Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins

This review may contain spoilers!

 

Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins follows the title character as he navigates a covert battlefield between the Yakuza and an ancient ninja clan. Driven by a desire to avenge the death of his father, Snake Eyes will have to choose between honour and revenge. As an action blockbuster this film triumphs with its stunt choreography, every action sequence looks impressive and intricate. The cinematography complements this quite nicely, opting for a very fluid style of shooting that is only halted to show off impressive still framing.

 

Andrew Koji, who played Tommy, actually has one of the most genuine portrayals of character development in this film; watching Koji present his character being consumed by his own vendetta is a nice contrast to Golding's performance. Iko Uwais, who played Hard Master, is woefully underutilised in this film but nevertheless really stands out; Uwais has this cocky gravitas that makes his Master figure an instant favourite.

However the best performance came from Henry Golding, who played Snake Eyes. As a lead I think Golding did a very good job at portraying his role consistently and in a manner that always kept the plot focused. This take on Snake Eyes is more of a disgruntled loner, a wild fighter who has lived a hard life in search of revenge. Golding convincingly wields this cocky, self-assured attitude that makes his character a believable criminal, at least initially. Yet as we watch Snake Eyes react to and fall short of the world he is steadily opening himself up to, we as an audience get a taste of the wonder this character feels. When Golding shows Snake Eyes embracing the more honourable path he has been taught there is a sense of righteousness that lends itself well to his character's arc.

The entire film was very hard to watch because as a character Snake Eyes just didn't feel much like a protagonist. For almost the entire feature the main role is a henchman working for the antagonist, not torn between two side - working for the bad guy. The scene that ignites the final act, in which Snake Eyes chooses to be a hero is a very quick moment that the film takes too long to really reach. I felt a little lost as an audience member because if I couldn't empathise with the main character then what was the reason to follow his story? The entire film had an embroiled family war between the Yakuza and a ninja clan; though this became less interesting as the film veered away from the history of the two sides and reduced the conflict to a battle for a shiny rock. Snake Eyes wanted very desperately to be another shot at relaunching the G.I. Joe universe for the big screen; but dumping characters like Scarlett or the Baroness into the picture actually ruined the tone of the whole thing. This movie wants to start a franchise but it has barely worked out how to present itself; and it hasn't even achieved that very well. The editing for the feature was crammed with a number of unnecessary shots, while the special effects for the giant snakes looked pretty poor. The score for the film was standard fare for a high octane thriller and it certainly wasn't the music that made the action sequences good.

Haruka Abe, who played Akiko, starts the film out in quite an interesting way but her role devolves to really only prop up the male lead; Abe chasing after Golding's role urging him to be better when she started out as the tough chief of security is disappointing. Takehiro Hira, who played Kenta, is underwhelming as the antagonist for the film; Hira really plays up to the classic monologuing villain with a tendency to grandstand. Eri Ishida, who played Sen, is the classic matronly dojo leader; her dry delivery really betrays no emotion and is very two-dimensional. Peter Mensah, who played Blind Master, is quite similar to Ishida in that he adheres to a stereotypical role; the blind wise teacher is such a played out trope in these films that Mensah became swiftly forgettable. Úrsula Corberó, who played Baroness, is lacking as our introduction to the big Cobra antagonists; this is a role who is here as a cameo and the rest of the feature is treated more as a punchline or comedic presence. Samara Weaving, who played Scarlett, does not mesh well with the cast at all as this tough military type; Weaving enters this film spouting exposition and making for a very boring first introduction to the 'Joes'.

If you can't even make Snake Eyes cool then it's probably time to stop making G.I. Joe films happen. I would give Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins a 3.5/10.

Space Jam: A New Legacy

 This review may contain spoilers!

 

Space Jam: A New Legacy is a soft reboot to 1996 cult classic, Space Jam. In this film we see LeBron James as an overbearing father who isn't open to the avenues of fun his son pursues. However, when a rogue artificial intelligence kidnaps Dom, LeBron is forced to play a virtual basketball tournament with some unlikely allies to get him back. The film does manage to match the tone of the original Space Jam feature with an overtly serious basketball player stumbling around cartoon antics and learning how to find fun through the game. Beyond that I liked watching the Looney Tunes animations and some of the editing and transitions that pay homage right back to the original feature. There were elements of this feature that actually managed to come across as a love letter to the late 90s family films.

 

Sonequa Martin-Green, who played Kamiyah James, is stunning as this fierce and protective matriarch; Martin-Green has this strong presence that makes her a role you don't want to mess with and a convincing backbone for her onscreen family. Rosario Dawson, who voiced Wonder Woman, is perfect as this bold heroine; Dawson delivers this cameo with sincerity and compassion making for one of the best scenes in the film.

 

However the best performance came from Jeff Bergman, Zendaya, Gabriel Iglesias, Eric Bauza, Candi Milo, Bob Bergen and Fred Tatasciore, who voiced all of the Looney Tunes. These roles are the dependable light aspects of the feature, comedic and full of energy. I think any moments with heart that feel real are the ones in which these cartoon characters are at the centre. Watching the crazy antics of these roles, seeing familiar rivalries and friendships make for a nice nostalgia trip.

 

Space Jam was never really a good fun, it became a cult because of how quirky and camp the late 90s film actually was. Space Jam: A New Legacy is harder to see as a future success at this point because it matches the original for a lot of its goofs and narrative moments. Yet worse than this is just how much gratuitous self-indulgent praise there is for LeBron James and Warner Bros. The entire film places LeBron on a sort of pedestal, only really taking the time to critique his parenting skills as a fictional spin for the sake of the main narrative. Warner Bros. as a movie studio is treated as a setting and entity that is akin to the lifeblood of the film; weirdly the main bad guy is a sentient computer programme who works for Warner Bros. directly. The main story is very simple: LeBron is a bad Dad who doesn't like his son making computer games, the pair get sucked into a virtual world and LeBron has to play basketball to get his kid back. This simple theme around placing family first is extremely basic and never handled in a way that is deeply explored. More than that placing the entire film around a big sports star who stumbles as a protagonist makes this feature difficult to watch from start to finish. The cinematography is extremely blocky, leaning on big wides rather than trying anything too creative. The special effects for the film are rather poor; the Goon squad in particular have lousy designs and the Looney Tunes being made CGI figures wasn't a great move. The score for the film is not something worth remembering and the soundtrack is a compilation of hype pop and hip hop that does little to boost the quality of the film.

LeBron James, who played himself, does have the ability or experience to lead a film like this; James isn't able to dig deeper for those big emotional scenes that the film depends on. Don Cheadle, who played Al G. Rhythm, really pushes things far over the top for this antagonist role; it's a confusing performance because sometimes it feels like he takes things seriously and at other times the complete opposite. Cedric Joe, who played Dom James, plays that rather typical kid in his father's shadow character; yet Joe plays it in a thin way so that when he flips back to his Dad's side it isn't this big impactful moment. Khris Davis, who played Malik, seems to have been written as some sort of background comic relief; but Davis really does not have the comedic ability to make this role land. Ceyair J. Wright, who played Darius James, is a background supporting figure in the fictional James family; kind of pushed into a position of propping up his onscreen Dad and brother but achieving little else.

 

As camp and corny as the first film with more of a self-congratulatory message both for LeBron James and Warner Brothers. I would give Space Jam: A New Legacy a 1.5/10.

Gunpowder Milkshake

This review may contain spoilers!

 

Gunpowder Milkshake follows Sam, a young assassin whose hitman mother abandoned her when she was young and who has been raised by the same organisation her mother worked for. When a sense of moral righteousness steers Sam off target while on her latest mission she finds herself blacklisted and hunted by those she worked for. The film thrives upon how well it delivers multiple fight sequences, the choreography for the massive third act library fight scene is a particularly inspired piece of stunt work. The score for the film is one of my favourite things about it; it has a nice rebellious energy that really spirits into these big action pieces. I found that the soundtrack had a nice vintage homage that matched up to the aesthetic of the film.

The best performance came from Carla Gugino, Angela Bassett and Michelle Yeoh, who played Madeleine, Anna May and Florence respectively. These three are impossible to separate in relation to one another, what you get here is a trio of characters who are interlaced in their performances. I loved seeing these 'librarians' confer and debate amongst one another to maintain their munitions front; this was one of the most entertaining aspects of the Gunpowder Milkshake 'world'. Gugino was the kind-hearted librarian, she was very empathic and folded many of the characters into shelter. Bassett was the bold leader of the trio who fiercely represented and defended the library and those within. Yeoh was the rational and highly intelligent librarian with a killer edge in how she engaged with opponents. These three actresses played strongly to the lack of realism in this feature and managed to make a really engaging trio.

This was a film that wanted to be something new and unique but really just across as something bizarre and corny. Gunpowder Milkshake really has quite weak world-building that doesn't really explain well how things connect; locations like the library, the hospital and the diner exist and entities like the Firm and McAlester's gang but none of these are linked well together. The film feels more like an aesthetic piece; trying to capture the spectacle of new action epics like Atomic Blonde or John Wick but falling woefully short with a confusing narrative. There is a clear love letter here to 50s/60s aesthetics with locations like the diner or the bowling alley featured prominently while the entire film is pitched to a very film-noir, Sin City-like tone. It is such a jagged thing hearing this very corny, over the top dialogue peered with a tone that doesn't really blend well into a lot of very modern visuals. There is an idea here that is undeniably creative but fails to actually meet its ambitions. The story around Sam being abandoned by Scarlet is sloppily delivered and there is no surprise when Scarlet is introduced back into Sam's life and the tension between the pair evaporates in no time at all. As a protagonist Sam is hard to like from an audience perspective; she kills an unarmed defenceless thug at one point and by killing Emily's father you struggle to really accept the film pitching her as a heroic figure by the end of the feature. The pacing is extremely slow for an action film, the film is terrified of showing action in its first act and then proceeds to open the flood gates to multiple long action sequences that needed to be cut up a bit more. The cinematography and editing paired together mean this isn't the most visually appealing film; the shots are very blocky and the cuts are only slowing the pacing further.

Karen Gillan, who played Sam, shows little range as this particular protagonist; her stoic closed off demeanour fails to evolve from the beginning through to the end of the film. Lena Headey, who played Scarlet, matches Gillan with a very emotionless role; this is a character who you do not really believe she has remorse for leaving her on-screen daughter behind. Paul Giamatti, who played Nathan, is a very reedy businessman character that Giamatti doesn't put a lot into; his expressions of concern or frustration had no impact because he didn't push much into those moments. Ralph Ineson, who played Jim McAlester, is your typical baritone gang boss antagonist; Ineson's grating attempts at intimidation and weird feminist speech in the final act make this a hard role to watch. Michael Smiley, who played Dr. Ricky, is a weird minor antagonist; watching Smiley huff into a laughing gas mask for half of his scenes made me cringe. Chloe Coleman, who played Emily, is still a bit young to have developed much range; seeing Coleman quietly dish out the moral conscience of the film means those messages are never strongly delivered.

This is probably going to be the corniest film boasting the worst dialogue that I'll see all year. I would give Gunpowder Milkshake a 2/10.

 

Black Widow

This review may contain spoilers!

Black Widow  is the 24th feature in the MCU and a direct sequel to Captain America: Civil War. In this Marvel adventure we get a glimpse into Natasha Romanoff's spy background and the family of Russian spies she lived with as a child. The film then brings us to just after the events of the Sokovia Accords and we watch as a fugitive Black Widow is forced to reconcile with her former 'family' and stop the villainous Red Room from crafting more brainwashed Black Widows. This film starts out as a well mapped modern spy thriller, with real cloak and dagger fights at safe houses or a dark espionage-based antagonist in the shadows. Yet the film also knows how to lean into those classic Marvel elements of storytelling; the light sisterly bond between Natasha and Yelena or the hilarious introduction and breakout of Red Guardian from prison. These elements all come together in a very action-heavy final act that watches all the new characters masterfully woven together into these intricate fight scenes and impressive set pieces. I enjoyed seeing the contrast between how good Natasha had become as a person versus how twisted the world she was from is. The cinematography of the film is extremely appealing and worth raving about, the entire Budapest sequence immediately comes to mind when I say this. The special effects for the feature look wonderful, but for a nice change of pace it is the stunt choreography that truly transports me into this fantastical story. The score for the film is a high octane spectacular while the soundtrack boasts an eerie James Bond-esque intro to a cover of 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'.

 

Scarlett Johansson, who played Natasha Romanoff, leads this film with absolute class and experience; watching Johansson tread the line between the moral high ground she occupies now and the darkness her life used to be is great to watch. Rachel Weisz, who played Melina, is a much more restrained role who initially seems reluctant to become attached again to her 'family'; Weisz plays the stoic scientist type well while also dealing her character's dry wit excellently. David Harbour, who played Alexei, is very much a role that steals the show in a number of scenes; this role's arrogance and desire to live out his glory days makes him one of the real comedic delights of the film. Ray Winstone, who played Dreykov, is quite a chilling antagonist; seeing the callous indifference he has for the horrors he has wrought or the free will he has taken is rather dark.

However, the best performance came from Florence Pugh, who played Yelena Belova. This role is rather special because the film has a sense of Johansson's Natasha handing the torch to Pugh's Yelena; so there is a lot of expectation around this performance. It is immensely hard to walk out of this film disliking Yelena I find, she has a very youthful energy and this kind of excitement about being free in the world after her brainwashing is removed. This comes through a lot in the sisterly relationship she forms with Johansson, watching the pair lean on one another and then switch to bickering is a fun dynamic. I also think there is some interesting pain hidden by Yelena that we get to see steadily come out over the course of the feature. She was the only member of her 'family' who was unaware that their time in America wasn't real and so not being able to hold onto those connections really destroyed her. Yet seeing Pugh depict Yelena healing from this and reuniting with her dysfunctional spy family is truly a storyline that is right at the heart of this film.

For a film titled Black Widow there isn't a strong emphasis here on giving Natasha much of a final journey. This film is essentially closure for the role and her handing the torch over to a new cadre of MCU characters like Yelena or Red Guardian. Johansson does excellent work throughout and this is a highly engaging film but you don't really gain anything new in respect to Natasha. Everything she has achieved in previous films is just repeated in this one. I also think the film likes to move very fast after the first action scene has gotten underway. We move from one high intensity action sequence where the stakes are high to another. The film only really slows down when the family comes together, I actually think the film would have benefited spreading out the time we spend with these new characters so that the audience can build a rapport with them. I think having this big mysterious sub-plot around Natasha thinking she had killed the leader of the Red Room and his daughter in the past was a little bit obvious and something the feature never put much effort into paying off. Finally the film ends by teasing that Black Widow may well be facing serious repercussions with the law while her 'family' escapes, but the film does a lazy time jump to avoid explaining how she ever really got out of that mess. That truly felt like an abrupt way to close out the film and wasn't as satisfying as it could have otherwise been.

Ever Anderson and Violet McGraw, who played Young Natasha and Young Yelena respectively, were on two spectrums of poor young performers; Anderson just played straight to indifference while McGraw went to young and hapless stereotype. O-T Fagbenle, who played Mason, was the dull yet present tech man with an answer to most solutions; Fagbenle could've been any number of performers and this role would never have gotten much more interesting than it was. William Hurt, who played Secretary Ross, gives his usual gruff cameo but to little impact; I don't think this role has been exciting since his return in Captain America: Civil War. Olga Kurylenko, who played Antonia, is wasted in what really amounts to a minor amount of time in this film; the feature never really wants to engage with Antonia's story too much so they probably should've just left this antagonists as a stunt person.

An absolutely action-packed and well-performed adventure that makes for a nice, if not modest, send off for the original female Avenger. I would give Black Widow a 7.5/10.

 

Escape Room: Tournament Of Champions

This review may contain spoilers!

 

 Escape Room: Tournament of Champions is the sequel to 2019's Escape Room, in which a group of random people find themselves trapped in a series of life or death styled escape rooms. In this feature our two surviving heroes, Zoey and Ben, are trying to hunt down the evil corporation who trapped them and find themselves once again tricked into a series of deadly escape rooms. However, this time the group they find themselves with have something in common: they have each survived Minos' torturous escape rooms before. What I liked about this film was how it actually expanded on the story of the original film; having someone infiltrate Zoey's life in order to place her in the perfect escape room, examining how each of the former champions came from 'themed' groups and seeing how much more intricate the escape rooms were designed in this particular feature. I think a lot of these drove what made this film a more updated take on the survival-horror genre. The cinematography and special effects for the feature do well but aren't much to rave over, the high stakes scenes are well captured and the fake background effects look to be an improvement on the first film.

 

Thomas Cocquerel, who played Nathan, gives quite an interesting perspective as a jaded priest who survived his own escape room experience; watching Cocquerel play with the notion of struggling faith in the face of sadistic life or death struggles is one of the better aspects of the film. Holland Roden, who played Rachel, is this real tough as nails survivor type who works extremely well for this type of sequel; Roden feels like a capable contestant and she is extremely tough in the face of overwhelming odds.

However, the best performance came from Logan Miller, who played Ben Miller. The way this role builds on from the sequel actually feels well developed and thought through. Miller plays strongly to the character's loyalty and bond with Russell's Zoey; the pair continuously trust and lean on one another for support after surviving a traumatic experience together. I liked how we still see Ben as such a reluctant protagonist, he is severely scarred from his previous experience with the escape rooms and has a significant night terror scene in the film. Watching Miller competently handle the escape rooms reminds us why Ben was a survivor in the first film, yet he is never capable of seeing through the puzzle like Zoey does; ultimately making a pawn for Minos to use. 

 

Escape Room was a film I enjoyed because it toyed with a solid set-up, intriguing escape rooms and a great cast of characters. This film had a lot of similar qualities to the original, though it traded a good set-up for making the world-building richer. But ultimately my biggest gripe with this sequel was that it wasn't confident enough to do many new things. The start of the film really pushes our cast of characters together quite abruptly and in a manner that is difficult to really believe in. Pair that with a lot of will they, won't they romance subplot between our two leads and the beginning of the feature was decidedly less engaging this go around. Once you get past the feeling of a more production-heavy sequel the issues in the second act are exactly the same as the first film. The story takes a back seat and we watch as the characters experience the escape rooms, then survive with a member of the group dying per room. The final act gets contrived when it brings back a presumed dead role from the first film who has secretly been behind all the pain and misery of this film. It's a poor twist that muddies one of the finer roles from the original feature and guides the film to another ending that begs the audience for a third outing. The score for this film is even less appealing than the first feature, droning when the stakes get high but offering little else in terms of range. 

Taylor Russell, who played Zoey Davis, has lost what made her protagonist so engaging somewhere between the original and this film; Russell's role struggles with conveying a range of emotion especially in the big scenes where she is meant to display grief. Indya Moore, who played Brianna, is one of the more generic expected roles from this genre; Moore doesn't work outside of the traumatized victim who reacts with fear rather than logic to the danger around her. Carlito Olivero, who played Derek, is the tough type with little thought for his actions; I found Olivero to be another performer to play towards type rather than character. Deborah Ann Woll, who played Amanda Harper, is a pale reflection of her original take on the character; this cowardly hollowed out figure is a far cry from the traumatized soldier served up in the first film.

A sequel that never achieves more than the previous instalment but which is salvaged by a decent production design and some fresh story elements. I would give Escape Room: Tournament Of Champions a 4.5/10.