at all bothered about the movie because I kept hearing how 'A Quiet Place' is a great movie and how it was a better Birdbox movie, I just had not seen it yet. So I am at my friend's house and we are watching it and the staircase scene comes and I swear, I have never been so traumatized. Then you had the bathtub scene. You could cut the tension. From that moment, I knew the film was a winner so when the sequel came out, I did not hesitate to watch it. I loved the sequel also (although I feel the first one is untouchable) so when I heard the guy from WandaVision and Ant-Man *he smiles* was doing a sequel set back to when it all started, I knew I was down.

Phenomenal. This trailer gives me Hollywood big budget horror and somewhat, a catastrophe vibe like a Cloverfield (which is literally the best comparison I can think of actually). Someone is minding their own business, aliens come down and wreck everything and everyone in quick succession. There is a scene in A Quiet Place Part 2 in the town and it is panic and pandemonium, this trailer is that scene turned up to 11. Lupita is a star and to also have D'jimon as well and that scene at the end with all the aliens walking/running (coming down the building) towards everyone whilst they are looking up... if that is not enough to unsettle you, I can only imagine there will be more like this and there will be tension moments like the moment she coughed and he covered her mouth. I honestly do not think I could look forward to anything any more than I am already looking forward to this. I cannot wait.

(film review) - Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Nobody really knew Chadwick Boseman until he played James Brown. He was an up and coming actor who played Jackie Robinson, Thurgood Marshall and many other characters in film. It was only until he played Black Panther, a lot more people took notice. Chadwick Boseman was an incredible actor. Ma Rainy's Big Black Bottom and Da 5 Bloods is testament to that. Chadwick Boseman died at the age of 43 due to Colon Cancer in the middle of the Pandemic, something he was battling for years and before he joined the MCU. Whilst people online were saying horrible things regarding how he looked in a video he released prior to his passing (due to visibly losing a lot of weight) Chadwick kept his illness a secret, even from Director Ryan Coogler who had just finished penning the script to a Black Panther sequel that starred Chadwick Boseman. Ryan Coogler had a task similar to James Wan in the Fast and Furious franchise, but a lot more difficult.

Whilst I agree with recasting the actor because the character is bigger than the actor, Marvel were at an incredible disadvantage due to being 'damned if you do recast and damned if you don't'. People will dislike the film regardless due to what they feel should have went down and how it should have been handled. That said, Marvel took a stance to not recast and Ryan had to re-write a script that had Chadwick Boseman as the star due to shoot in a few months to Chadwick not being the star anymore. A colleague, a friend, taken from us at 43 years old. A rising star. Ryan was in a predicament and did not walk from the project, he stuck with it. Whilst the film will definitely divide the audience on where they stand with the decisions from corporate, ultimately Ryan directed a beautiful tribute to Chadwick Boseman and the film was great, although it could have been just a little bit longer in places. I'll explain.

The film starts off with a cold open and we are in the thick of it. The passing of King T'Challa is immediate and sudden. Wakanda has lost their King and whilst reeling from their loss, the world are equally trying to steal vibranium anywhere they can find it. This leads to the emergence of an underworld hidden civilisation who are led by a person named Namor who wants to protect his people from the surface world. Events lead to a huge battle between the two nations, the people of Talokan and the people of Wakanda whilst Shuri, T'Challa's sister, the princess, mourns the loss of her brother and tries to bury her head in her work.

The only issues I personally had with the movie was that, the film should have been longer. It would have helped to flesh out the characters a little more and give it a bit more meat to characters such as Riri Williams and Namor. I had trouble adjusting to Namor as he was a different type of "villain" to Killmonger and whilst I knew he was not meant to be anything like him, something about him being formidable, just didn't feel formidable enough or maybe his presence did not feel like it carried the weight and baggage it needed to to make me feel a person who is as menacing as he is powerful. Do not get me wrong, there was a scene that occured midway through the movie when there could have been a potential resolve, but something leads to another and I was stressed. So, feeling that, maybe the movie did what it needed to do, but I just felt like there could have been more. With that said, Namor and his forces left the movie feeling unbalanced which made it seem like there was not many stakes. They did something with a specific character I felt was unnecessary and the surprise cameo and "other plot" felt forced and pointless, especially when we do not fully know why it was needed.

Other than that, Angel Bassett deserves something, some recognition to her performance in this movie as she was incredible. Whilst every actor was spot on, performances were top tier, Letitia Wright and Angela Bassett were definitely the standouts. Tenoch Huerta was excellent as Namor. Charismatic, fierce and powerful. There were a few ways he would react and say things that made me burst out laughing because the character was calm but vicious, I just wanted a tad bit more from him to help feel the weight. I am not really sold on Riri Williams and I do not think it was Dominique Thorne's fault, I just felt her character's background should have been fleshed out a bit more as it was pretty surface level.

The cinematography was pretty standard with some cool camera work here and there and the music was excellent as per usual, not to mention the costume design. Director Ryan Coogler had a huge task and he delivered something I would say, is a servicible movie despite the circumstances. Although the movie cannot escape the impact and importance Chadwick Boseman brought to the movie, his presence is felt throughout even when they do not lean into it. A great watch and touching tribute for a King.

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(trailer review) - The 355

*Insert 90's movie trailer voice* From the studio that brought you Jason Bourne. 

Unfortunately, this trailer feels lacking and I'm not quite sure what it is.  I'd like to see it but the trailer for Jason Bourne had more fighting in it I'm sure.  Or maybe it seemed more high-octane.  There was a small small explosion in the trailer and Jessica rapels down to the lower floor but, show me something cool like bigger stunts or more of that motorbike chase.  So essentially, Oceans 8 meets extraction and a touch of Mission Impossible.  The climbing on the outside of the building is definitely a call out to Ghost Protocol though and I like that.  I feel like saying from the studio that brought you Jason Bourne has skewed my view before I even started getting into it.

I just don't know.  I just don't want this to be a Charlies Angels as this definitely has potential and I'm loving the diversity, I mean, Lupita is black and British.  Representation matters.  It feels like I'm going to have a lot to say about this movie because it would seem Simon Kinberg the director, the last and only other film he directed was Dark Phoenix (X-Men movie), but he has helped to produce many other movies, some good some not so good and he's written for some movies I really liked like, Jumper, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, This Means War and Guy Richie's Sherlock Holmes, but also written for some duds.  We will see.

Also it's all good saying from the studio that brought you Jason Bourne, but it is the same studio that brought us Bourne Legacy, I mean, let's keep it real.

Directed by Simon Kinberg and starring Jessica Chastain, Lupita Nyong'o, Penélope Cruz, Diane Kruger, Bingbing Fan, Sebastian Stan & Édgar Ramírez

(film review) - Black Panther

Captain America: The Winter Soldier, was a great film.  Arguably for me, the best stand-alone movie from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  Captain America: Civil War, was a great film.  My opinion on the Russo Brothers second movie with Captain America comes in as a tie for me with it's predecessor.  I just don't think it passes TWS, BUT it does do a great job in introducing the Black Panther character flawlessly to steamroll right through this movie.  You got to see this character, his values, how he presents himself, part of his story AND a glimpse of his country.  As soon as he arrives, it's absolutely no nonsense and you immediately loved the character and like me, wanted to know more.  Now having his own movie, it is a wonder how this movie will go.  Directed by the young Ryan Coogler, who also directed Fruitville Station & Creed, Ryan does the most masterful job on showing us who Black Panther is and where he comes from, Wakanda.

Picking up shortly after the events of Civil War, The Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) returns home to be greeted by his mother, Ramonda (Angela Bassett), Sister Shuri (Letitia Wright) and his Royal Guard the Dora Milaje.  Now that his father, T'Chaka (John Kani) is dead, T'Challa must now take up his Kingship and rule his nation of Wakanda as their new King.  With the emergence of a long time enemy of Wakanda Ulyesses Klaue (Andy Serkis), T'Challa must go on a mission to take down this enemy, but when the mission goes wrong on 'Day-One', this sets some uneasiness with some of the locals and also coincidentally brings forth a new foe Erik 'Killmonger' Setvens (Michael B. Jordan), who is a direct threat to T'Challa and the Throne.  T'Challa must overcome these challenges and threats to himself, his people and the throne.

This is a great and very layered film.  From the beginning of the movie until the very end after the Credits.  The Social commentary and political standpoints in this movie are very apparent, but do not beat you over the head with it.  They address current issues in real life flawlessly as well as negating stereotypes and turning them on it's head.  Very culturally aware and without coming across preachy, is able to drip feed a tiny bit of history of the real world, what has been done, what we do as people and what is likely to happen.  Baring in mind that the MCU is set in the "real world", this movie does a lot to change the narrative a little and opens you up to ideas of what could have been, could be and how things should be.

At first, when I heard and read reviews of this film, I was slightly disappointed once I had finished watching it, but then I asked myself, "what could have been done better?" I thought about this long and hard until I decided that although the film isn't perfect and should have been a little longer, ultimately I needed more from the villain.  This made me realise that, not only was the villain great, his story was also great.

The visuals are amazing.  The colours usedThe acting in this movie from everyone was excellent.  Sure some accents were not THAT great, but you understood where they were going with it and what was being said.  The costumes and outfits were amazing and very well realised and detailed.  Pulling a lot of real life culture into this movies and you could see it.  I've not read a Black Panther comic book, BUT the imagery looked as though it was taken directly from the comics.  The fights scenes although, not a lot, were all pretty good.  The mission fight was just excellent in every way and the use of the camera and the angles were great.  The last fight scene was not THAT great, a little CGI heavy, but they were awful and did not take away from the story.  I do believe that Marvel did a better job in giving us what they have done for a few films now, with their bad guy.  Mentioning the bad guy; excellent.  You understood his motives and although sometimes you just want to hate the bad guy and he must be defeated, he makes you feel sympathetic to his cause.  The film is VERY funny in places, may actually make you cry and I walked away from the film ranting and raving about the character M'Baku (Winston Duke).  People will have their favourites but he was mine.

A lot of people may want different things from this movie due to it being a comic book/superhero movie, but this movie is much bigger than that.  The fact that it didn't really feel like a superhero and it feeling different, but still feeling the same was an achievement which walks the same line as The Winter Soldier for me.  A stand-alone movie that raises the bar and connects to the larger MCU story-arc and will definitely get you excited for Infinity War.  Go watch it...you may even watch it more than once because it is THAT entertaining.

(film review) - Star Wars: The Force Awakens

After spending almost a week, running, ducking, diving, jumping, swimming and rolling away from Star Wars Spoilers EVERYWHERE online, I am glad to say that I have finally watched the film and I loved it.  Yes, there are a few issues with it, but what film is perfect? I saw this film last night and I have spent all day reading and listening to what people thought, their reviews, what they liked and disliked and generally how the film made them feel.   For me, after watching this film, I wanted to see it again.  I will not go into spoilers, but I will try and review this film without giving a lot away.

Star Wars VII (7) is about the fall of the Galactic Empire, who inspire a military dictatorship now called the First Order who has begun executing it's plan to depose the New Republic and reclaim control of the galaxy.  The film picks up around 30 years since Return of the Jedi, after the fall of the Galactic Empire and a lot has changed.  Luke Skywalker is missing.  The veterans from the Rebel Alliance, in response to the First Order are now called the Resistance and they retaliate against the First Order and their new weapon of mass destruction.  With the introduction of Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), an ace fighter pilot for the resistance who is captured by Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and the First Order, he is taken to be interrogated for very important information.  Poe eventually meets Finn (John Boyega) who in turn meets Rey (Daisy Ridley) who later meet Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) to only be pulled into General Leia Organa's (Carrie Fisher) fight against the First Order.  With the odds stacked against them, success for the resistance seems nonexistent and it is now up to our heroes to defeat this new threat that is the First Order.

Now if you have seen A New Hope, there are blatant parallels with Episode IV and this is the aim.  Where a lot of Episodes I-III have a great deal of exposition, the general plot is given to you whilst the film flows at a rapid pace.  Having watched the film, you will leave the cinema thinking, one of two things, overwhelmed or underwhelmed and mainly because, although this is a good film, there are a lot of things missing, i.e exposition. Sitting or standing in circles discussing politics.  Relationships between characters are not forced, but not very well fleshed out to be majorly impactful.  The film acts as a springboard or a passing of the torch to the new characters and if you want to know about the older characters, watch the previous trilogy.  Moreover, you simply might have wanted a lot more than what JJ Abrams gave to us.  J J Abrams had a lot to do and without making this children's film (enjoyed by adults) run for too long, J J was only able to deliver on what I felt he did what the Prequel Trilogy didn't manage to do, but should have; and that is to produce and direct a film that resembles the original trilogy films which were made, update it with the technology we have now and deliver a quality product.  Although this was done in the prequel trilogy, sort of, a lot of the puppets, set pieces and acting (funnily enough) was not real.  Some of the acting didn't carry much weight.  Wooden or very bad dialogue/scripts.  The reason why a lot of people who have watched the original trilogy basically trash the prequel trilogy, is due to the way it was directed and how the characters acted and were portrayed along with the bad dialogue.  Too much kiddie elements to it with a lot of bad acting and bad characters.  The Force Awakens is a return to form and we can only see this progressing further into the next trilogy and beyond.

Things I didn't like about the movie, was the pacing.  It was too fast and even though it didn't feel rushed as such, everything moved quite rapidly once we got into the film and this didn't allow for some story elements or scenes to be 30 seconds longer just to fully appreciate the story, situation or dynamics.  With soo many things left open to the imagination or for us to wait until the sequel, although the film doesn't answer all our questions, it just gives us another bunch of questions you will have to figure out yourself or like I said, wait until the follow up film.

Seeing the Millennium Falcon again was great.  Sexy beast of a hunk of junk.  And the X-Wings are as sexy as they can ever be.  The sound and special effects are tip top and when it comes to the cinematography, nearly every single frame is a screenshot masterpiece.  Like, pause it at any moment and print screen, put it in a frame and hang it up.  Another gripe I didn't like was Lupita Nyong'o's character.  The character was fine, but we didn't need her for it and felt that this award winning actress was misused.  But other than that, this film is a stepping stone for the sequel and many more movies to come.  Hopefully the second movie doesn't get too dark.  Word has it, Star Wars Episode VIII (8) will be the Empire Strikes Back of the franchise.  I'm expecting explanations and a lot of people dying.  Dark days for the resistance.

Oh, by the way.  People don't understand the "HYPE" about this film.  For me, there is no "hype". If you appreciate storytelling and film, then you would get the "Hype", otherwise you just won't get it.  A lot of this is due to the knowledge of watching the original trilogy since 1977 and understanding what Star Wars has done for the movie industry.  What George Lucas has done for the movie industry.   Don't raise your hopes up either.  This is just the start of another journey to a galaxy far far away, long ago.

Enjoy

(film review) - 12 Years A Slave

It is kind of weird that I am able to write about this film, but I cannot write about Django Unchained. I mean I have no real issues with the film and I have seen both of these films and where this film had basically brought me to tears, you would have thought the Quentin Tarantino one would have done the same, no? Well, I believe I know the reason for this.

Quentin Tarintino's film was advertised as a slavery film when it was merely a film with a love and Slavery was a sub theme. With 12 years a slave, this IS in actual fact, a slavery film. You might ask what the difference is, but it is not hard to understand or comprehend that although both men where trying to get back to their beloved partner/wife, Django's story centred more around his wife and his "struggle" in trying to locate her, save her and be back with her. This film on the other hand is centred around the character himself and his struggle in reclaiming his own identity so he can go back to his wife. I'll explain.

As the film starts, we see Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejifor) in the fields working in the blazing heat among other slaves while white slave owners relax in the sun watching the slaves work. The film then flashes back and tells the story until we meet up again at that point in the beginning of the film in the fields. Solomon is a prestigious black man in a town where everyone or most people know and respect him. He plays the fiddle, is a skilled carpenter, has a wife and two children. But without going into it too much, one day he wakes up in a dark room where he is chained to the floor and beaten badly. Shipped, sold, disrespected, beaten, abused and renamed, Solomon goes through a great deal with his slave owners throughout the film. However, just when you think he is having a hard time, Patsey's (Lapita Nyong'o) story is the one which drew tears to my eyes.

This film, while a lot of people may argue the events in the film were too harsh or too much to handle, I can only say, I am pretty sure these events were watered down. I do compare the brutality of Django infused with this film would possibly give you the closest we would get to an on screen display of how events were for slaves, but until that happens, 12 Years does a fine job and Steve McQueen should get all the respect and props he deserves. Random hanging, slaves being stabbed, shot or keeling over from heatstroke, it's all there. The film is very engrossing, entertaining and visually stunning. There are moments in the film where the visuals are captivating. At times, I thought to myself, "this is a beautiful film", with all it's colours, shades and imagery. Very artistic. The screenplay, acting and camera angles were all top notch. High performances from everyone involved in the film. Cumberbatch, relatively new to me but I'm starting to like what he turns out and Fassbender, forever growing with greater performances in almost every movie. Even Rhino (Spider-Man joke) Paul Giamatti, did pretty well and possibly, I might start to like him more as an actor, but the best acting throughout the entirety of this film goes out to Chiwetel Ejiofor. A very underrated actor with extraordinary talent which I hope does not go overlooked.

I've said before, if you don't feel some kind of way after watching Django, then you must feel some sort of way after watching 12 years, or something is terribly wrong. Also, if you feel Django Unchained was a mockery of a film which was advertised as a film about slavery, then you need to see this film. This film is an amazing film where the director had a great vision in his head and was able to bring it across in the film and made you enjoy the film for numerous reasons, if it wasn't just for one thing, it was for another. Bring your towel/tissue and be prepared to be sadden, shed a tear or even cry. I think, what hurts more regarding this film, is the time in which all of this has happened in our history. 1841, although seems like it was a lifetime away, it really wasn't. This film was a great film and very much worth the watch.