Child's Play

This review may contain spoilers! 

I have not watched a single Chucky film but even I have to say this is far removed from what anyone expected a Chucky movie to be. I would give Child's Play a 4/10.

Child's Play is a horror/thriller about a malfunctioning doll with artificial intelligence who takes his bond with the young boy who owns him over the edge when he starts to kill anyone who would hurt his 'friend'. The best aspect of this film is how the dynamic between the main protagonist, Andy, and the doll, Chucky, actually develops and changes over the course of this film. The relationship at first is quite sweet and a character who is initially quite lonely finds a friend; as this relationship begins to become skewed and fall apart you continue to emphasise with what's happening as the pair find themselves distanced from one another. The film also wields a pretty dark sense of humour that doesn't always enhance the story but is really fun to see; moments like Chucky's 'Tupac line' or Andy trying to smuggle the present out of Doreen's house are a lot of fun. The score for the film is masterfully executed, with quite a light optimistic melody steadily becoming discordant as the film becomes more chaotic and driven by the horror elements.

Aubrey Plaza, who played Karen Barclay, is not the sort of actress you'd expect to play a mother but really makes her mark in this film; Plaza really does a good job showing someone who is desperately trying to hold all the pieces together in a family that is clearly struggling to make ends meet. Mark Hamill, who voiced Chucky, really commits to the naive, friendly persona that cements the friendship between his character and Bateman's; as the narrative moves forward this drops away and Hamill warps his small doll into a sinister killer. Gabriel Bateman, who played Andy Barclay, does a great job as the central protagonist for the film; he's a very protective figure and is constantly endeavouring to save others in a hellish situation. Carlease Burke, who played Doreen, had such an incredible mother/son bond with Tyree Henry in this film; I think this was a character who seemed so full of life and could really deal some of the funnier lines in the feature.

However, the best performance came from Brian Tyree Henry, who played Detective Mike Norris. This is a character who is immediately charismatic and seems to have a lot of heart towards 'the little guy' in his community. Tyree Henry's persona is built upon being a figure of authority in an impoverished area where that isn't really respected; and he plays to that struggle of character very well. I really enjoyed seeing how he connected with Bateman and even acted as a sort of mentor figure to him throughout the feature. Yet when it came to his police role Tyree Henry was also able to show his role's intellect and ability to assess a crime scene at a glance. This ultimately led to his strong display of grief over the death of Burke's Doreen and his vendetta fuelled arrest of Andy.

Straight from the start this film was on the rocks a bit as the origin of Chucky was seriously underwhelming. We are presented with an ad for the 'Buddi' doll who can apparently play music, work your TV, control your roomba and call a driverless Uber for you. From this we cut to the factory in Vietnam where a lazy worker in charge of making some of these dolls get fired for laziness and then, disgruntled, decides to programme one of the dolls to be defective and violent before taking his own life. It's not a great set up and the poor imitation of other modern appliances seems like another mild attempt to create a 'technology has gone too far' theme. As the film continues there are constantly moments where really convenient events occur in order to advance the plot. Moments like Karen blackmailing her boss to get ahold of Chucky, or when the other kids very abruptly get introduced so Andy has friends other than Chucky, The creepy building technician bringing Chucky back to life was a bit of a letdown too. Crafting a moment that doesn't feel natural to serve the advancement of the plot is a flawed technique that never really works. The cinematography throughout Child's Play is incredibly boring and makes you feel just how confined the set pieces are. The design of Chucky is rather disappointing too, he never looks anything but creepy and disarming which makes the aspect of the film in which he's seen as 'good' harder to believe.

David Lewis, who played Shane, is supposed to be a significant antagonist in Andy's day to day life but the film is afraid to make this a truly threatening character; Lewis is incapable of playing a character who feels aggressive or intimidating. Beatrice Kitsos, Ty Consiglio and Marlon Kazadi, who played Falyn, Pugg and Omar respectively, are really heavily shoehorned into this film so that there are more child actors outside of just Bateman; yet the gritty doomsday warrior Kisos plays or the moronic oaf we get from Consiglio feel very generic and don't contribute a great deal.Trent Redekop, who played Gabe, is this creepy side role the film keeps on the backburner right until the narrative needs something to turn the second act into the third, this role seems really driven to remake Chucky but his reasons for doing so are hazy at best and you have to wonder what other purpose this role really serves.

Men In Black: International

This review may contain spoilers!

Despite a pretty decent cast this Men In Black spinoff just does not do the series justice. I would give Men In Black: International a 5.5/10.

Men In Black: International follows new probationary Agent M and her partner in the field, Agent H, as they attempt to discover a mole in the Men in Black organisation and prevent villainous alien race, The Hive, from destroying the planet. The film manages to do fairly well with the comedic aspects of the series most of the time, a lot of the jokes build out of creative characters or interesting character relationships. A lot of the moments where characters get the time to have a bit of a quick exchange with one another is where the opportunity arises for some of the funniest scenes. The special effects in this film aren't too bad; the alien twins look decidedly eerie, The Hive as a species looks like nightmare fuel and Pawny and the hoverbike have some of the coolest designs and attention to detail. The score for the film has a lot of callbacks to music used throughout the series which is some of the only nostalgic references that work for this film.

Chris Hemsworth, who played Agent H, is very good as the cocky, arrogant veteran field agent; I liked how Hemsworth developed and played to the loss of memory his character had suffered without realising it. Tessa Thompson, who played Agent M, really felt like this genius sharp-witted role who could solve any mystery and craft a solution to problems as they presented themselves to her; Thompson made a very relatable protagonist and held her own strongly as a lead. Rafe Spall, who played Agent C, was rather shifty is the consistently irritated and complaining agent at MiB headquarters; Spall and Hemsworth had excellent chemistry as onscreen rivals that resulted in some seriously entertaining dialogue exchanges.

However, the best performance came from Kumail Nanjiani, who voiced Pawny. This is one of those alien roles that just completely steals the show and it is clear from his constant presence that this was the hope. Nanjiani plays up the overdramatic tiny alien warrior's dedication to fighting and making honourable sacrifices in such a comedic way. This is a role who is small in stature but seems very bold and capable of sharp, witty remarks against characters much bigger than himself. I loved the love/hate friendship between Pawny and H, that was a lot of fun. In the final act when Nanjiani's role was given one of the largest heroic moments you can't help but feel it was the most impressive aspect of the film.

For such an established film series this takes a very long time to actually get underway. Throughout the first act we're being introduced to character after character, in some cases time is taken up to reintroduce a character and explain their personal baggage a few time. This made the introduction of the film rather boring and didn't hook the viewer right away. In fact after that we're led on this cat and mouse storyline where the heroes and antagonists are constantly trying to keep hold of an alien artefact all while trying to work out what it is. This isn't exactly a very inspired narrative and we've all seen it before, and this film doesn't appear interested in putting a fresh spin on it in any way. The mole within the Men in Black subplot isn't much of a surprise, the film pushes you to think it's Agent C but the opening scene of the film means that you know Agent High T is going to ultimately reveal himself as an antagonist. That all builds into a final antagonist confrontation that is over far too quickly and has an awkward father/son relationship moment between H and T that felt tacked on. The cinematography for the feature is lazy at best, there are a number of shots in which characters enter a scene but you never see them step into frame or a fight sequence is filmed in a static manner because it's clearly easier. The soundtrack for the film didn't really accompany much of what we were watching, it just felt like random picks of music that was very hot right now.

Rebecca Ferguson, who played Riza, really has had a big 180 in terms of the types of roles she's taking and doing; this antagonist was painfully over the top and seemed like a gag the film didn't even think was very important. Emma Thompson, who played Agent O, was a return character from the MiB franchise who really didn't add all that much; including a character just to be a throwback means that they come across as purposeless which is what happened here to Thompson. Liam Neeson, who played Agent High T, is very restrained throughout the film and doesn't really care about exploring the limits of his character very much; Neeson just got lazy and cut corners which is what made the reveal that he was the ultimate antagonist all the more boring.

X-Men: Dark Phoenix

This review may contain spoilers!

A better retelling of the Dark Phoenix story than X-Men: Last Stand but an overall disappointing end to the X-men franchise. I would give X-Men: Dark Phoenix a 6.5/10.

X-Men: Dark Phoenix is the fourth instalment of this incarnation of the team and focuses upon one of the X-Men, Jean Grey, as she gains access to a cosmic force and begins to lose control of herself and her powers. What unfolds is a race against time as the X-Men try to save their fallen teammate from herself and the alien race attempting to manipulate her. This film really nails Jean's descent into darkness as her powers grow stronger. Initially you're quite horror-stricken by Jean absorbing the entirety of the Phoenix force but then seeing her full recovery is a unnerving calm before the storm. Once her power begins to consume her things begin to take a turn and lead to her having some excellent confrontation scenes with her father, Mystique and Magneto. The entire build up to a fight in which some characters are motivated to kill Jean while others believe she can still be reasoned with is probably the stand out moment of the film, even toting a moment in which Charles Xavier is grotesquely forced to 'walk' towards Jean as she begins to embrace the dark side of her new power. The film is a great exploration about a struggle with power and choosing how to wield it, seeing how Jean ultimately chooses to use the Phoenix force is well done and one plotline in this film that felt well-rounded. The special effects are more sparing than in previous films but they do still look great, the space scene in which Jean absorbs the Phoenix force is a very impactful visual and a design that the film pays a lot of detail to throughout. The score for the film is the obvious knockout, Hans Zimmer has managed a haunting melody that feels otherworldly and really reflects upon this tragic character arc of Jean Grey.

James McAvoy, who played Professor Charles Xavier, did a great job at showing the split between his loyal bond and commitment to his student with the tremendous ego and sense of achievement he had gained on behalf of mutant rights; McAvoy really comes into his own when he commits to bringing Jean back from the darkness and he attempts to show her the family the X-men have become.Jennifer Lawrence, who played Mystique, is perfectly suited to the mission leader role; Lawrence has a way of really deftly handling the diplomatic exchange between characters in tense situations that occurs in this film. Nicholas Hoult, who played Beast, plays well to the more carefree nature of his character in the first act; but what Hoult really takes in his stride is Beast's turn to revenge after the death of Lawrence's Mystique and the extremes this pushes his character to. Sophie Turner, who played Jean Grey, is this really amiable character who portrays such a strong descent into darkness stemming from her newfound power extremely well; what I liked most from Turner was how vulnerable she showed Jean to be in the first couple of acts when she was scared of her new abilities and didn't understand the change that had come upon her. Evan Peters, who played Quicksilver, has such a fun, cocky persona that really stands out in the scenes he's in; Peters just has a natural sense of what makes this role so entertaining and can cut right to the humour in a scene or dialogue exchange. Scott Shepherd, who played John Grey, really does feel like this hollowed out victim of tragedy when we join him in the film; the exchange between Shepherd and Turner is a painful yet honest moment that really hits home.

However, the best performance came from Michael Fassbender, who played Magneto. Throughout these films there seems to be a constant struggle between James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender to absolutely outshine one another and it has resulted in some of the most riveting acting from th entire X-Men series. In this feature Fassbender is a more resolute leader of his people, not someone who immediately launches into combat but rather is willing to come to an amiable understanding. You really get to see the wisdom of Magneto this time around as he chooses his fights and allies far more carefully and isn't willing to take Jean into the fold upon her initial arrival. Yet Fassbender still has this exceptional way of unlocking the rage and motivation of revenge that is such an integral part of Magneto at key moments, chiefly when he goes upon a rampage to kill Jean after the death of Mystique. I love the chemistry between Fassbender and McAvoy, these two feel like old friends and have a wealth of history between them; the final scene of Dark Phoenix is bittersweet but in many ways excellent.

This is a film built upon a few interweaving storylines that comprise the main plot: Jean's descent into becoming Dark Phoenix, the relationship between Charles and Jean, and the aliens who are manipulating Jean for their own ends. While the storyline around Jean and her progression into Dark Phoenix is rather interesting it will never take the viewer anywhere unexpected, a lot of the movie is transparent in what it sets up as its 'big moments'. Worse than this the film puts a lot of importance on the opening few scenes of the film in which Jean's origins are explored. However, the origin isn't particularly gripping and the first meeting between Jean and Charles comes off as quite stilted and you don't see the dynamic of the relationship at all. The film is constantly pushing flashbacks to these moments as well which just interrupts the flow of the narrative more than anything else. The entire alien storyline is what makes this quite a disappointing X-Men adventure. The aliens don't have much in terms of identity or even a significant central character. The alien roles just give some generic cannon fodder to fight in the final act and exposition to overexplain what Jean went through in space and what she is capable of now. The film feels like some very epic scenes and fine character moments patched to a story that doesn;t necessarily make a whole lot of sense, the dialogue throughout the feature certainly could've done with a second look as well. The cinematography for Dark Phoenix is surprisingly underwhelming for a blockbuster feature, the use of multiple shots for a character performing an action or entering a scene is just inexcusable for a film of this scale; not to mention the inconsistencies with how multiple scenes were framed.

Tye Sheridan, who played Cyclops, just feels unnecessarily stoic and feels like an add-on role to either Turner's Jean Grey or McAvoy's Xavier when they need him; Sheridan really doesn't seem to know how to negotiate the love subplot that exists between his role and Jean Grey which is a pity because most of the work for that is put on him. Alexandra Shipp, who played Storm, comes into a few scenes to generate conflict when you don't even really understand how she factors into the film; Shipp has proven to be a rather boring Storm and this film shows that by placing her squarely in the background. Kodi Smit-McPhee, who played Nightcrawler, is a very redundant role in this film; there are some scenes where this role has sudden bursts of strong emotion that just doesn't lend itself to the moment at all. Jessica Chastain and Ato Essandoh, who played Vuk and Jones respectively, have to be some of the most generic X-Men antagonists this series has ever had; Chastain in particular has done much better than this in the past but phones it in pretty strong for this role. Summer Fontana, who played Young Jean Grey, gives a very mild performance of the main role; this film banked a lot on Fontana really standing out in the first act so this really let the film down. Andrew Stehlin and Kota Eberhardt, who played Ariki and Selene Gallio respectively, have the misfortune of being little more than bland henchmen/side character to Fassbender's Magneto; these films tend to enjoy putting some henchmen roles alongside Magneto but consistently struggle with turning these roles into actual fleshed out characters.

Godzilla: King Of The Monsters

This review may contain spoilers!

It's a pretty standard monster battle blockbuster, a stunning visual spectacular and a fairly run of the mill script. I would give Godzilla: King Of The Monsters a 7/10.

Godzilla: King Of The Monsters is the sequel to 2014's Godzilla and focusses upon Monarch and Godzilla attempting to prevent an eco-terrorist group from using King Ghidorah to destroy the world. I quite enjoyed seeing the primal relationships between the massive Titans here; the rivalry between Ghidorah and Godzilla was great to watch unfold, likewise the symbiotic relationship between Godzilla and Mothra was a touching thing to see too. I also liked how this separated family had to struggle amongst all this monolithic battling to reach a point of understanding with one another. The Russell family was devastated by loss after the events of the first Godzilla film and seeing how such a massive event affected their relationships with one another and how the events of this film pushes them back together was probably one of the crowning narrative achievements of the feature. The cinematography for the film feels a bit at odds with itself at times due to the number of set up shots for visual effects; yet ultimately the way this feature is filmed is purposeful and captures the epic scale of the blockbuster at work. The special effects for this film are perhaps the stand out feature, each of the four main Titans (as well as several others) are done with incredible detail that the action sequences are exceptionally realistic to observe. The score is a full-blown display of power, there are some amazing themes designed for some of the specific Titans which actually helps present them as characters rather than just fighting beasts.

Kyle Chandler, who played Mark Russell, gives a great portrayal of the rational man in stormy waters; Chandler presents a role who is quick-thinking on his feet and desperate to save his family by any means. Millie Bobby Brown, who played Madison Russell, is one of the best up and coming young actresses out there at the moment; this role is so fascinating because you are constantly seeing her struggle with the conflict generated by her mother and father. Ken Watanabe, who played Dr Ishiro Serizawa, is this moral leader amongst the cast who is driven to protect all life on the planet; Watanabe's role has this deep respect for Godzilla that you really get to see him explore and develop strongly in this film. Thomas Middleditch, who played Sam Coleman, is a really fun role and a surpise standout performance; Middleditch has some nice one-liners throughout and you are entirely convinced he has the intellect to be a leading scientific expert on Tiatans with the way he handles exposition.

However, the best performance came from Bradley Whitford, who played Dr Rick Stanton. In amongst all these characters who are roles we've seen before or who spout enormous amounts of exposition it's nice to find some levity. Whitford for a long time has zeroed in on these rather laidback, witty roles who just wield the charisma to steal a scene. There's no denying that this is a character who has some of the most fun and entertaining dialogue of the film and he had me really going throughout. I enjoy the types of roles Whitford tends to play and find they often enhance a feature by bringing a spark to a scene that feels real and gives you a moment where you are grinning from ear to ear.

This film really achieves what it sets out to do, have a couple of CGI monsters duke it out amongst the ever-expanding ruins of a city. While I don't really have time for people who complain about that as a concept or a genre I do think there is merit in fleshing out the substance of such a film. Thankfully we have the Russell family storyline which holds our attention for most of the feature but outside of that there are some heavy moments of exposition packed on. We are constantly being explained to, given the pseudo-science behind how these monsters exist, function and what their origins are. When a main character constructs some elaborate plan to save the day we lose a lot of momentum as the plan is explained and repeated over and over until there is no mistaking the intent behind the moment. When you're watching a film that exceeds two hours but are constantly being explained to, you can't help but feel bored. There were also a large number of roles in this film who were given very generic parts to play for an action blockbuster so it doesn;t feel like this was a movie that ever put much effort into trying to break expectations.

Vera Farmiga, who played Dr Emma Russell, is the anchor on one of the strongest narrative aspects of the film: the Russell family; Farmiga never really plays convincingly to her character double-crossing the protagonists so you don't feel of a shock when she winds up pulling the triple-cross on the antagonists. Ziyi Zhang, who played Dr Ilene Chen, feels like one supporting character too many throughout the feature; Zhang provides no new dynamic to the cast and so she never makes all that much of an impression. Sally Hawkins, who played Dr Vivienne Graham, didn't really seem like she wanted to return to these Godzilla films all that much; she never had a character moment that was worth talking about and bowed out fairly quickly into the film. Charles Dance, who played Jonah Alan, has to be one of the most bland antagonists I've seen Dance play; this is a highly skilled performer going through the motions of a pretty generic military/mercenary henchman. Aisha Hinds, O'Shea Jackson Jr., Anthony Ramos and Elizabeth Ludlow, who played Colonel Diane Foster, Chief Warrant Officer Barnes, Staff Sergeant Martinez and First Lieutenant Griffin respectively, all embody your typical military roles of the film; this pack lopes around behind the main cast and get scattered into the background to fill a frame more often than they're given the opportunity to present a role.