The Little Mermaid

This review may contain spoilers!

 

The Little Mermaid is a live action adaptation of the 1989 film of the same name. Ariel, a mermaid and youngest daughter of King Triton of the Seven Seas, longs to connect with the human world. Upon falling in love with a young human prince she makes the choice to take a dangerous deal with a sea witch in the hopes of falling in love above the sea. This film is one I found really interesting, because it made me think how different the viewing experience is for someone who grew up loving the original versus someone who is entirely new to The Little Mermaid story. Growing up I really loved the animated feature, it is one of my all time favourite Disney animated features. I really felt the first act of the film captures that selfsame magic, it invites you to this really vibrant and colourful undersea kingdom that looks bright and fantastical. The character of Ariel is almost immediately perfect; watching her thrill over learning about human culture or daydreaming about somewhere that wasn't below the waves really placed the audience with her well. The thrill of her and Flounder escaping a shark or watching Ariel and Eric work to save people from a sinking ship that has caught ablaze heightens this movie and makes you invested in the more adventurous elements of the story. But beyond that there is a real light charm that comes from the animal characters and King Triton trying to understand his teenage daughter that I think families will really connect with.

Rob Marshall lends himself well to the film and has a vision that really means those underwater sequences all come across well shot, but also there is a real extravagant sense of style applied across the film that knows how to tighten up and get intimate when it needs to. I thought probably the strongest element of the feature was the visual effects; it's no mean feat crafting realistic underwater environments and realistic tail movements for large chunks of film. The film has a variety of interesting looking characters such as Sebastian or Flounder; but the visuals can get so real they border on decent horror: see the shark scene or Ursula's giant transformation. I also loved Alan Menken's score for this which juggled the joyful nature of the piece with the more intensive moments. The original songs also play quite well, I even think I like 'Part of Your World' and the Reprise better than the original.

 

Halle Bailey, who played Ariel, is about as perfect a lead as they could have gotten; she leads this film with such a genuine sense of wonder and a powerhouse singing voice. Javier Bardem, who played King Triton, really does exude the gravitas and power of a underwater king; I loved how coy Bardem could deliver lines when he was trying to be a good Dad in front of Bailey's Ariel or Diggs' Sebastian. Art Malik, who played Sir Grimsby, was a real treasure right through the surface world storyline; Malik brings a kindly figure who is always trying to guide the prince to a truly happy outcome. Jacob Tremblay, who voiced Flounder, is such a charming character; Tremblay brings a really optimistic, if not a little cowardly, spirit to Ariel's fishy friend. Jessica Alexander, who played Vanessa, really brings the best antagonist performance of the feature; Alexander's wild displays of exuberance after ruining Ariel's chances actually feel quite intimidating to watch.

However, the best performance came from Daveed Diggs, who voiced Sebastian. This uppity crustacean is the perfect right hand to King Triton when first we meet him. Diggs really captures that exasperated tone and I love how much of a people-pleaser he is towards Bardem's Triton. As the feature goes along you come to really appreciate Sebastian's dry wit as the problems Ariel faces continue to escalate. Diggs also sings marvelously, his rendition of 'Under the Sea' and 'Kiss the Girl' are absolutely carried by his amazing vocals. Sebastian is one of those characters who should be a total grouch but he becomes the big soft heart of the film the more you watch.

The Little Mermaid is exceptional when it is treading what I want to describe as 'safe ground', the beautiful sequences we've seen before in the animated feature done to a masterful standard. But there's a lot in here that has been added that is what really makes this film struggle along. This has happened in a few Disney live action remakes now, they look at characters that previously haven't been expanded on and start exploring them more because they hope it might give the plot a new mark. In this feature Prince Eric is suddenly such a busy character; he's adopted, he's trying to restore the economy at his port, he has his own expedition collection, his Mum has a fear of the sea gods and in amongst all that we actively explore the general culture of his island. This is all fed to us in such dull, exposition heavy dialogue that I came to associate above the sea plotlines to be boring which isn't good when act 2 and most of the third take place there. Prince Eric also doesn't share much chemistry with Ariel either, she is too expressionless when she 'can't talk' and his personality doesn't come off as lively or interesting. You struggle to find their point of connection. When the film ends with the most over the top depiction of humans and the sea kingdom coming together I felt like the audience was being fed the big theme in such an overbearing way. The whole feature was nearly twenty minutes longer than it needed to be and unfortunately almost all of the new elements were what messed up the pacing so badly.

While I found the musical numbers to often be very good there were a number of new numbers that just didn't work either. I found it a strange choice narratively to continue to have Ariel singing after she lost her voice, the fact it was all in her head didn't change the fact this made the impact of leaving her voiceless not as strong. I also really didn't need the big Prince Eric solo number, it was over the top and languishing, his singing wasn't strong and the over the top posing made me feel like I was watching 'Agony' from Into the Woods. Awkwafina rapping 'Scuttlebutt' was one of the more cursed things I heard, and the style of the rap really clashed with the rest of the musical numbers.

Jonah Hauer-King, who played Eric, just doesn't have the personality to be the lead against Bailey; for that matter I would have liked maybe an ounce of real chemistry from Hauer-King too. Melissa McCarthy, who played Ursula, had impossibly large shoes to fill from Pat Carroll and given her more comedic background I'm not surprised they didn't fit; McCarthy gives mean and pauses for jokes a lot and her Ursula voice feels more befitting of Patty & Selma from The Simpsons. Noma Dumezwemi, who played The Queen, was such a stoic figure with constant expressionless delivery; Dumezwemi was a large factor of why I didn't find the surface world storyline interesting. Awkwafina, who voiced Scuttle, was just such a distinctive voice that really didn't gel with the thing she was voicing; I know Scuttle is an annoying character but Awkwafina just got too much for me at times and wasn't as funny as I often find her to be. Martina Laird, who played Lashana, is one of those side characters given a way more prominent amount of screen time than they really need; I found Laird to be an unnecessary use of time that just slouched the pacing further.

The hardest sell this film has is convincing me Ariel could fall for someone as boring as Prince Eric. I would give The Little Mermaid a 6/10.

 

Fast X

 This review may contain spoilers!

 

Fast X is the tenth film in the Fast and Furious series, eleventh film overall in the franchise. This time a gangster with a grudge from the Rio heist in Fast 5 is back looking to make Dom and the family suffer. I actually quite liked Dante's whole revenge arc, he's a really unpredictable character that isn't like anything we've seen in the Fast franchise before. We have seen some great antagonists come out of this franchise: Theron's Cipher, Statham's Shaw, Evans' Shaw and Momoa's Dante wastes no time in jumping right up that list. Throughout the entire film he proves to be as versatile as Dom's crew, often outpacing our heroes by a few steps and managing to salvage his villainous plans quite spontaneously. The way he dishes out his revenge and how that all escalates is the driving force of this film. However, I also think there's a really charming subplot in this film between Jakob and Little Brian, the perfect storyline for bringing Jakob back into the family convincingly. It's the funniest, most charming plotline and it has an ending with a pretty decent punch to the gut.

 

The cinematography mostly comes together well; especially in the action sequences. These moments of high intensity are really thought about in a manner that gives us every possible exciting angle of the action as it plays out. I also think the score hits pretty strongly and lends some great emotion to a few key scenes; the hip hop anthems of the soundtrack fit this franchise perfectly but nothing is better than 'Good Vibrations' by Marky Mark.

 

Michelle Rodriguez, who played Letty, really leads as an action hero in this one; the way Rodriguez plays out her intense hatred for Theron's character is well done. Jordana Brewster, who played Mia, is a character that I always enjoy seeing more done with; Brewster gets to a little maternal and a little tough in this feature which she is well suited to. Charlize Theron, who played Cipher, was entirely wasted in F9 but this was exceptional; watching her really show her mean streak against Momoa and Rodriguez gave two of the best scenes of the feature. John Cena, who played Jakob, really steals the show throughout the feature; Cena knows how to play likeable alongside kids but alongside that he knows how to play a character with hilarious comedic delivery.

 

However, the best performance came from Jason Momoa, who played Dante. As I noted earlier one of the real strengths the Fast and Furious franchise has had since the fifth film is the excellent antagonists. Heck, Johnson's Hobbs was an adversary before he was a friend. But nothing could have prepared me for this extremely twisted and unhinged performance. At first Momoa presents Dante as a rageful thug, he is his father's blunt weapon. But then you get this fantastic scene where he gets to match up against Theron; a scene in which he is very light and playful. This approach to never really taking the stakes seriously while wielding all the power makes for one great antagonist. There's a moment in the film where Momoa has his hair up in double man buns and is talking about toxic masculinity to corpses, the fingernails of whom he is painting. That moment solidified to me that this character was unlike anything this franchise has really had the willingness to present to us before. Momoa's Dante is the type to dance to Swan Lake in one scene and hold a gun to a character's head the next. Jason Momoa is unlike anything you have ever seen him in before and it is wonderful.

 

This film starts a little stronger than F9 because it really nicely ties us back to a pivotal point in the Fast franchise with the Rio heist in Fast 5. The issue here is this movie is nearly two and a half hours long and it takes more than a great new antagonist and a cute John Cena subplot to revive this series. The film moves out of the cool Rio flashback and shows a car spinning tricks at high velocity, only to reveal the driver as none other than Little Brian - Dome Toretto's rapidly aged up son. I thought to myself in this moment, 'okay they're going to have fun this time and not scatter in extensive moments of taking itself too seriously.' But that's not what happens. Instead we get a number of long thematic conversations around the importance of family and legacy. The lines read almost proverbial at times and you have to wonder what writer thinks these empty deep and meaningfuls are actually having an effect. The film really forges ahead by bumping every franchise character into the plot while still trying to introduce new ones, it all gets really bloated and poorly paced very fast. The Agency as the big international spy network the team has been helping up until now gets really absurd in this one; watching big inter-Agency power struggles and black sites fresh out of Snowpiercer comes off as laughable. The biggest waste of time is watching Roman, Tej, Ramsey and Han muddle around in what is nothing short of a boring attempt at a comedy subplot to give these four something to actually do. The film even detours for quite a long period of time to pay a stupidly long homage to Elsa Pataky's character: Elena. If this film had a script that knew how to mesh and come together to serve one final goal that would have been satisfying. But really, apart from a few small deviations, this film is content being a long spectacle that just crashes into a cliffhanger very abruptly.

 

The film had some absolutely awful visual effects, the consistency often wasn't there. An explosion might look imposed into a scene or the big scary medical laser bot looks like something out of a cheap Terminator knockoff. For me it was the fact this film felt confident ending it on the slow motion explosion on the dam scene as Dom races away. None of the human performers look very real in that, the background is clearly imposed and the fire/nos combo hasn't looked this bad in a Fast movie in awhile. 

 

Vin Diesel, who played Dominic Toretto, hasn't shown growth in this character for a long time; I find Diesel's chemistry with his co-stars really non-existent - most surprisingly with Rodriguez and Abelo Perry. Jason Statham, who played Shaw, really just feels like he was paid to show up; Statham's completely indifferent approach to Shaw made this scene quite underwhelming. Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Nathalie Emmanuel and Sung Kang, who played Roman, Tej, Ramsey and Han respectively, truly felt like the weak link supporting cast of this one; this crew was meant to spearhead the comedy angle of the film and in a group of actors with Gibson in it? Never gonna work that well. Helen Mirren, who played Queenie, really has overstayed her welcome on these; Mirren giving shallow dialogue while gazing off into the distance is a waste of her talent. Brie Larson, who played Tess, really deadpans what could otherwise be quite playful dialogue; Larson is meant to be a spy operative type like Kurt Russell but it doesn't play that way. Scott Eastwood, who played Little Nobody, is out here doing even less with an Agency type role that Larson; Eastwood clunks through some generic exposition but that's all he brings to the table. Alan Ritchson, who played Aimes, gives a pretty cut and dry henchmen type antagonist; his mean streak macho man persona may have gotten Ritchson Reacher but I'm eager to see a little more range. Luis Da Silver Jr., who played Diogo, is one of the most forgettable returning roles in this film; they could've omitted him and it would barely have made a difference. Daniela Melchior, who played Isabel, is an actress I know can do leagues better than this role; watching Melchior deliver some very flat lines for a character that had two-dimensional levels of substance was painful. Leo Abelo Perry, who played Little Brian, isn't a great young performer; I never really bought into him being a young car prodigy and he certainly paired awfully with Diesel. Rita Moreno, who played Abuelita, is a new character that really deserved to be a deleted scene; Moreno peddling these deep proverbial lines with nothing to them made her character come across as quite empty. Pete Davidson, who played Bowie, has struggled with acting in a lot of roles I've seen him in but I thought he was meant to be able to do comedy? Davidson is one of the worst bumps on particularly awful comedy b plot road.

Thankfully these movies are almost done because this is possibly the worst in the series. I would give Fast X a 4.5/10

Hypnotic

 This review may contain spoilers!

 

Hypnotic is a science-fiction thriller which sees Detective Danny Rourke pulled into a mystery around a series of bank robberies conducted by an individual with special powers of hypnosis. I genuinely thought the film laid out the concept very succintly in the first opening minutes. I was invested in the tilt as the plot took a turn for the strange and supernatural, watching our main antagonists start to unwind our protagonist's sense of control was wonderful. Equally as we geared towards the last act and were dealt the first major plot twist I was actually impressed; not necessarily because it was unpredictable, but I enjoyed how both Danny and Diana were redefined by the moment.

 

William Fichtner, who played Dellrayne, is a fantastic antagonist for this feature; Fichtner seems almost unearthly in his manner and so crafts the menace of this mysterious psychological element well. Hala Finley, who played Minnie, might just be one of the best aspects of the final act; Finley doesn't share the screen with Affleck for long but their reunion scene is one of the most emotional moments of the feature.

 

However, the best performance came from Ben Affleck, who played Danny Rourke. The choice here wasn't a very difficult one to make, Affleck is the draw for this movie. If the name being plastered on everything isn't Robert Rodriguez then it's probably Ben Affleck. Danny is introduced as a haunted individual, this is someone who feels like they have equally failed and lost everything. Yet I liked how Affleck bent a sort of serious determination and capability into the character, it's a very intuitive role who is clearly someone better at unravelling mystery than most. I loved watching Affleck portray those moments where he couldn't reconcile doing a bad thing for the right reasons or the moments where he felt entirely manipulated by the Hypnotics case. There is a scene in this film where we think Affleck might be under the sway of someone else and about to kill someone; watching that grapple of murderous intent and fear of self marked it as a great scene. However, there is a key moment in the film in which Danny gains power and control back over his world, and gets to watch with true satisfaction as he takes back his identity and Affleck made the final act work because of that. Overall this is a film with a poor script and supporting cast so there is no surprise that such a veteran performer leads it so well.

 

It is very clear from the beginning when the massive block letter title plug of the director's name is given more of a spotlight than the actual film title that this is going to be something disappointing. A lot of Hypnotic tries to dress itself as a very intelligent and surprising sort of thriller but lots of extreme close ups on eyes and out of sequence cutting coupled with copious flashback scenes would've made this a C-lister in the early 2000s. Ironically, right back when Robert Rodriguez peaked as a filmmaker. The lead protagonist is extremely dull, a family man who failed at being a family man and a detective who is so damn good that even the hypnotic psychics can't break his stupendous brain. The fact this film pushes the two leads together so awkwardly and then has them engage in really boring to watch action or chase scenes for most of the first hour is disappointing. But not more disappointing than the fact I had to listen to monologue length exposition pieces about what Hypnotics are, how they can create false realities, the Division that used to control them, Dellrayne's whole life story, the psychic barriers explanation and an entire secret project with an innocuous codename. The film kept pushing us to understand the 'big mystery' while also really being quite heavy handed with how Danny Rourke ties into things. For that reason alone the plot twists in the final act come as no surprise, I just wish I didn't have to watch them replay so much of the first act to really have the point driven home. The film also shoehorns in another unnecessary and predictable plot twist to craft a happily ever after ending that really doesn't feel deserved at all. The way characters connect in this film barely feel reasonable and there is often massive disconnect in chemistry between roles. I despise products like this that give a really empty plot to us as if it is some kind of glorious meal and then push a sequel bait tease as their way to cap off the ending. 

 

The cinematography within this film is just further proof that Robert Rodriguez hasn't progressed as a film director, the feature has a number of shots that should frame the same and bleed into one another well and they never do. This mismatched sense of capturing big moments or just plain blocky wides for the big action sequences just feels like there wasn't much money nor creativity put into this thing. The special effects are somehow even worse, there is a clear desire that it wants to be a bit like Inception or Doctor Strange with some of those effects visuals, but the way they bleed into a scene feels so fake and poorly rendered that it becomes difficult to take these moments seriously. The lack of talent on display by Rebel Rodriguez as the composer behind this films score is pretty noteworthy, the music is really forgettable and just feels vaguely the same in how it felivers a flat tone across this piece. 

Alice Braga, who played Diana Cruz, keeps getting attached to some really awful leads roles; the real problem I had with Braga's role is her constant monotonous delivery of exposition heavy dialogue. JD Pardo, who played Nicks, is the detective partner of Affleck in this and I don't think the two could have less chemistry with one another; Pardo is the type of performer who looks like he is always trying to make the audience believe it rather than find his way to inhabiting the role. Dayo Okeniyi, who played River, decides the best way to portray the quirky character is just to go over the top and deliver his lines rapidly; I think Okeniyi decided to play with this role but in doing so he was quite aimless and it showed. Jeff Fahey and Sandy Avila, who played Carl and Thelma respectively, were really jarring new roles introduced far too late in the game; these characters were actually important to the story of our leads but had no time to actually make the mark that was clearly required of them. Jackie Earle Haley, who played Jeremiah, has a major scene in this film that fails to evoke the talent this performer is capable of; slumping Haley in a chair to rattle off exposition was boring and didn't up the stakes of the feature at all.

It has been a long time since Robert Rodriguez has created something genuinely good and this is one of his very worst yet. I would give Hypnotic a 3.5/10.

Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3

 This review may contain spoilers!

 

Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 is the third instalment in James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy and the 32nd film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This film sees the Guardians go up against an antagonist from Rocket's past in order to save their furry friend's life. It's no secret I love superhero films and the Guardians have constantly been some of the best characters to come out of Marvel, especially when they're written and directed by James Gunn. This feels like a perfect end to their trilogy and a neat culmination of the last decade we've spent with this motley crew. This film sets the stakes high really early on while also introducing us to the personal struggles each of the team is going through. What I love about this feature is how it showcases the growth of these heroes; the Guardians work their way through problems faster, they're a little more mature and they really work like a team constantly. These films are all the best parts of the found family trope and this is a beautiful gift to the people who love this little cosmic family so much. It returns to form really well too; the heist is brilliant, the antagonist is really wild and the work done to make this a wholesome emotional end to everything is lovely. It's a sad movie, it's a joyous movie, I was near tears, I was in fits of laughter. Some sequels lose sight of their roots but the Guardians of the Galaxy have stayed true to theirs since the beginning and emerged all the better for it.

 

The way this film is shot really builds on the scale of the adventure, everything moves fast and also shows a great sense of space. Yet there are some beautiful and comedic examples of framing that just work really well and are a great example of why James Gunn has grown so prolific as a filmmaker and creative. The visual effects are some of the best coming out of Marvel, I really can't praise the variety of designs for the various aliens or alien creatures. Sequences like the High Evolutionary's ship vs Knowhere was really something impressive, closely followed by the multi-coloured spacesuit walk sequence. The score on offer here rips at the heartstrings in the best possible way, while the choices for the soundtrack mark this trilogy on being three for three on exemplary track selection and usage. Seriously, 'No Sleep Till Brooklyn' by the Beastie Boys gives us one of the best hallway fight sequences we've seen in a long time.

 

Chris Pratt, who played Peter Quill, has been leading these films exceptionally well throughout; you see the hurt he's been carrying for so long in this one alongside his self-sacrificing nature as a leader. Zoe Saldana, who played Gamora, is giving one of my favourite takes of the character; Saldana gets to present Gamora in a harsher meaner light this time around which surprises but lands. Dave Bautista, who played Drax, really is one of the funniest characters in the feature purely due to his delivery; Bautista always has a couple of scenes that pack an emotional punch too and this one is no different. Vin Diesel, who voiced Groot, really still manages to get that range across with just a few lines; one of his last big ones in the film warmed my heart completely. Bradley Cooper, who voiced Rocket, really gets to take on a guiding presence in this film which works rather well; Cooper presenting a Rocket who is tired of all the hurt and pain inflicted in the final act is something I particuarly loved. Karen Gillan, who played Nebula, still has that mean streak in her that makes her role such a hardened figure; yet I loved how Gillan has found the emotional centre with Nebula and lets it out a little more liberally. Sean Gunn, who played Kraglin, is a stubborn yet comedic role who still functions well in the team; the moment in this film in which he comes into his own honouring Yondu's legacy is actually quite powerful. Chukwudi Iwuji, who played The High Evolutionary, is the best antagonist we've ever had in a Guardians film; Iwuji can play his character arrogant and measured one moment and completely maniacal the next. Maria Bakalova, who voiced Cosmo the Spacedog, is such a light and cheerful character that I really enjoyed seeing in the mix of the main cast; Bakalova makes Cosmo both really funny and quite a cute supporting character. Nathan Fillion, who played Master Karja, is a minor antagonist that really steals the show; watching Fillion really ham it up as the cocky security guard chief is just plain grade A stuff. 

 

However, the best performance came from Pom Klementieff, who played Mantis. This is a character who has done nothing but improve over the years in my eyes. I had a sneaking suspicion when I watched the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special last year that Klementieff was going to really shine bright in Vol. 3. And she does, she really does. Mantis is such a quirky, free-spirited character who seems tied to joy so strongly that she becomes a real light amongst some of the broodier team members. I loved how kind she was, Klementieff's great chemistry with everyone really shows in how genuine her scenes of caring for the others comes across. Mantis feels like the heart of this little family, she is the one who knows how they all feel and often reflects that back at them all. Klementieff really has developed from the character who joins up as the new addition in Vol. 2, I couldn't imagine cosmic Marvel without Mantis now.

 

My biggest gripe with the feature was that the flashback storyline really muddled the pacing quite a lot, especially the first three to four scenes of it. While the ultimate climax of this arc lands beautifully I can't help but feel the film interrupted itself quite a bvit by introducing us to a bunch of dumb CGI animals going in a very obvious narrative direction. Beyond this I felt some loose ends from prior films really could have been picked up better, the main one being Ayesha raising Adam Warlock. The Sovereign as antagonists really didn't connect as nicely here as it otherwise could've.

 

Elizabeth Debicki, who played Ayesha, is a returning minor character I really don't think we needed more of; Debicki feels underwhelmed by what's on offer here and it shows. Sylvester Stallone, who played Stakar Ogord, was so good in Vol. 2 but has nothing to do this time around; Stallone spouting sci-fi exposition is the last thing I wanted from his appearance in this film. Will Poulter, who played Adam Warlock, is quite a wimpy new addition to the core cast; Poulter played too much into the simple comedy coming out of Adam's introduction and never showed too much range. Linda Cardellini, Asim Chaudry and Mikaela Hoover, who voiced Lylla, Teefs and Floor respectively, gave some voice acting that I felt would have been better suited to a children's cartoon; the voices are som simplistic and dumbed down that it becomes hard to ever take their storyline seriously. 

Guardians of the Galaxy has the best MCU trilogy to date and this is the best of them all. I would give Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 a 9.5/10.