(film review) - I Know What You Did Last Summer

First and foremost, what? Secondly, why? I am trying to rack my brain over a few things right now. 1) Did I hear about this movie before and know that they were doing it? or 2) When I heard about the trailer for it, is that when I realised they were doing another movie? I have no idea. I know I have 'I Know What You Did Last Summer' on DVD. I also have 'I STILL Know What You Did Last Summer' on DVD, but I could not tell you when I watched them last. Moreover, by watching this movie, I found out that the first movie came out in 1997, and that is 3 decades ago! So, I guess the main question regarding this movie is, is it any good? Yeah..yeah it is actually!

A bunch of teens are together celebrating a wedding, and they bump into another friend they have lost touch with. Wanting to chill together like they used to, they all decide to go and see the 4th of July fireworks, and whilst viewing the fireworks, an accident occurs, and they leave the person, whom they presume to be dead. A year later, a mysterious note pops up stating "I know what you did last summer," leaving the teens to wonder who is pranking them, but when bodies start to fall, the teens need to figure out who the killer is and stop them before they all die.

I was about 10 minutes too late to watch 'F1' or 'Jurassic World Rebirth', so I decided to watch 'I Know What You Did Last Summer' instead because I watched the original back in the cinema all those years ago, enjoyed it so much, watched the sequel with Brandy, enjoyed that one too and purchased both of them on DVD. So, hearing about this movie and also hearing it was decent, I was comfortable in watching this to check it out for myself, and I must say, I had a blast. I did not see the trailer, and I did not expect anything from it, but I still managed to find the movie really enjoyable.

The characters, who cares? I mean, back in the day, it was Freddie Prinze. Jr, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Jennifer Love Hewitt, who were names of that era and were recognised, but this movie has a bunch of actors I do not recognise at all, and I still enjoyed the film regardless. The film had that late 90s vibe, and it was executed superbly. The film ran smoothly, and the story was decent, I mean, it is a revenge flick, but none of the characters were boring, and all the actors did a great job. There were a couple of standouts for me. The characters all felt like they were essentially meant to be carbon copies of characters from the original. I have nothing to back that up because I have not seen those movies in ages, but it was definitely a feeling I got.

The deaths. I might as well talk about the deaths rather than the music and cinematography, because you don't watch a slasher film for those things. The deaths were great! I won't go into any in case you have not seen the trailer and want to go in fresh like me, but there were a bunch of times I was squirming, and in terms of comedy elements, there were a few funny lines. One of the best lines in the film was "Are you an egg?". The delivery was excellent. I couldn't stop laughing for a good 5 minutes afterwards. When you watch the movie, you will see who says it, why, and why it was funny.

All in all, this was a great and unsuspecting watch where I went in blind, and I really enjoyed the movie because it did what a slasher film is meant to do. You know, it does what it says on the tin. Kills, a couple of laughs here and there, and a decent storyline. There were a few moments which were blatantly meant to be jump scares and some unexplained manoeuvring, but slasher films have got to slaher, you know. Whilst I will say there is a scream 5 or 6 element to the movie that makes you think, but other than that, a good and enjoyable slasher summer movie and the precredits scene was also interesting. Should they do a sequel, are they gonna call it, 'I STILL know what you did last summer?', likely.

(trailer review) - Predator: Badlands

 

I am not sure if I have mentioned it in any of my reviews, maybe when I was talking about Alien Romulus, but the Alien franchise is one of my favourite franchises of all time. The Predator franchise takes me back to being a child and watching the Arnold Swarzenegger film with my cousin, and I've also watched all the Predator films bar Predators (only because it didn't look that good) and now, with this Predator Badlands movie, with a Weyland Yutani android, it has only just occurred to me that this movie might be a "backdoor" invite for an Alien vs Predator movie, or in this case, Predator vs Aliens, because from this trailer at least, that is at least, what is actually happening and isn't the xenomorph the ultimate killing weapon?

So the trailer starts with the android and immediately, I am thinking of 'Aliens', the franchise, because in the Alien franchise, there is always something (and usually long) going into some kind of orifice and somewhat violently as well. Yeah, I get this android needs to hook up to the machine, but yeah...always uncomfortable to watch. Then we see our "protagonist" getting his weapons together while we hear that it is his first hunt, and he has come to the most dangerous planet in the universe. Come on, he has to fight a Xenomorph, right? Anyway, the android has a little introduction, the Predator picks her up and dashes her back down, only to realise they need to work together to defeat/kill a definitive apex predator. Come on, I'm calling it now. I will say the "good luck with your journey", acting and delivery were excellent, and it made me laugh. So, throughout the rest of the trailer, the Predator is fighting all these different types of creatures (aliens), and at one point, maybe his own species. But I will say, if the final boss is not a Xenomorph, I will be gutted. I didn't like the Predator Prey comment, as to me, it felt forced, but other than that, this Predator vs Aliens film or prequel looks really good, and I'm fully on board. Let us just hope it is as good as Prey and maybe do justice to the Alien vs Predator franchise, because as cool as they kinda were, sorta, they were still cheesy and sucked. 

(film review) - Superman

Firstly, I was not sure what to expect from this movie because, whilst I have not seen all of James Gunn's movies, the ones I have seen, I have enjoyed. The Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy in the MCU is up there with one of the best trilogies in the MCU and some of the best trilogies in life. The second one was a little more slapstick, but the 3rd closed out the trilogy, and it was excellent. What James has done in the DC universe, old and new, The Suicide Squad was actually really good (better than the first one that came out, Suicide Squad), and the spin-off TV show he did called Peacemaker was surprisingly good also. The theme song was really catchy and infectious, and although the show was set up in the DCEU with The Flash played by Ezra Miller, Aquaman played by Jason Momoa, this new DC universe, now coined the DCU has started with Creature Commandos as a cartoon animation and the first film to come out from Warner Bros. new DC universe is, Superman. With a new universe, with different characters and actors, some of us fans have wondered, what would be the difference between the old universe, which was spearheaded by Zack Snyder and this new one, which is now run by James Gunn? Well, if we are able to take a few notes from this movie and where we think the universe is going, for a start, it will be less dark, bleak and moody. Or at least, Superman will not be brooding and dark, something many film fans complained about initially, all those years ago. This movie is bright, joyful, funny and...hopeful? But is it any good? I'll explain.

Clark Kent (David Corenswet) has now shown Superman to the world, and he has been Superman for 3 years on an Earth that has had metahumans for 300 years, but with all the things he can do, Superman is the new kid on the block the world loves, but Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) does not. Clark works at the Daily Planet, he is in a relationship with Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan), and although Lex Luthor does not like Metahumans, and likely the Justice Gang, he despises Superman the most, so much that he has decided to put a plan in place to finally kill the man of steel by any means necessary.

This movie is not perfect at all, and although the story is good, we needed a bit more justification and fleshing out in places so we could understand the motives behind some of the actions taking place. With that said, although I have heard the film was likely longer and was cut short because it was too long for a first film in this new DCU, and the pacing does feel a tad choppy in places, this film is a really good time. As I stated earlier, this movie is bright, joyful, funny, and in some places, very dark. The city of Metropolis seems as though it is a great place to work and live, plus you have a few metahumans and Superman to protect you should anything happen. The skyscrapers are tall, the people seem nice, it just looks like a great and lively place, which lends to the tone of the movie, which is the exact opposite of what we saw last.

The three main characters and actors, David as Superman, Nicholas as Lex and Rachel as Lois, are all really good. I feel we need to see a bit more Clark Kent because he is only around for a small amount of the movie, which is fine, because we really want to see Superman mostly (which is not a bad thing), but there was not much duality seen on screen, but he does carry across everything Superman stands for with ease. Truth, Justice and the American way...or just being a good person/human. The moment in the film that supports that is the interview scene in the trailer with Lois, plus there are other moments highlighted in the movie, even a part that made me roll my eyes.

The supporting cast of Nathan as Guy, Isabela as Hawkgirl and Edi as Mr. Terrific were just as good as the main cast and whenever Mr. Terrific showed up, Edi stole the show. Nathan is just as great as Guy Gardiner, and from what I understand of the character, he portrayed the character just like in the comics. Isabela did not have much to do in comparison to the other two and had the least amount to say, but the scenes she had were ok, especially a moment she had with a certain someone in the movie, and she made an executive decision that was hilarious. That was a moment where I burst out laughing. Anthony as Metamorpho was good, brought in some of the heart, and I liked what they did with him. The rest of the characters, like Jimmy, Eve, and Perry, are all ok. Jimmy was more of the standout as he had a role along with character Eve, but Wendall, as Perry should have had more to do, but I am guessing it was either cut and left on the cutting room floor, or he was not given much. It just seems like a waste of an actor. Ma and Pa Kent were also great, and I loved the way they were portrayed in comparison to how they have been played in the past, plus it was nice to have both parents in this movie for a change. Krypto the dog is really good, and I feel he worked for me. He was set up, it was explained, and he was consistent.

The special effects and the music, as usual, were great. It is James Gunn and he has a unique spin on things such as music, visuals and humour. The humour felt a touch off in places, ot many, but for the most part, it worked as it was very funny where it needed to be. It wasn't people necessarily being funny or jokes, more situational or a character's behaviour, more than anything. There were some really great laugh-out-loud moments for me. The flying was a concern going in from the trailers, but in context, it worked very well, which seems to be the ongoing thing here as well. There was a lot of uproar about the dog, about the flying, about this and about that, but when you watch the movie, everything is explained in context. The one thing I felt the movie was lacking, and it is likely because I recently rewatched Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3, and his entire trilogy, James used great music in the films that I have seen, and this film feels a little stripped down, and the music mostly comes from the score itself.

I initially missed the first 10 to 15 minutes of the movie, so I went back to watch it again, and the film felt more complete on the second viewing. It felt more like a whole movie (because I did not miss the beginning), but most of what you see in the trailer is in the first 10-15 minutes, and those minutes give context. There was an explanation in the movie of something, and I thought I missed it, but it turned out you never saw it anyway.
All in all, this movie is the polar opposite of Zack Snyder's DCEU universe, or at least from a Superman perspective for now, and this does not feel like an interpretation or James Gunn's take on Superman (although it is), but this very much feels like Superman from the comics and cartoons. It is very comic-booky. The characterisation and portrayal feel more authentic to who Superman is at his core and not the departure Zack did, although it was beloved. If there is anything I would have wanted from this movie, is more time. More time to work on the story a bit more, the side characters and although we did not get an origin for Superman, some more time with Clark would have been great because the dialogue in this movie is great when we have those small characater moments, so it would have been nice to have some more of that because the action is the action, and it's great, but the intimate bits, the quieter moments, and even some more dialogue choices to explain some things would have went a long way. I got emotional on the second watch, maybe due to some real-life things, but the film is good, has some issues, but it is good, real good. Nothing spectacular, phenomenal or great, it's just a good solid movie and a great intro into this new universe. There are two post-credit scenes, and one pre-credit scene was interesting, going forward.