Venom: The Last Dance

This review may contain spoilers!

 

Venom: The Last Dance is the third instalment in the Venom trilogy and our most intergalactic, multiversal spanning threat yet. When Knull, God of the Symbiotes, seeks an escape from his dimensional prison, he sends his symbiote hunters, the Xenophage, to find the key to his release. Unfortunately for Eddie and Venom, their unique bond has created a Codex within them - the exact artefact needed to release Knull.

What really worked for this film is how action sequences often upped the moments of tension. The soldiers of Area 55 (yes, that's a thing) have weapons that finally make humanity a threat to symbiotes. Alongside this, the Xenophage are terrifying and more powerful than any threat in a Venom film thus far; pair them with a big symbiote versus Xenophage battle in the final act, and you have some high points of action conflict.

 

Stephen Graham, who played Detective Mulligan/Toxin, wasn't my favourite in Let There Be Carnage but got to explore something entirely fascinating here; Graham's take on a man inflicted with and haunted by a symbiote is great and his exposition delivery as Toxin is surprisingly gripping.

However, the best performance came from Tom Hardy, who played Eddie Brock. Hardy is a phenomenal character actor who has often sat within gritty, tough and sometimes entirely mad roles. He has a long history of being able to lead a film and carry it forward as a protagonist. I wouldn't call his time as Eddie one of his most memorable characters, but he has certainly led this series of films very well. This time around, we pick up right where we left Venom and Eddie after Let There Be Carnage and Spider-Man: No Way Home. Eddie seems extremely disoriented, confused, and like he is frantically trying to pull together some semblance of normalcy into his new life as a wanted felon. Hardy's Eddie is so strange because his psyche after being paired with Venom seems so shattered, he is simultaneously beaten and worn down while also weirdly fixated on very menial things at odd moments. I found his great reluctance at letting Venom go quite sweet, and his farewell at the end was an impactful delivery. His work at voicing Venom was also quite wild and unpredictable. Yet there was a tenderness there, a strong bond with his host that comes from a place of wanting to protect that connection. Tom Hardy saw this role through consistently over three average and below films, which is commendable in its own right.

There is this real lack of direction, planning and purpose when it comes to the Sony Marvel films that makes them increasingly frustrating to watch. Bad enough I have had to sit through such features as Morbius and Madame Web, but the fact they took their flagship Spider-Man spinoff in Venom and completely fumbled it is a disappointment. This film is a major swing in difference from the last two; in which the first was an origin story and the second was a poor introduction to Carnage, one of the more famous symbiotes Venom has faced off against. This film opens with Knull, a being who created the symbiotes, holds multiversal powers and exists outside the known universe in a dimensional prison crafted by the symbiotes. Knull sends these creatures designed to hunt symbiotes, but specifically a symbiote that has saved its host from death. Apparently this exact, very specific act creates a key called a Codex which will free Knull. Before you spend too long wondering why the symbiotes would make themselves the weakness to the prison of their greatest enemy, I'd encourage you to consider how colossal this plot has ballooned into by introducing Knull. It has suddenly become exposition heavy, there are a lot more very specific factors around symbiotes that are being introduced quite late in the trilogy and the whole film drops Knull on us which feels far bigger than Venom has really been up until this point. In fact, the entire film feels like promotional material for Knull, teasing a big bad I hope Sony doesn't explore because they really did a poor job of introducing us to him here. More than this, the film is this really sluggish road trip movie for two thirds of it; in which Eddie and Venom stumble through a symbiote horse ride, an Area 51 enthusiast family and an abysmal Las Vegas sequence. Let us not forget Area 51, oh I mean 55, in which there is now apparently an American military group designed specifically for hunting and collecting symbiotes. If they feel like a dull, last minute idea - I think that might be intentional. Area 55 is even led by a scientist with a weird backstory in which her twin brother gets killed by a lightning strike; and it gets brought up, a lot. The whole film shrugs towards a predictable final death scene with a bunch of newly decked out symbiotes who look like they might be out of a Power Rangers film on acid.

This is the worst looking Venom yet, every shot seems to be hinged around a special effect, otherwise we're pushing the most simple to achieve mid-shots I've seen in a blockbuster all year. The budget is quite stretched in this one and it shows. Venom appears a lot less, giving us his weird floating head look instead, the army of symbiotes aren't as interesting as Carnage or Riot have been in the past. The effects also don't look good in motion very well, Tom Hardy looks outside of the effect a lot, which makes the final fight a pretty ugly affair. The whole film builds to a Knull face reveal halfway through the credits, which looked half-rendered. The score for the film was barely present, a constant problem with the Venom films. I also found the soundtrack to be a real whacky assembly of tracks; bouncing from songs that barely had anything to do with the scene to songs that didn't even make the scene funnier.

Chiwetel Ejiofor, who played Strickland, jumped from the Marvel universe smack bang into one of the worst roles of his career; Ejiofor gives such a generic take on a military leader that it winds up falling quite flat. Juno Temple, who played Dr. Teddy Paine, is one of my least favourite characters and performances of the film; her light bubbly persona and backstory fixation are in such odd contrast to the rest of the film. Rhys Ifans, who played Martin, is an incredible waste of Ifans talents and acting ability; Ifans toyed with this nonsense role but failed to really breathe any meaning into this alien obsessed man. Peggy Lu, who played Mrs. Chen, was a nice side character in the other films, but it's just too over the top in this; the whole Las Vegas dance number is quite a weak point in the script. Clark Backo, who played Sadie, is a very forgettable presence for almost the whole film; her push into being a symbiote hero at the end doesn't ever really feel earned. Alanna Ubach, Hala Finley and Dash McCloud, who played Nova, Echo and Leaf respectively, might be the worst family ensemble in a major release film I've seen this year; no one seems too into it and there are no performances that really command a scene. Andy Serkis, who played Knull, might be the worst introduction to what could have been an interesting villain; the character spends more time monologuing exposition than actually being menacing. Reads more Serkis playing Snoke than the King in Black.

Not only the worst Venom film yet, but currently one of my least favourite superhero films of the 2020s. I would give Venom: The Last Dance a 2/10.

Woman Of The Hour

This review may contain spoilers!

 

Woman Of The Hour is a true crime biopic about Rodney Alcala, the Dating Show Killer. Within this film we get glimpses of Alcala's crime spree, his game show encounter with Sheryl Bradshaw and his ultimate arrest in 1979.

 

The quality of the writing for this movie really surprised me in terms of what I got drawn in by. The film has two focal points; one in which we get a random viewpoint into Rodney Alcala's murder spree, and then a glimpse into Sheryl Bradshaw's life in Hollywood. I loved seeing Sheryl's life in this specific time period and the challenges she faces from men in her life. Immediately we see her struggle at the end of an audition as two male producers criticise her and her appearance, ask if she's open to nudity and all the while clearly forgetting her even though she's still in the room. Later we see further moments like this with Sheryl being asked to audition in a swimsuit, or only getting her first acting job as a contestant on a dating game show. Later at the show itself Sheryl's appearance is picked up, she is handed scripted questions that cater to the male contestants, and she is given explicit instructions to act dumb and smile. Throughout the whole film, Sheryl is also put into situations with male friends where she feels forced to give them something like sex, attempts to flee dangerous dates and demonstrates survival tactics known to many women in order to escape a hostile date. Woman Of The Hour isn't the most well-constructed film of 2024, but it drives home some phenomenal feminist themes that are very well written.

 

Daniel Zovatto, who played Rodney, has an unsettling charisma that makes for a good serial killer performance; Zovatto has such duality to him in that he can be likeable while simultaneously feeling dangerous. Kathryn Gallagher, who played Charlie, is perhaps the most interesting portrayal of one of Rodney's victims; Gallagher presents a very grounded figure who you feel like you could bump into right on the street, which made her whole arc all the more tragic for a viewer. Matty Finochio and Geoff Gustafson, who played the Casting Directors, brought one of my favourite scenes in the film, and it comes very early on; the way this pair flip from very brutal to a sort of nice façade is quite entertaining, and they play off Kendrick well.

 

However, the best performance came from Anna Kendrick, who played Sheryl. This is a very grounded protagonist performance for Kendrick, the importance of Sheryl isn't that she has some special unique twist, but rather she could be any woman in LA experiencing the dangers of men. When we meet Sheryl, she is exasperated, she cannot find an acting gig, and she is at the whims of sexist producers in a position of power. She has this drive to break in, but even when she is venting her hopes to her male friend, we see her lose a more everyday battle. The scene in which Kendrick's role awkwardly realises her friend is making moves on her, she lightly reproaches him only to be guilted into sleeping with him is an uncomfortable scene that will resonate with audiences. Kendrick plays a woman who often seems like she has to temper herself for others but is growing frustrated at having to do so. I loved seeing Kendrick's charisma and wit ignite at being able to play Sheryl running away with the show, writing her own questions. However, it is her fear that steadily develops when she finally gets to act one on one across from Zovatto that I really loved.

Where the whole thing doesn't work on this for me is the genre component of this; what is probably intended as the main driving force of the movie. The true crime component just doesn't really work, it often feels weirdly inserted into the film and grapples with the Dating Game aspect which is often presented as the main storyline. Yet the more The Dating Game story plays out, it becomes clear this large component of the film is more of a novelty, an almost danger that resulted in Alcala's infamous moniker. There's even a really unnecessary sub-plot tacked on with a friend of a prior victim recognising Alcala that makes the whole Dating Game storyline begin to feel more fiction than fact. The film jumps around in time a lot to show random killings of Alcala's, this creates a distorted sense of pace. It doesn't really add anything to the Alcala story than to just show him as a monstrous killer. Frankly, there are a lot of narrative choices in this that feel like they are put there to pad the story out and make it fit a commercial runtime.

My other main concern for the film is that as a final finished visual product, it left a lot to be desired. Beyond a few 'postcard perfect' location shots, this is a very simple film that holds easy framing and really make the entire Dating Game set quite a bore to watch. The editing adds to the frenetic and uneven pace, even bringing a slow quality to how the whole thing comes together. The score is barely present at all and fails to push any emotional beats further, even the soundtrack is quite a throwaway thing with barely any noteworthy points to draw focus to.

Tony Hale, who played Ed, is a pretty stereotypical game show host role; he has a bit of a tense point with Kendrick that feels really squandered. Nicolette Robinson and Max Lloyd-Jones, who played Laura and Ken respectively, are a couple that comprise the most useless sub-plot of the film; Robinson's more hysterical performance isn't very engaging and feels quite tacked on to the whole thing. Pete Holmes, who played Terry, is an unsettling friend role that never really makes sense from introduction; I never really get chemistry with him and Kendrick so it's hard to even imagine how their roles became friends. Autumn Best and Kelley Jakie, who played Amy and Sarah respectively, are the more disappointing roles who played noteworthy victims to Alcala; Best plays quite a significant one but struggled to lend much emotion to her role.

At times a compelling insight into the world of Hollywood dominated by male authority and violence, but more often a bizarre true crime biopic that suffers from a weak cast and poor directorial debut for Kendrick. I would give Woman Of The Hour a 4.5/10.

A Mistake

This review may contain spoilers!

 

A Mistake is an adaptation of Carl Shuker's novel of the same name, in which surgeon Liz Taylor comes under scrutiny for alleged medical malpractice. After a sepsis patient Liz was operating on dies to her infection, focus begins to draw to the surgery in which a mistake happened during the operation.

 

This is a very compelling drama, the sort of topic that if you don't have a lot of knowledge on, really makes you yearn to discover a bit more around medical practice. Yet, while the film touts some weighty themes, I found myself personally most invested in the story of Liz Taylor and the downward descent she finds herself upon. Liz is a powerhouse figure when first we meet her, a dominant presence in the operating theory and entirely confident in herself. We note some early points of weakness in her character, she is very arrogant which leads to her pushing her registrar to make an insertion he is unprepared for, and Liz isn't naturally empathetic with her patients and their families. The fallout of her patient's death results in Liz bumbling the post-mortem sit down with the family, leading to her name being dragged through the papers and the hospital itself coming under fire. From here her life only spirals as she is faced with increased monitoring of her surgery results, suspension of her ability to practise, a mite infestation in her home, her girlfriend leaving her and multiple deaths resulting from this fallout. Liz really gets broken throughout this piece and watching her take the broken pieces, acknowledge her blame and fight for others ultimately is a very satisfying character arc to watch.

 

Frank Ilfman's morose score perfectly represents the descent into despair this film takes us on, it's a very sombre piece of music that filters in nicely throughout this grey visual.

 

Simon McBurney, who played Andrew McGrath, is a bit of a moustache twirling antagonist, but he works so neatly for it; McBurney revels in being the bully to Banks all film long. Mickey Sumner, who played Robin, feels quietly exciting and intoxicating, which shows why Banks is so captivated with her; it was nice to see Sumner's own crisis of conscience in staying with Banks during the events of the film. Joel Tobeck, who played Alistair, is a pretty gruff and ready leader of the hospital; Tobeck exudes the management role very well, and he connects neatly with Banks in their first scene. Richard Crouchley, who played Richard, is a very meek and earnest character who desires to do the best; watching Crouchley take his character on a very depressive spiral is arresting to watch. Niwa Whatuira, who played the Bio Ethicist, is a very calculating and hard to like character at times; there's a degree of cold indifference to Whatuira which makes him an incredible on-screen rival for Banks.

 

However, the best performance came from Elizabeth Banks, who played Liz Taylor. This role is a real hardass at times, she can be impassive and wields her intellect like a weapon and a status symbol. Yet, it's clear within this performance that attitude is earned, it comes from skill and hard work well performed. Banks plays the theatre scene in which the operation goes wrong really well, from an arrogant outburst to a laser-like and driven focus. This whole film we see the hard fighter she is within her workplace and outside that space, the way she is emotionally drained or beaten up by those events. I loved seeing how distanced she comes across even in her closest relationships with her girlfriend or sister. The scene in which she has to put down her sister's dog is one of the saddest things you'll see in this film, rivalled closely by her being the first responder to a suicide. Liz Taylor is a strong and impressive role that goes on a wonderful character arc, brought to life by Elizabeth Banks. It's almost enough to excuse the questionable Kiwi accent.

 

A Mistake grapples with some pretty big themes of medical ethics and accountability. It frames a surgery for a sepsis patient in which three incisions and insertions have to be made. Liz takes the first and performs the third incision, but goads her registrar into making the final insertion. He does and fails, leading to damage within the organs; Taylor fixes this and the patient later dies of her infection. The whole film then descends into questioning whether Liz is right about the surgery not being the cause of death, also pondering if that patient should be held against her morbidity stats even though the patient was likely to pass. The film gets lost down the road about how to talk to families about these events and what good accountability looks like in the medical field. The film even asks if we should be tracking and releasing success and morbidity data for each practising surgeon, or if this will just drive good doctors out of work. The whole film is riddled with moral questions, often very precise for the medical profession, but it doesn't have the surety to answer them. Often the film pushes an idea back and forth a little and then events just progress. A Mistake is very tentative around taking a stance at the best of times. This is also a sluggish film, it isn't in any hurry to reach conclusions or dramatic heights despite the nature of the events in the film.

 

The design of this film tries to get creative without much to work with at times, but overall the film is a drab, grey, lifeless thing. There doesn't seem to be much insight into how to draw effective visuals from a bland fake hospital, the Auckland CBD or a basic house set. Overall, the film is edited and coloured to be slow and dull.

 

Fern Sutherland, who played Jessica, is a hard sell as Banks' sister; the pair don't really have much chemistry, even in their big emotional character moment of the film. Rena Owen and Matthew Sunderland, who played Tessa and Owen respectively, are almost cartoonish and over the top in their portrayal of grief; it's an embarrassing contrast to some of the dramatic performers in the same scenes as them. 

In spite of a brilliant cast, this is a film lost in its own complex themes and washed out colour palette. I would give A Mistake a 5.5/10.

Joker: Folie à Deux

This review may contain spoilers!

 

Joker: Folie à Deux is the sequel to 2019's Joker, set only a short time later as the now incarcerated Arthur Fleck has to deal with the looming court battle around whether he will live or die. As the court case draws ever closer, Arthur becomes entangled with another Arkham Asylum inmate, Lee Quinzel. Now that this chaotic duo are united, will Lee bring forth the Joker persona once more to reign terror upon Gotham?

 

The thing I found much easier about this film as a sequel was that I could let go of my misgivings about how this character was used, and if Arthur could really be considered 'Joker'. I acknowledged Todd Phillips was running his own tale, and it just was tied up in branding to get that extra backing. So I found myself a bit more invested in Arthur Fleck and the consequences of his actions from the first film. In fact, some of the very best scenes for me are when Arthur has to confront the horrors of what he has just recently done or experienced; moments like the psych evaluation scene early on were really evocative. But the best scenes were the character witness ones in the trials, particularly that of Gary Puddles. To see the real life horror experienced by someone Joker spared and how he can't reconcile that moment within himself was perhaps the most moving instance of the feature.

 

Todd Phillips' bleak style gets to be tampered with here, he bleeds in the colour of performance musical acts and blends it into the morbid palette of his Gotham. I'm also pleased to hear the original score, that oppressive warble that holds our characters' prisoner in a sort of despair.

 

Brendan Gleeson, who played Jackie Sullivan, is quite grounded as the bully guard who charms and manipulates his prisoners/power; Gleeson can go from moments of being amiable to sudden explosive fits of violence. Zazie Beetz, who played Sophie Dumond, is only back for a scene but it reminds you why she served so well in the first film; Beetz's role comes across as hardened by the events she survived in the original feature. Steve Coogan, who played Paddy Meyers, feels like a real hard hitting tv journalist; Coogan is very shrewd and calculated in his scene with Phoenix and the pair verbally spar quite well. Leigh Gill, who played Gary Puddles, is a role that rivals for the best performance of the feature; the grief and trauma Gill acts out in the wake of surviving a Joker attack is gripping.

 

However, the best performance came from Joaquin Phoenix, who played Arthur Fleck. I didn't really enjoy Phoenix in the first film, it felt like he was measuring up to the role and pushing some weird behavioural choices for the character. The sequel seems to have drawn new life from Phoenix, he's a bit more relaxed and aloof in the role, which is quite freeing. Fleck seems impassive when we reconnect with him, he's found a blank middle where he doesn't have to be Joker to survive. Watching Phoenix split and break his role as he pantomimes the character's dead mother is a bleak peak into his mind. The revelry and wonder he portrays when he first encounters Lee (Gaga) is a moment of fantasy that builds and pours through the whole narrative. I loved seeing Phoenix ham it up in the Joker persona, building to the chaos we all expect. It was equally interesting watching that dismantle within him, as he loses the ability to be the killer everyone expects of him. It's a gentler, more vulnerable Arthur, but one who wouldn't be this well-defined without all the history of the first film.

 

Joker: Folie à Deux is often a poor sequel, but it started out on shaky foundations. This film is a constant reminder that we're watching Todd Phillips' Arthur Fleck, anything resembling Joker is a bad costume and clown make-up. The idea that the film ignites by a sort of manipulated love story, in which Lee and Arthur push each other to the extremes of chaos in order to reignite the Joker persona, is a bit absurd. It feels like another expected moment, the two wild crazy loners ignite their worst selves together, we've had the Joker and Harley Quinn relationship painted up and glamorised weakly before. Another time feels excessive. It becomes hard to account for Lee, the why of her is pretty underwhelming, and it doesn't drive the story in any new unexpected direction. Ultimately, the film becomes Arthur pining for a romance that feels poorly earned through transportative musical fantasies. The musical genre elements of the film are poorly constructed and fail to blend well with the fantasies seen in the original Joker. Overall, this film puts a lot of emphasis on the flashy storyline, Joker getting romantic but fails to have much fun with what could have been that boiling pot court drama. The conclusion of this film does what every Joker story knows how to do; gently reminds us the Joker is entirely replaceable and the guy we've been following for two films couldn't live up to the idea forever. It's a cop out move, and it undercuts a lot of the work trying to make this a long form, engaging Joker narrative. The film also crudely inserts a prison rape scene for no reason than to show brutality. The Joker films are edgy and dark, but the purpose behind them is often very shallow.

 

I was entirely put to sleep by the pacing on this feature, the editing was sluggish and often lingered past the point it needed to. Worse than that was the soundtrack and musical numbers of the film. The covers chosen were a very jumbled mish mash that had not so subtle links to Joker motifs. While Lady Gaga sung well for most of her songs, the numbers themselves weren't very inspired, while Phoenix underperformed quite notably in the singing component.

 

Lady Gaga, who played Lee Quinzel, has been on a real rough streak with roles of late; there is just no emotion behind her line delivery in this one, and it makes for an uninteresting lead. Catherine Keener, who played MaryAnne Stewart, was quite a generic lawyer role that made little impression; Keener just didn't define her role's feelings nor engaged with other characters much beyond a surface level. Harry Lawtey, who played Harvey Dent, might be one of the worst on-screen depictions of Dent we'll ever have; Lawtey's prosecutor tends to drone and lacks any kind of charisma.

 

A fitting end to one of the worst written Jokers for the screen, maybe now we'll finally stop chasing Heath Ledger's shadow. I would give Joker: Folie à Deux a 3.5/10.

The Wild Robot

This review may contain spoilers!

 

The Wild Robot is an adaptation of Peter Brown's book of the same name, in which a service robot called Roz winds up shipwrecked on a wild island. Roz has to learn to find her place on this strange island, make friends with the local wildlife and raise a young gosling. 

I used to love Dreamworks quite a bit growing up, they had some classic features that stood out in the animated film industry. The past few years have seen some less desirable new entries, including a range of sequels that felt unnecessary. So when I tell you that The Wild Robot is Dreamworks not only at its very best, but making something that is in my opinion a bit of a masterpiece - just know that I'm doing my best not to exaggerate. This film is a beautiful story about a stranger outside their element. Roz is a service android, tailored to perform the needs of human owners and built for civilisation. She isn't really built for the wild 'fight to survive' nature of the island she is stranded upon. However, when she breaks protocol to learn the language of the animals, tries to work with them and even raises Brightbill after accidentally causing the death of his family, she becomes a part of this wild community of critters. The scene in which she saves all the creatures of the island from the harsh winter and creates a truce in her hut is one of my favourite moments in the film. I also think there's quite a beautiful story here around being a mother and learning how to be. Roz is quite impassive as a service android initially and learns how to raise Brightbill; but more than this she learns how to love the young gosling who is her son. She develops an unconditional sort of love that places the gosling before her own needs, very literally in some scenes, and it becomes this incredible metaphor for motherhood. There's another great theme here around nature vs. artificial; the technical world versus the natural one. Roz has to reorient herself and learn many more lessons than she is inbuilt with to function at the island. When Vontra invades later we see the uncaring carnage unleashed by the machines, which contrasts with the island itself where death occurs as a way of the cycle of life, but it is otherwise a community holding itself together.

The animation for this film is beautiful, certainly some of my favourite in a recent Dreamworks film. There is a lot of emphasis on mapping a beautiful landscape on the island; from the gorgeous crashing waves, the dominant presence of snow, a wall of butterflies or even the dangling ever-present vines, this is a film with some exceptional and excellent scenery. The character designs are very cool too; all the animals have such personality blended into their design, and the light work used with Roz is dazzling. The score for the film is quite compelling, with some very emotional points woven in there. I also have to shout out, 'Kiss the Sky' by Maren Morris, a wonderfully uplifting track that tracks the journey of Brightbill coming to fly confidently thanks to Roz and the wild island community.

 

Pedro Pascal, who voiced Fink, is in a new favourite role immediately with this sly fox; I like the storyteller quality of this character and how Pascal so beautifully depicted it. Kit Connor, who voiced Brightbill, is one of those plucky and earnest roles and fits neatly into the film; Connor takes Brightbill on a great journey from being the odd one out to a leader amongst the geese. Bill Nighy, who voiced Longneck, is such a great leader figure in this; Nighy just feels innately kind and has this role that just uplifts others. Stephanie Hsu, who voiced Vontra, is very sickly sweet while also being pretty ruthless as an antagonist; weirdly close to her sound in Everything Everywhere All At Once at times. Matt Berry, who voiced Paddler, is hilarious as this cranky super-serious beaver; Berry was one of my favourite comedic points in the film, and he also delivered a role you'd fall in love with. Ving Rhames, who voiced Thunderbolt, just sounds powerful in this; Rhames has the presence to embody one of the most formidable fliers on the wild island. Mark Hamill, who voiced Thorn, is a bit of a surprise voice but one I really liked; Hamill as the big and gruff peace-making bear is a nice point in the film. Catherine O'Hara, who voiced Pinktail, is one of the funniest performers I've been watching this year; her less than conventional mother role in this led to some hilarious scenes.

However, the best performance came from Lupita Nyong'o, who voiced Roz. This has been a phenomenal year for Nyong'o, with this incredible voice work paired with an unmatched performance in A Quiet Place: Day One, she has been on her A game. This film sees Nyong'o's delivery start as very light, with a lean towards a monotonous cadence. Yet she does such a good job of transitioning her character into something much greater. We start seeing these more emotional inflections, we hear her starting to feel love or worry for another, or even pleading peace amongst the critters. Roz is a beautiful character because her role is learning to feel emotions so that she can become something truly good for the wild island. It's a very sweet role, a fascinating protagonist and some great work by Nyong'o.

There are a lot of times when this film is quite comfortable in taking it slow, making the moments of just living on the island drag out at points. I also think it would have been nice to sit with a couple of the side characters a little longer just to make those connections stronger for the audience. Vontra was a great antagonist, but the big action moment with all the bad robots invading the island felt a bit generic after such an otherwise evenly-paced and gentle tone film.

 

The Wild Robot is currently my top animated film for 2024, and it is a hard one to beat. I would give The Wild Robot an 8.5/10.

The Substance

This review may contain spoilers!

 

The Substance is a body horror film about former movie/TV icon, Elisabeth Sparkles. When Elisabeth is informed that her show is due to be cancelled and her star has fallen, she turns to mysterious science to reclaim the limelight. Enter The Substance, an underground pharmaceutical regimen that creates a younger duplicate of the host, or Matrix. So when Sue springs forth from Elisabeth, the chance for fame comes to life once more...if the pair can keep the balance and act as one.

 

This film really does not hold back the punches, the moment we open with a major TV network executive called Harvey, you know this is a film that is going to go for the jugular thematically. What I admire so much about The Substance is that it actually has quite a lot to say around women in Hollywood, female body image, generational relationships and the dangers/pressures of beauty modification. This film follows an actress who is an award winner, once a film actress, who now does an exercise show for television. When a male producer slams her age and appearance, slating these points as dismissive reasons for her show's cancellation, it creates a spiral that leads to a hunger for the height of fame once more. The film is really pointed about how Hollywood discards women after a certain age and chases after younger actresses in a very predatory manner. There are also strong swipes at the way a woman is expected to look and the perceptions of success and desire that come with it. The dual nature of Elisabeth and Sue is interesting; it discusses woman to woman generational relationships quite well. Elisabeth yearns to be what Sue currently is, but despises that she gets all the glamour while Elisabeth continues to decay and fade. Sue on the other end is disgusted by Elisabeth and dismisses her, only truly missing her point of origin after Elisabeth is gone. The significant thing about a film called The Substance is a commentary on beauty being attained unnaturally, a little science versus nature if you will. The Substance is easy to abuse, and it consumes those who take it; in a modern age of surgeries and Ozempic the running commentary here feels very relevant.

The style for The Substance is a tough watch at times but incredibly striking. Wide shots stretch out the perspective of long corridors, cameras turn unsteady the moment a character breaks into rushed movement and we get these unsettling close-ups that show the gruesome truth behind many characters and their actions, for example Harvey's shrimp eating methods. The editing is really slick, often travelling through a scene at a smooth pace that makes the pacing never once drop tempo. There isn't much of a score, but the central theme is eerie, a bit retrograde and entirely fitting for this grounded sci-fi horror.

 

Margaret Qualley, who played Sue, is dazzling in this rising star role; Qualley has a mean or even selfish streak here that marks her as antagonistic towards her older protagonist. Demi Moore, who played Elisabeth Sparkle, is so charismatic and likeable in this that it is hard to see her role fall so far; Moore's wild moods at feeling passed over and then later used are gripping to watch.

However, the best performance came from Dennis Quaid, who played Harvey. This is a really truly repugnant role at any given moment, a clear Harvey Weinstein sit-in/parody. From the moment Quaid first walks into frame to piss at a urinal, it is clear this TV executive is wound up and cantankerous. He holds little regard for those who work for him and holds a tight grasp over his stars. Quaid's disgusting monologue about what happens to women in Hollywood as they get older is gross but rings sincere to the male-led industry. I also found his hunger for barely legal young talent to be terrifying at times and a spotlight on another, more predatory side of Hollywood that likes to rear its head. Quaid can be quite light and silly at times, playful in a manner that seems random and dangerous because you're waiting for that exploitative exec to emerge again. I hated Harvey, but I loved every scene with Dennis Quaid in it.

The Substance is a strange film for me, technically, at every point it holds something that makes it quite good. But for half the film I wanted to leave, I wanted to run and forget all about it. I've watched some horror that I've really loved despite it pushing my comfort levels before, but this just felt like it wanted to push the envelope more than it wanted to sell the story by the end. The conclusion of the feature is grotesque, it revels in being fleshy body horror pornography at times. It had said a lot of what it needed to say and so prioritised the angle it had steadily been leaning more and more into: the monstrous. Making this film such a display of gross prosthetics and repugnant creature make-up just felt like the film was milking the discomfort angle to drive a point home that had already made itself known. I couldn't sit in the theatre by the end feeling like I had watched something entirely good because it wanted me to look away, which is a real failure for a piece of visual art.

An absolute grotesquerie of a film that I wanted to flee from at times, in spite of some very impressive themes and design. I would give The Substance a 6.5/10.

Transformers One

This review may contain spoilers!

 

Transformers One is an animated prequel following Orion Pax (Optimus Prime) and D-16 (Megatron), miner bot friends who spend their days digging for Energon. Orion Pax is relentless in his search for the missing Matrix of Leadership, which will allow the planet of Cybertron to return to its former glory. However, none of the Transformers are prepared for the dark truth surrounding their home.

 

The story at hand here is quite fun and really welcoming for new fans, while also having some cool surprises for classic Transformers fans. It was fresh to place the story with a much younger Optimus and Megatron, who have a long way to journey to the figures we know and love/hate. Watching Orion as this young, hot-headed champion for the people sets him up nicely for an arc about learning what it takes to be a leader. Orion moves through this film in a manner motivated by being good and acting for others. In a neat contrast, D-16 is happy in his life, content with living under the rule of his hero: Sentinel Prime. However, D-16 is confronted with some dark truths that lead him down a darker path of hurt and betrayal; by the end of the film, he can't align himself with the Cybertron that exists around him. Linking the origin of Orion and D-16 so neatly, in a way that forces you to see a dear friendship crumble is heartbreaking and satisfying. It was also extremely satisfying to see a feature set on Cybertron, an element fans have been dying to see on the big screen for a long time.

This film does for Transformers what Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse did for Spider-Man, entirely revitalises how the audience engages with the characters they know and love through the eyes of animation. I cannot stress enough how much I enjoy the designs of the characters, they are very expressive and have a lot of fluid movement for robots. I thought the way this film captured action was incredible; the final fight scene has so many incredible elements in any given frame that really sets some high stakes and puts some major blockbusters to shame. Likewise, I loved the variation in animated figures and settings in the major race scene. Yet, what really stood out for me was how the surface of Cybertron was designed; the moving landscape and the technological/biological blending was gorgeous. The hard work to make one of the finer looking features for animation in 2024 is only complemented by Brian Tyler's excellent score; the music here is adventurous and bold. The tracks in this film take you on a dramatic journey few Transformers films have previously achieved.

 

Brian Tyree Henry, who voiced D-16, really gives his all in this and marks an exceptional turn to villainy; the descent from mild good nature into bouts of uncontrollable rage are impressive to say the least. Steve Buscemi, who voiced Starscream, is an inspired point of casting; Buscemi really nails the power-hungry wheedling voice of the future Decepticon. Laurence Fishburne, who voiced Alpha Trion, invokes that ancient wisdom and strength of a Prime; Fishburne really comes off as this monolithic presence who once stood at the top of Cybertron as a great leader. Jon Hamm, who voiced Sentinel Prime, is quite a charismatic and inspiring leader figure at first pass; yet it is a lot of fun when Hamm gets to turn towards a smug and vicious antagonist. Vanessa Liguori, who voiced Airachnid, is quite creepy as the secondary antagonist of the film; Liguori's voice makes Airachnid innately scary and intimidating.

 

However, the best performance came from Chris Hemsworth, who voiced Orion Pax. I'll freely admit I had my doubts about Hemsworth, I really didn't think he could step into Peter Cullen's shoes at all. But from the start, Hemsworth defines this performance as being a little different; Orion sounds more youthful and a bit fresher in his years. This is a character who gets up to trouble and has to swerve his way out of it through quick talking and pleas. Orion is so passionate and earnest about the future of his people, he wants more than just mine work for all bots. Seeing Hemsworth present Orion as someone who believes in an idea to someone who leads people through his morals and ideas is quite compelling. The hurt and betrayal in the final act towards Megatron is a very impressive feat from Hemsworth and Tyree Henry both. I also really felt those final couple of scenes solidified Hemsworth's voice work, it felt like that point of transition from Pax to Prime happened perfectly. 

This film starts a little sloppy, it seems unsure if it wants to present a dramatic fun animated story or if it wants to really dumb it down for the younger audience. There are so many moments in which we have some goofy gag or a run of not super funny jokes because the film feels the need to play things safe. I really think D-16's tilt into antagonist comes very fast, the moment he gets his cog we get some very extreme behaviour shifts and I don't think that turn was worked on hard enough. Likewise, the bond between Orion and D-16 can be pushed back into the focal point quite abruptly sometimes, just to really drum home the eventual betrayal for the audience. It feels a little heavy-handed and obvious in places. The points of exposition and world building got excessive in places too, it was difficult to juggle the various ancient Primes, alongside invading species or mysterious planetary entities.

Scarlett Johansson, who played Elita-1, is quite a grating voice that doesn't sit well in the main cast; I found Elita-1 to be an annoying presence with little reason to partner in with the rest of the protagonists. Keegan-Michael Key, who voiced B-127, doesn't really do anything to play a character; it just feels like Key riffing some average comedic dialogue in his usual voice.

Animation finds the key and opens the door for a new era of Transformers in film. I would give Transformers One an 8/10.