(trailer review) - Mission Impossible: Final Reckoning

If you have followed me for any period of time, you may have learnt a few things. I have not seen all the movies or even the classic ones. I do not just watch comic book and action movies. My cousin was 2 years older than me, so some films were introduced to me by him. I have mostly seen Arnold movies over Sly. I love Zack Snyder, Christopher Nolan and Wes Anderson movies. As well as John McClane being one of my favourite protagonists, Ethan Hunt is quite possibly at the top as I love sci-fi and spy movies. This trailer not only brought a tear to my eye, but it just had me so intrigued, and I even wondered, did they show every scene in this movie as a lot seems to be going on.


This is the sequel to Dead Reckoning part one, which was a movie that ended on a cliffhanger. Ethan Hunt is essentially battling an AI threat to save the world. It sounds bonkers, but effectively, a man named Gabriel has been tasked to do the bidding of the AI and he also has a vendetta against Ethan Hunt. This film is to pick up after the events of the first movie and looks like it pulls from every experience Ethan has gone through where he has saved the world and often, by going "rogue", to lead him to this moment facing the entity and its henchman. The part in the trailer where they are reeling off a list of "achievements" Ethan has done, such as the bombing of the Kremlin or the gassing of the security briefing, I'd imagine there is more listed there. Also, it is so great to see Nick Offerman, but the disbelief they have of someone they have trained to be a ghost and do the impossible mission makes me laugh. If you see Ethan, it is often because he wants you to see him. This ultimately looks like it may be the last Mission Impossible movie for Tom Cruise, but seeing the gang back along with Hayley Atwell, who is a new addition to the team, and those Dutch angles, I am completely involved. I have no idea where this movie's plot is going but I need to see this now! Our lives are the some of our choices. I have chosen this mission. I have accepted it.

(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) - Gunpowder Milkshake

So, not only is this movie somewhat ticking all the boxes in regards to race, it seems to be ticking all the right boxes to what most filmgoers want in an action movie...an action thriller at that!  I'm not going to lie to you, the title is great, but what seems to be even better, is the vibe I'm getting with this movie.  I'm getting a Charlie's Angel's vibe, but more serious.  A John Wick vibe, but more sensational.  Something like a John Wick mixed with The Hitman's Bodyguard, maybe?  Maybe I need to come back to this, but the film looks great.

Although, I said ticking the boxes in regards to race, I do feel they should have done more.  But these days these things seem to be heavy handed so I'm not sure if I even want that any more, unless it IS in fact woven into the story as there seems to be a world with secret assassins.  I just mean to say, if we are seeing such a diverse group, maybe it should be throughout the film, but since I haven't seen it yet, there is hope.  It's nice to see Lena Headey as I think she's great, as well as Michelle Yeoh and Angela Bassett. But Karen Gillan is funny in Jumanji, incredibly serious in Guardian's of the Galaxy and I'm just really liking the things she pops up in or her performance at least.

Whilst this film is slightly stylised like Atomic Blonde, but there seems to be some funny comedic bits peppered in and some slow-motion as if Zack Snyder directed this or is at least producing, I am definitely keen on watching.  Let's hope another trailer doesn't unsell me.

Hmmm.....Maybe Suckerpunch!? I'm still thinking!

Directed by Navot Papushado and starring Karen Gillan, Lena Headey, Carla Gugino, Michelle Yeoh, Angela Bassett & Paul Giamatti

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(film review) [STREAMING] - Soul

While the world has been in turmoil, Disney's Pixar decided to release this movie on Disney Plus, free of charge.  Unlike Mulan, where they were testing the waters and people had to pay extra on top of their Disney Plus package, Soul is completely free with the monthly subscription.  As for Soul though, when I first heard about it, I thought it was a nice idea.  A black animated cartoon for the kids as we don't get much of those and Pixar are pretty decent when it comes to storytelling and the inside adult jokes.  Needless to say, I do have fun with their movies.  Soul...Well, let me let you know how I felt about Soul...

So, Joe is an aspiring Jazz Musician.  He is currently working in a school as a teacher but he is only a substitute.  Having made it into his midlife, Joe has not found a career or a job with great benefits as he has spent his life chasing his dream.  Joe enjoys live gigs and the feeling it brings him, however, one day Joe takes on a gig which could change his life forever, but after the rehearsals, Joe falls into a man-hole and dies.  Once dead, Joe is accompanied by an un-lived spirit named 22 who hasn't lived, where the both of them are ultimately tasked with soul searching and what it really means to be alive.

I could have gone into more detail, but you'd either want to watch it or it would just seem uninteresting.  With that said, I really enjoyed this movie.  Free with my monthly subscription which is cool, but the film for itself was really good.  I absolutely loved the life beyond concept and the other bit.  Nobody knows what the life beyond is like to report back to us and let us humans know, but I loved the explanations given.  When we think of concepts and what our brain can understand and find a rationale, I loved the fact that these visuals were simply lines.  There was something soo great about that.  I also liked the accountant Terry and the way he acted and was handled, which was soo true to real life, as I bellowed out laughing on occasion.  There were some really great lines in this movie, such as "You can't crush a soul here, that's what life on Earth is for" and a few visual gags like the famous Instagram pose, you'll know it when you see it.

A few things I didn't get nor understand, as there was a scene where Joe is talking to his mother, but then he is talking to his mother and it isn't him talking.  So in my head I was wondering how did that work unless they decided to just skip the back and forth - You'll know what scene I'm referring to when you see it.  Another thing I didn't understand was the Cat. Why the Cat? I guess we needed the cat to help tell the story to get a better understanding of life and living, but I just felt although it made sense, maybe we could have had something else.

The animation is amazing though.  I wasn't sure about the character design at first but it grew on me.  The details in the animation were great at moments but I'm sure I've seen sharper details in a Toy Story for example, but it was still great.  The Voice Acing was totally on point.  I am not aware of Questlove having done voice acting before but everyone sounded spot on.  The Barbershop scene was great and provided some comical moments and some deep conversations held.  The experiences were all there and I loved how true to life it was.  I also really enjoyed the story behind the movie too, in which I won't go into, but sometimes life changes us or our dreams doesn't let us experience life in it's rawest form.  Sometimes we have ideas and dreams that we will never be able to obtain because of life throwing a curveball.  A little like Inside Out and A Christmas Carol and definitely re-watchable.  It would have been nice to know or get to know who Lisa was, though, just to add a bit more to Joe and provide more context.  A must watch if you have Disney Plus.

(film review) - Mission Impossible: Fallout

A lot of people don't like Tom Cruise for his scientology or for his height, maybe for both, but for me, I don't actually care.  Tom is a superb actor with quite a bit of range but I really love a few of his films.  Live Die Repeat (or whatever they decided to call it in the end), Minority Report, Tropic Thunder and Mission Impossible, the latter being his best work and one of the best franchises out there.  His dedication to stunt work is unparalleled and I have to say his character of Ethan Hunt is what the Character John McClane is to me.  Over the years, unlike Bruce, Tom has NEVER dialled in a performance to my knowledge, I don't think he would know how to, as he is someone who has to be ALL THE WAY INVOLVED, to even breaking his ankle doing a REAL STUNT in this movie for AUTHENTICITY.  So, when they say, break a leg in showbiz, Tom actually did.  But was it worth it?  Well without sounding bias at all, of course it damn well was!!!

Fallout picks up 2 years after the events of Rogue Nation and the capture of Soloman Lane.  What is left of Lane's terrorist group get a hold of 3 Nuclear Weapons known as Plutonium Cores, while Ethan (Tom Cruise) is re-tasked to retrieving the Plutonium, he is also being shadowed by lead operative August Walker (Henry Cavill) from the Special Activities Division.  When IMF discover that an extremist named John Lark is interesting in purchasing the Plutonium, Ethan must capture him, but when that goes wrong, Ethan must pose as him.  When Ethan is actually outed as the real John Lark, IMF are forced to disband or be labelled traitors to the country and Walker must capture or kill Ethan.

Just when you think the Mission Impossible franchise could not get any better, they prove me wrong with this one, just like they proved me wrong with the last one.  Sure, I'm bias but who doesn't love all that spy stuff? On top of that, trying to keep up with the Mission Impossible story per movie and with whom you should trust is a task in itself, always has been and doubles up in this movie then times' it by 10 just to make you feel on edge.  No one can be trusted, but the world needs to be saved from these extremist groups.

As usual, Tom Cruise literally breaks a leg for this performance and apparently, flew a helicopter by himself with hidden camera's just for authenticity.  He carried out real Halo Jumps proving, there is no one in the movie world as an actor, as dedicated to their craft as him and the film is all the better for it.  There is a shot where he jumps out of a Cargo Plane which looked Amazing. The visuals and cinematography is excellent. The camera work is excellent and as usual, the action is very visceral and entertaining.  I do chuckle when he limp/runs off after breaking his ankle though, I'm not going to lie.  These films are what they say on the tin, action, espionage, thrillers and/or spy films done right.  However, it would be interesting where they will go with 7 because not only do they get better, the stunts get wilder and wilder.  Oh, and just in true Mission Impossible fashion, there is some running and there are motorbikes, two MI must haves for EVERY MOVIE and strangely enough, you may role your eyes at them, but they are still entertaining, regardless.

I cannot think of any flaws with this film at all as Henry Cavill is excellent, the supporting cast are also excellent and if anything, maybe we could have the IMF team do just that little bit more than what they are already doing, somehow.  It's great to see Simon Pegg and Ving Rhames etc, but where do they go next? Does Ethan have a successor because he must die, right...eventually?  Well, let's hope Tom doesn't and he intends on doing more movies because although we have no clue where they can go next, wherever they do go, it will be entertaining, guaranteed, Tom's Leg Approved.

(film review) - Black Nativity

So, I only saw this film because my friend told me about it. I might have seen the poster for it or something somewhere about it but had I not arranged to meet up with my friend who I haven't seen for a long time who suggested to see it, I would have not known about this film. It just didn't flag up on my radar nor was I really interested in it. But myself being myself, I thought I'd give this film a gander.

The film is about a young single mother Naima (Jennifer Hudson) who is dealing with difficult times and trying to raise her child at the same time. With news  that she will only have a matter of days left before she is evicted, she decides to send her teenage son, Langston (Jacob Latimore) to his estranged grandparents while she tries to deal with her problems.
Reverend Cornell Cobb (Forest Whittaker) and his wife Aretha Cobbs (Angela Bassett) take this young man in and try to steer his life in a positive way while he is with them, but whilst being away from his mother, Langston then discovers the dark secrets which were kept from him and why his grandparents are estranged.

I've probably made out like this film is much more interesting than it really is, but the long and short of it is, the film kinda sucks. I've seen some bad films in my day and this film is by far not terrible, but they could have done soo much better.

Firstly, before watching this film, you will need to comprehend and understand that this film is more of a musical than just a drama. Kind of like 'For Coloured Women', just not as deep. My friend said that the film was trash and a waste of time. Now, I wouldn't necessarily say the film was garbage, although it wasn't that great. The film did what it had to do and display the complexities in life, single parenting struggles and internal family politics, however, although we had great actors, the storyline and pacing struggles to keep you engauged. The script was decent, the singing was very good, but this film comes off more as a 93min music video than a drama. This film could have done a lot better in portraying more of what was already there. More dialogue, more acting, more of everything, but the film was lacking.

I haven't seen Les Miserables and do not plan to, but I can assure you that the film was also a musical and not even half or quarter as disappointing as this film was. I just feel that they could have done soo much better with this film, the directions and even with a talented cast, not even they could help the narative and make a promising film like this interesting and/or great. Wasted talent on a film with a good idea on paper.

Ok film and gets the point across, but is very poorly delivered and although the cast is great, watch if you are feeling festive or you have to see a film with your favourite stars in or just wait for it to come on TV.

(film reviews) - Olympus Has Fallen

I read someone before that Olympus Has Fallen is this years Die Hard. Now for those who don't know me, I'm a fan of Bruce Willis. I LOVE DIE HARD MOVIES!!! And for those who know me would understand the puzzled/confused face I pulled. So, I'm sure you could understand that a comment like that would be Blaspheming on the whole Die Hard Movie Franchise especially as a Die Hard movie came out THIS YEAR!!!

(See Review Here: A Good Day To Die Hard)

But the comment was, well, not THAT far from the truth. I still dislike the comment, but after seeing this film after AGDTDH enable me to criticise where necessary.

First of all, the film starts Gerald Butler who I feel is a very decent actor. I do like him and ever since I saw him in 300, I thought, he is THAT guy. Going on to Law Abiding Citizen, he solidified that feeling. He plays a former US Army Ranger Mike Banning, who is the lead Secret Service Agent assigned to head the Presidential Detail for the President of the United States of America, Benjamin Asher (Aaron Eckhart). However, due to a road accident costing the life of the First Lady, Margaret Asher (Ashley Judd) where Mike saves the president instead of her, for obvious reasons, Mike is then demoted as he triggers Ashley's memories of the accident and works in the Treasury Department, within eyeshot of White House.

On the day the South Korean Prime Minister Lee Tae-Woo (Keong Sim) attends a meeting at the White House, the White House becomes under attack by Guerilla Forces, overwhelm the White House and take it over. As this is happening, Mike sees this and makes his way towards the White House and enters through the front door. Yes, he enters through the front door.

Now there isn't really anything more to say as I'm sure you are aware by now that the white house is full of goons and Mike has to save the president and stop whatever the terrorist aim to carry out. It kind of reminds me of a game in the late 80's early 90's when your character enters a building and has to clear out all the goons running and gunning, jumping vertically of course. So with that said, you already know the outcome. Predictable, yet still entertaining.
The brutality in this film I feel, separates from the Die Hard movie franchise. It's kind of hard to say, but the Die Hard movies have lots of blood, grisly deaths, bullets, more bullets, explosions, more explosions and a guy in a white vest managing to take out hordes of goons in a white vest and escaping all manor of death situations. This film on the other hand is very similar, but lacks the creativity, the death escapes and the white vest. Not to say that this is a rubbish film, it's really good, but I guess we have seen all these before, right?
Mike is a no nonsense former US Army Ranger. He gets things done with precision. Very smart, understands the minds of terrorists and is somewhat disconnected with reality. However, with this said, he knows he is able to fulfil his duties as an ex Secret Service Agent and get the job done, so he proceeds.

Anyway, I'll draw this review to an end now. The direction, cinematography and story was all excellent. Even better as the film seems more relatable right now in this current climate, but I can't help but think that maybe something else could have happened to kind of make this film slightly different in delivery. Maybe I'm starting to get bored of these types of films and actually want the bad guys to win or pull off their schemes. I mean, at least we could have some crazy sequel where everything is desecrated with little odds but still triumph. Maybe this is what the world is missing in film, Terrorist who actually win in the end, but in the long run, get trampled on. Not that I will always cheer for terrorists, but if they actually won or carried out part/most of their plan, at least as an audience we would have expected it. Other than Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith with the bitter/sweet end, what other film has this kind of outcome. Anyway, watch this film and enjoy it for what it is. Superb acting from Morgan Freeman and Angela Bassett by the way.