Transformers: The Last Knight

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Well I never thought we'd get worse than Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen but here we are. I would give Transformers: The Last Knight a 2/10.

This film is good for a laugh when the comedy is coming a bit more naturally; normally when Wahlberg and Hopkins actually take the time to have fun with the script or go on their own tangents. The cinematography for the film was pretty good; the fast chase sequences are entertaining to watch and the enormous sets that the action takes place in are very well captured. The special effects are well done, the CGI of the various Transformer characters looks great as does the landscape of Cybertron. The score for the film sounds great; not only does it swell and have immense impact for the action sequences but it manages to land some fun comedic timing too.

Mark Wahlberg, who played Cade Yeager, does a reasonable job as the lead for this film; his loose and witty banter makes him likeable and he has some great interactions with the rest of the cast. Isabela Moner, who played Izabella, is a really tough and fierce role with a lot of heart; Moner's character has a very real bond with the Transformers characters which makes her one of the more refreshing faces to watch. Peter Cullen, who voiced Optimus Prime, still manages to capture the heroic leader perfectly and has many rousing monologues near the end of the film; Cullen takes Prime to a darker place for a brief time in this film and it's nice to see the character as an antagonist for a portion of the film. Frank Welker, who voiced Megatron, captures the dark intensity of this role quite well; he feels very violent in the feature just through Welker's voice work alone. Jim Carter, who voiced Cogman, is quite a new comedic presence to the franchise; I greatly enjoyed listening to Carter's random tirades as his character moved from witticisms to outbursts.

However the best performance came from Anthony Hopkins, who played Sir Edmund Burton. I really enjoyed this performance because it could have felt over-encumbered with exposition but Hopkins really manages to place himself as a wise storyteller and have you hooked in his scenes. I also quite enjoyed how erratic Hopkins was in his role, he seemed sharp as a tack in some scenes but a bit mad in others. Hopkins was having enormous amounts of fun throughout the feature, slipping out some good one-liners and cursing his head off which made him feel very much like a character from the Transformers universe. I really enjoyed the manner in which Hopkins' death scene was handled; it was a quick moment but it held a lot of gravitas and the film wasn't really the same without his presence anymore.

The Transformers movies have always varied in terms of how much plot there was and how effectively this plot was portrayed; in this film to describe the feature as having a plot would be a blatant lie on my behalf. When the feature starts you are placed in this world that has been shaken up again and some rushed exposition tries to help you fill in the gaps but it's a very confusing introduction that leaves you uncertain of how exactly this all fits into the films we've seen before. The entire first act is a building conflict between Cade's Autobot teams and Megatron's Decepticons; however quite annoyingly at the end of this big climax Cade inexplicably leaves to start what is presumably the main plot of the film. At this point not only do the eventswithin the film not make a lot of sense but you feel as if you've wasted forty minutes on characters you won't see again for at least another half hour. By this point we meet up with Sir Edmund and have to listen to a LOT of exposition, which is even more on top of the ton we got fed at the start. The entire 'Earth's secret order' storyline has the most potential of the film but it's let down by the amount of information you need to understand plus the fact that it becomes a sort of 'chosen one' story around this Vivian character. All this time the film has tried pushing cameos and subplots to make things more interesting but it only serves to weigh down the run time; characters like Colonel Lennox come back and there's an entire subplot given to Agent Simmons which has very little payoff. Throughout the feature the threat of Quintessa looms but she's quite a generic 'destroy the Earth' villain; her turning Optimus Prime evil could have been good if that subplot had lasted more than ten minutes. The big final confrontation is a messy culimation of all the storylines coming together and it fails to becomes cohesive, most would have checked out at this stage anyway and you're really only there for the nice looking action. The comedy throughout the film has it's moments but the franchise is still let down by the need to insert swearing or 'tongue in cheek' material, the use of this has only ever cheapened these films and held them back from being as entertaining as they could be. The editing for this film is terrible, we cut between shots that are of different aspect ratios during scenes; it looks like the person who pieced this together didn't know how to make a film and it felt like the work of an amateur filmmaker.

Josh Duhamel, who played Colonel William Lennox, is a returning role that really does nothing throughout this entire film; he basically chases Wahlberg around and scowls a whole bunch but has very little other reason to be there. Laura Haddock, who played Vivian Wembley, is pushed into the role of Wahlberg's love interest very early on and it's not executed well at all; furthermore Haddock never makes you care enough about her character that you're interested in her 'chosen one' status. Santiago Cabrera, who played Santos, is another token military role that you're quick to forget about; Cabrera has this real self-righteous attitude throughout the feature which would be great is you knew who his character was or even what his organisation was supposed to be. Jerrod Carmichael, who played Jimmy, is supposedly in this film for comedic relief but he doesn't really draw a laugh from you once; Carmichael screams and gets progressively louder as the film goes on but he just feels like background noise. Stanley Tucci and Liam Garrigan, who played Merlin and Arthur respectively, are these very out of place roles that feel inserted into the film; Tucci being Merlin in the feature is especially baffling considering his portrayal of a corporate CEO in the previous film. Gemma Chan, who played Quintessa, has to be one of the most generic Transformers antagonists to date; her drive to destroy Earth/Unicron is only ever briefly touched on and the background behind her role never explained. John Turturro, who played Agent Simmons, doesn't really feel like he belongs in these movies anymore; he's placed in his own subplot that makes him feel apart from the action and more of an afterthought than an actual role within the film. Tony Hale, who played JPL Engineer, has to be one of the dullest performers to ever handle exposition in the Transformers franchise; the amount of screen time he was given in relation to the final act of the film wasn't really justified considering the significance of his role. Benjamin Flores Jr., Juliocesar Chavez, Samuel Parker and Daniel Iturriaga, who played the Kids, were a really weak manner of introducing Moner to the film; Parker especially came off as creepy while the others were poorly handled attempts at comedic relief. Erik Aadahl, who voiced Bumblebee, was a bit of an anti-climactic reveal of Bumblebee's voice; there wasn't much tone there and might have well just been one of the radio bytes for all the impact it made. John Goodman, who voiced Hound, was a bit too over the top in his performance; this rough and tough autobot was very present in action scenes but had little role to play otherwise. Ken Watanabe, who voiced Drift, still feels like a caricature of a martial arts role which isn't at all surprising considering Bay's tendency towards cheap humour; Watanabe is rarely used in this film and you certainly forget that he's there. Steve Buscemi, who voiced Daytrader, is this snivelling new addition of a character who you just don't really come to know or understand; Buscmei's sudden introduction into these films is a real blink and you'd miss him moment. Omar Sy, who voiced Hot Rod, is purely there for his accent; honestly the amount of French accent jokes that are centred around this character are cringeworthy. Reno Wilson, who voiced Mohawk, is a real throw away minor antagonist; this is a Decepticon we've never seen before and are in no hurry to see again. John DiMaggio, who voiced Nitro Zeus and Crosshairs, makes for a completely forgettable antagonist while he's voicing Zeus; as Crossharis you have to wonder if such an antagonistic Autobot has much place in the film. Tom Kenny, who voiced Wheels, is one of the worst characters in the entire film; Kenny's work on this lewd role really doesn't exten much beyond creating some of the worst comedy imaginable.

Rough Night

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Well they certainly got the 'rough' part right, what a piece of work that was. I would give Rough Night a 3/10.

This film was actually quite clever in how it flipped the stereotypes within a comedy film; we saw the women get up to some crazy and absolutely ridiculous antics while the men were more in touch and driven by their emotions. It was quite fun and an unexpected take on what has become a very stale genre. The soundtrack for the feature really has some great comedic timing, probably the best part was Kate McKinnon singing "We Killed A Man" during the credits.

Scarlett Johansson, who played Jess, made for a fairly good lead; what she lacked in comedic experience she made up for in bringing a ton of emotional range and impact to scenes. Jillian Bell, who played Alice, was quite the opposite from Johansson in regards to her ability as a comedic performer; however in saying that Bell provided a great deal of insight into her role in the card scene. Kate McKinnon, who played Pippa, is quite an oddball role that brings out some of the funnier moments throughout the film; her entire character revolving around Australian mannerisms is a very effective gag.

However the best performance came from Paul W. Downs, Patrick Carlyle, Eric Andre, Bo Burnham and Hasan Minhaj, who played Peter, Patrick, Jake, Tobey and Joe respectively. These guys all really seemed to have a lot of fun playing characters who were more emotionally centred; these were not the guys who did a ton of drugs and then get involved in some ridiculous story, rather these guys were entirely driven by validating the romance subplot. I liked the very pointed jokes around wine tasting and journeying across the country to declare love for another, it was quite intentionally over the top and brought forth some of the better scenes of the film. Downs in particular deserves high praise for the very charismatic role he played, the audience is in love with him in no time at all.

This film might shake up the stereotypes of a comedy film but it doesn't manage to shake what has been plaguing most American comedy films in recent years. The humour is really bad, mostly guided by excessive sexual or drug-related humour that's 'tongue in cheek' just for the shock value. Beyond this the story itself really isn't much to watch; the backstories for the characters have very little impact later on and what is set up throughout the feature often doesn't come to a satisfying ending. The idea of a bacholerette party gone awry and hilarity then ensues feels pretty stale, nothing about the concept screams 'new'. Probably the big issue with this film was when the 'stripper' gets killed and you see the pool of blood; not only does this remove the comedic tone from the film but it makes the central characters extremely hard to like after this. The cinematography is quite simple which isn't particularly surprising for a comedy film; over the duration of the feature the sets feel woefully tiny and claustrophobic. The editing was another major let down, the cutting was slow and the pacing of the film followed suit.

Zoe Kravitz, who played Blair, is quite a stone cold character and the hardest to like of the main cast; Kravitz didn't really seem to have much personality in the film and certainly lacked chemistry with Glazer. Ilana Glazer, who played Frankie, was quite a tough role who played the tongue in cheek element a little too hard; Glazer never grabbed the attention of the scenes she was in and she didn't seem particularly committed to the film itself. Ty Burrell and Demi Moore, who played Pietro and Lea respectively, were just there to be creepy and inevitably to make a ton of sex jokes; it's a shame because these two are very big talents but their roles in this film don't reflect that at all. Enrique Murciano and Dean Winters, who played Detective Ruiz and Detective Frazier respectively, are very rushed and forgettable antagonists; Murciano and Winters are pushed into the final act quite suddenly as a not so transparent way to wrap up some glaring plot holes. Colton Haynes, who played Real Scotty, just isn't suited to the comedy genre at all; he's really there because he physically matches the stripper look they're going for but he brings little else to this film. Karan Soni, who played Raviv, is really only at the start to deliver exceptionally forgettable exposition; later in the film when Soni appears again he lays the comedy on thick in a pretty crinegeworthy manner.

The Mummy

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This is probably not the start to the Dark Universe that Universal was hoping for. I would give The Mummy a 4/10.

This film has some good moments of comedy scattered throughout, it keeps the tone light and makes it pretty easy to like a lot of the main characters. When it comes to the story The Mummy is really at it's best when it's embracing the horror element; seeing zombies staggering about, rats swarming the main character and Ahmanet herself throughout the film really sets that otherworldly element the film strives for. The big twist at the end when Nick makes the choice to stab himself and take on the power of Set is a great twist, it's only topped by the effect of the twist in which we see Nick turn monstrous after resurrecting Jenny. The cinematography for the film looks pretty good, especially in the action and chase sequences. The special effects likewise add to this, with the animations for Ahmanet's mummified form and the great sandstorms being particularly impressive. The score for the film is quite haunting and adds to that dark tone, it also has the a mysterious quality to it which draws you into the otherworldly realm they've constructed.

Russell Crowe, who played Dr. Henry Jekyll, is quite an enigmatic figure who really introduces you to the Dark Universe quite well; Crowe also does a good job in capturing his character's dual personality of Hyde in a particularly intense and violent scene. Sofia Boutella, who played Ahmanet, really makes her mark as the film's antagonist; her bone-chilling line delivery makes her a figure out of a horror film. Jake Johnson, who played Chris Vail, is quite a strong comedic presence despite the circumstances around his character; Johnson develops a really hilarious chemistry with Cruise that's entertaining to watch.

However the best performance came from Tom Cruise, who played Nick Morton. Cruise really pulls out all the stops to bring to life a really likeable leading role that carries the film for most of the time. You can't help but enjoy his cocky self-assuredness that lead him into the middle of a Taliban fortress or that has him barrelling into an army of undead. Cruise isn't playing a role that is outwardly very moral, in fact he's a bit duplicitous and without a doubt a con man; however by the film's end you'll see how Cruise develops his role to be a very moral and caring figure. The scenes in which he wrestles against Set's control over him are well done, especially once he realises he has gained the ability over life and death.

This is a film that is very exposition heavy, it's worn down by long detailed descriptions of backstory and plot points without a lot in between. This form of storytelling largely comes from the Dark Universe franchise that is being built up around this feature, sadly because there's too much time spent creating a franchise feeling and not enough attention given to the main storyline you don't feel as invested as you could. The film tends to rush through the most exciting aspects and doesn't understand how to execute the more interesting twists; such as Vail as a hallucination, the relationship between Ahmanet and Nick, Nick's transformation into a godlike creature and Jekyll's dual personality: Hyde. Overall it's a film that should have stayed with Ahmanet for longer and built her up as a threat rather than just lace so many extra plot points between the moments of conflict with her.

Annabelle Wallis, who played Jenny Halsey, was such a stiff lead with no chemistry next to Cruise; Wallis had a lot of importance placed on her role in this film and didn't rise meet the expectations that come with that. Courtney B. Vance, who played Colonel Greenway, gives one of the most stereotypical military leader performances that you could expect; Vance is in this film to justify the setting at the beginning of the feature and he's very quickly killed off once he's served his purpose.

Baywatch

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This is a film that doesn't really even bother to construct a plot until about halfway through the feature. I would give Baywatch a 2/10.

This film is good when it's focused upon the lifeguards who are over the top in how they guard their beach; seeing this film as some big slapstick crime comedy worked in places. The film also manages to corner the awkward comedy quite well; especially capitalising on one of the funnier characters, Ronnie, who breaks out into wild dancing and insistently begs not be stuck in the 'tech guy' role. The cinematography for the film is also pretty good for a comedy feature, chase scenes and big rescue operations are particularly impressive to watch unfold.

Dwayne Johnson, who played Mitch Buchannon, makes a fairly decent lead for this film; Johnson plays a very over the top role quite well. Zac Efron, who played Matt Brody, is making quite the impression as a comedic performer; his hot shot cocky role is really suited to Efron and comes quite naturally to him. Ilfenesh Hadera, who played Stephanie Holden, is a really tough presence in this film; Hadera really plays off Johnson well and is a solid leading presence throughout the feature. Jon Bass, who played Ronnie Greenbaum, is one of the strongest comedic performers in the entire film; Bass has some real range and knows how to commit completely to a joke. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, who played Sgt. Ellerbee, has a fun rivalry with the Baywatch performers over the course of the film; his stern back and forth dialogue makes for some fun exchanges.

However the best performance came from Priyanka Chopra, who played Victoria Leeds. Chopra clearly has the chops to play a great villain and she knows it. In all her scenes she carefully toys with and manipulates her adversaries, you believe that she's quite a sharp antagonist. Chopra has an intensity to her that makes her dangerous, and you are convinced that she'd kill any of the opponents which stand in her way. The comedy that is constructed for this role is quite dry and sarcastic but it really fits Chopra and you'll get many well delivered moments from her throughout the film.

This film really struggles to have anything that you can really describe as plot; the second half of the feature focuses upon the drug ring bust by the Baywatch team but it takes forever to get there. The first half of the film can loosely be described as character introduction and relationship building but it takes too long and feels purposeless, many of the scenes seem to be gags and never serve the story. The second half of the feature, while having a story, fails to deliver anything new or with much thought put into it. The comedy used throughout the film is riddled with gratuitous references, dick jokes and cheap lowbrow humour; it's hard to find a comedic line that doesn't feel like it was written by a struggling stand up comedian. The characters themselves are very stereotypical and don't have much to them, it's very clear this is a film with minimal effort put into it. The editing of the film looks sloppy, the cuts between shots really pull you out of this lackluster comedy by revealing the poor set up of cameras. The soundtrack for the film is riddled with the latest top 40 songs of the past two years and these aren't really constructed in a way that they do much for the film.

Alexandra Daddario, who played Summer Quinn, is one of the most forgettable actresses in the film; Daddario proves that she has nothing to provide to the film in terms of her character or chemistry with other cast members. Kelly Rohrbach, who played CJ Parker, is quite usually the butt of the typical sexy Baywatch lifeguard jokes; however what really makes Rohrbach's performance so bad is how absolutely cringeworthy the romance subplot is between her and Bass. Hannibal Buress, who played Dave The Tech, is an amazing comedic performer who is absolutely wasted in this film; Buress has a severe lack of screen time which is a shame because he would have been a good fixture in this film. Rob Huebel, who played Captain Thorpe, has very little screen presence; his 'big reveal' as another antagonist is a shock to no one and poorly portrayed by Huebel. Amin Joseph and Jack Kesy, who played Frankie and Leon respectively, were exceptionally generic henchmen roles; the film tried to build them up as comedic characters but didn't really give them the screen time to make this effective. Oscar Nunez, who played Councilman Rodriguez, is completely forgettable against Chopra's performance; this is a very stereotypical corrupt politician role who is only really in the film to be killed off. David Hasselhoff and Pamela Anderson, who played The Mentor and Casey Jean Parker respectively, are cameos that feel very out of place in a Baywatch film as bad as this; they give it a go but their presence doesn't really serve or even fit the film that much. Clem Cheung, who played Murray Chen, is more of a plot point than a character; Cheung is quite content being shoved into the background like a prop in his scenes.  

Wonder Woman

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Well at least it wasn't as bad as Suicide Squad. I would give Wonder Woman a 4.5/10.

This film serves out a really interesting character study of Wonder Woman, from the overprotection of her mother at a young age to the hard rigour of training she is later subjected to in life. I found Diana to be an origin story unlike most; she would often feel very naive and grounded in absolute morality which is quite refreshing,the way in which she interacts with the world of mankind is quite a bit of fun entertainment too. There's a scene in this film that is absolutely perfect where she's told there's a line which she cannot possibly cross and then despite this Diana steps out and marches across an open battlefield, deflecting mortars and bullets. It's a big scene for showing what is at the heart of this film and despite a lot of the feature lacking this scene does good work. The film addresses it's wartime setting quite well, often putting injured soldiers and battered civilians under a spotlight. The score for the film is great, I especially loved the use of Zimmer's Wonder Woman theme.

Gal Gadot, who played Diana, is  great central protagonist for this film; I love the amount of heart Gadot puts into this character, it truly makes her feel like a purely good heroine. Said Taghmaoui, who played Sameer, is an especially witty role in this film; Tagmaoui has some great chenistry with Pine and the pair play off one another well. Ewen Bremner, who played Charlie, is quite a gruff character who's a bit crude when first you meet him; but Bremner puts in the hard work to show how afflicted by war his character is and the gentler side to his role that exists. Lucy Davis, who played Etta, was an incredibly fun bit of comedic relief; Davis brought a lot of carefully placed wit into scenes that needed a bit of livening up. Lilly Aspell, who played Young Diana, was a really cute take on our central protagonist; I loved how headstrong and determined she was right from the start.

However the best performance came from Chris Pine, who played Steve Trevor. You can't help but like Pine in this film, he has a cockiness and bravado about him that makes him quite a charismatic role. I really enjoyed his chemistry with Gadot and the discussions they had around human morality and war. Pine presented a truly heroic figure who charged into battle and showed a real strategic eye to conflict. There were plenty of moments of intense emotion from him too, especially in the scenes where he was bound by the lasso or dancing with Diana. Pine absolutely steals the show in this feature and if there's one character who will stay with you above all else after viewing it'll be Steve Trevor.

This film was really solid for the first two acts but the final act of the film brings it right down to the level that I've come to expect from a DC feature. Throughout the film there had been a strong focus upon human morality and Diana as a champion of what is naturally good in the world; yet in the final act this gets really distorted and the idea she begins to champion is that love triumphs over all, with her love for Steve being thrust into the foreground as opposed to being a nice background subplot. Furthermore we're introduced to the film's major villain, Ares, who has had a lot of set up for the rather tragic reality. Somewhere amongst Ares deluge of lines you start figuring out that his motive this entire time has been to get Wonder Woman on his side, a trope as old and convenient as the hills. Ares is the type of villain that the film banks a lot on and he's far too generic for a lot of what the film has been trying to say up until this point; it's a let down to see Wonder Woman go off on a tangent to fight him while Steve and the others go and face a completely separate threat. The manner in which the German soldiers act as if they've been released from an evil spell once the bad guy has been dealt with is a real eye-roll moment too; the film had some great messages about war and human morals and taking such a simple route really compromised what it was trying to say. The Amazons at the start of the feature also deal out a heavy amount of exposition and we keep revisiting this exposition throughout the film; the pacing feels slow and bogged down with a lot of information and many more unnecessary scenes. The entire feature feels quite poorly set up with the whole concept around justifying the photograph of Wonder Woman that we see in Batman V Superman, there surely could have been a far superior manner in which to introduce this character to the world than through a pen pal exchange with Batman. The cinematography shows a good eye in select battle sequences but it often plays things quite safe, in fact many of the shots aren't very well framed and for a blockbuster it lacks impact. The special effects are also riddled with gratuitous moments of slow motion, Ares looking like a poorly animated World of Warcraft design and CGI animated props like the lasso feeling out of place in the scenes they were used in.

Connie Nielsen, who played Hippolyta, had no emotional range as a monarch character or as a motherly figure; it was extremely hard to find any shred of chemistry between her and Gadot. Robin Wright, who played Antiope, was a character that was clearly going to die from the minute she appeared onscreen; her emotional range extended to the same length as that of Nielsen and it was hard to tell the pair apart at times. Danny Huston, who played Ludendorff, was a very two-dimensional evil German general; whether it was snorting super strength drugs (???) or giggling over doing evil deeds Huston went way too over the top here. David Thewlis, who played Sir Patrick, has to be one of the blandest performers in the trade currently; Thewlis does not fit the role of Ares and fails to capture the menacing presence this role required. Eugene Brave Rock, who played The Chief, adds very little to this film other than some lip service to crimes against Native Americans; he often falls into the background and fits the 'tag along' stereotype quite well. Elena Anaya, who played Dr. Maru, was such a weak evil scientist role; the way she stumbles along blindly following Huston without ever really having much impact of her own.