The Creator

 This review may contain spoilers!

 

The Creator is set in a world in which AI and synthetic humans are widespread yet reside chiefly in the Eastern world. The Western world (specifically America) is waging an all out war on the machines after the detonation of a nuclear warhead destroyed Los Angeles and is blamed upon AI. The plot follows Joshua, an American undercover soldier who is in love with a member of the enemy resistance. After becoming separated from here he leaps at the chance to rediscover her when offered an infiltration mission. However, his quest sees him discovering the next AI superweapon: a synthetic child with the ability to control machines. 

This is a film with a very rich sense of worldbuilding, right from the montage conceptualising the alternate Earth we would be watching I found myself being pulled in. This film does a fantastic job of positioning AI/synthetics as their own functioning society. It then goes a step further by co-ordinating how that society might relate to humans. We see a society co-dependent on one another in the Asian settings; while the American setting showcased AI as an Other figure that threatened the status quo. I was really impressed by the serious commentary through world building over an inter-societal conflict motivated by a specific resource or faction. There's a lot of lens you can really look at this through, America's past actions in the Vietnam War really sprung to mind for me personally.

The real triumph of The Creator is how it looks, which if you've seen a Gareth Edwards film will not surprise you at all. The cinematography has these expansive beautiful shots that have the world look so vibrant and rich, blending the visual effects with the live action components in a very realistic way. This feels like one of Edwards' grandest films to date visually, there's no part of this film that feels confined or unexplored. The visual nods to Japanese media and culture are very masterfully done too. I thought the visual effects are the best I have seen this year, with the designs for the various machines or Nomad being absolute standouts. The score for the film also is a wonderfully tragic ballad of sound which could be crafted by the maestro that is Hans Zimmer.

Ralph Ineson, who played General Andrews, has the deep gravelly voice to really command your attention and leave a sense of mystery; Ineson sells that shadowy quality to a side of the military you do not want to mess with. Veronica Ngo, who played Kami, is one of the few performances that actually feels authetically like someone who lives in this world; Ngo has a real kind presence and the scene in which she tries to win Voyles' character over is one of my favourites.

However, the best performance came from Madeleine Yuna Voyles, who played Alphie. The entire film became something I actually wanted to watch the moment Voyles came on-screen, there was something to this performance that really stood out from the wider cast. What was that quality? Personality. As a character Alphie is easy to love because she shines out a lot more from the rest of the stoic, angry or downright selfish wider cast of characters. Voyles has this wide-eyed wonder to her that amkes you more invested in the world. But more than that her character has a sort of certainty that crafts a moral compass, something that put the film back on track in a big way. I loved the heart that comes from this role, how genuine and compassionate she is. Ultimately, seeing her grapple with grief and a strong sense of justice in those last fifteen minutes really was a moment that blew me away. The youngest in this cast but the biggest talent, no competition.

While I was so impressed by the scale of the world before me, both visually and in terms of the writing, I felt like there was something off the whole film. What The Creator lacks in a big way is a reason why I should even care as a viewer, in a script where most of the characters are so inexpressive or difficult to like it became harder to engage with this feature. The basic premise of the film is a trope that Hollywood is loving to milk at the moment: stoic single Dad figure safeguards younger child figure who is important to saving the day. This concept is already familiar ground but there have been some good stories told through this, where The Creator missteps is with central protagonist: Joshua. Joshua is so difficult to like as a protagonist, he spends nearly the entire runtime of the feature being quite selfishly motivated by his own interests. The times where he 'bonds' with Alphie are very quick and don't really endear me to him or their relationship. Right up until the end of the film I really felt like Joshua uses Alphie more than he comes to support her and see her as a sort of surrogate child figure. The whole film really lacks characters who make me care about what would otherwise be a pretty interesting world to play around in. I've seen the film in which AI isn't so bad, it's the humans who are wrong played out so many times; this feature feels like it's ripping off better films like Blade Runner, I,Robot, Elysium and Chappie constantly. There is also a part of me that felt like this film pumping extremely pro-AI messages as a theme in the current world climate might just make this one of the more tone deaf films of the year.

John David Washington, who played Joshua, is one of the main reasons I really struggled with the film; Washington has no issues playing his character as a jerk or as cruel but he never wins me over come redemption arc time. Gemma Chan, who played Maya, is absolutely wasted in this film; Chan is here to be more of a romantic thought than an actually developed character. Allison Janney, who played Colonel Howell, has found one of her most forgettable roles in recent years; Janney stoically mumbling her lines the whole film made for a weak antagonist. Ken Watanabe, who played Harun, was a bit too impassive for my liking; Watanabe really put no expression into his role which becomes frustrating as he is the main resistance figure we associate with. Sturgill Simpson, who played Drew, is wildly all over the place in this film; I really struggled to buy into the friendship dynamic between him and Washington. Marc Menchaca, who played McBride, wasn't capable of lifting his military antagonist to more than dumb grunt; Menchaca shouting dumb quips all the time felt extremely out of place. Robbie Tann, who played Shipley, was in this film a lot more than his character really needed to be; watching Tann oversell a dying person for nearly twenty minutes was a bit much.

One of the nicest looking sci-fi films of 2023 but can't really escape a bland cast and a script about AI that has been done to death many times before. I would give The Creator a 6/10.

Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken

This review may contain spoilers!

 

Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken follows the title lead, eldest daughter in a family of krakens hiding in coastal suburbia with a strict imperative to never venture into the water. However, when Ruby is forced to break this big rule she discovers that she can transform into a monstrous giant sea beast; the only question is: how is this going to affect her plans for prom? I liked the underpinnings of a coming of age story in this animated feature, watching a protagonist who really is so on the outside trying to understand herself and fit in is a very worthy narrative. From the outset things seem a bit stacked against Ruby, she's really on the social fringes and the rules from her parents are pretty stifling. Yet that promise of the big Prom and asking out her crush, Connor, seems to be things within her grasp. So suddenly experiencing a change in her body and within herself seems almost unfair and confusing; it presents a real road of sadness, confusion and anger for Ruby that I think is a pretty honest take of a teenage experience.

 

The soundtrack for the film is what really stands apart for me, this whole film is riddled with tracks that feel a really nice blend of indie, Top 40 and nostalgic to really encapture that teenage coming of age vibe. I had my issues with major aspects of the animation but one thing I cannot knock on are the environments. The colourful, oddball aesthetic of the seaside town is such a fine contrast to the raw and realistic portrayal of the surf and the sea.

Toni Collette, who voiced Agatha Gillman, really had to work at it but managed to really flesh out a role that would otherwise have been quite two-dimensional; Collette's really convincing in her desperate attempts to connect with and support her on-screen daughter. Will Forte, who voiced Gordon Lighthouse, is a character I initially thought would be way too over the top and kooky but Forte really made it his own; this eccentric ship captain might have been one of the funniest roles in the film. Jaboukie Young-White, who voiced Connor, has a really shy and gentle charisma that immediately endears him to the audience; I liked that Young-White really matched Condor's energy and crafted quite a compatible character.Annie Murphy, who voiced Chelsea Van Der Zee, was perfect as the campy over the top popular girl; Murphy has this light joyful quality that wins you over too and makes you really believe she wants to befriend Ruby.

 

However, the best performance came from Lana Condor, who voiced Ruby Gillman. I think this film really thrived on having such a great leading role and the work Condor puts in goes a long way to achieving this. Condor really has this energy to her that makes this character feel sincerely anxious and nervous but still makes her quite charismatic for the audience. Ruby would be very easy to do in quite a generic way but those moments where she feels flustered around her crush or feels unsure of how to navigate conflict with her friends come across quite sincerely. I loved Condor's portrayal of shock and distress when Ruby first develops her powers; it's a big moment in the movie and quite possibly my favourite part. This is a role that really naturally grows into confidence and I think there's no surprise that lana Condor continues to corner the high schooler coming of age scene.

Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken is a real example of what has set a large number of recent Dreamworks features back, there's no care being put into these films anymore. In recent years Dreamworks has been pushing out media like Trolls or Boss Baby which have been really simplistic titles lacking in imagination and really devoid of the spirit Dreamworks as a studio used to have. Sadly, Ruby Gillman continues this trend with a film that feels very thinly written and plays out every stereotype in the book from start to finish. While the central character is quite interesting there is no getting past the fact that this film does the story of a kid rebelling against the status quo, learns their new powers and then embraces their true self to fight the big bad and win the happily ever after. Ruby Gillman doesn't aim to break tradition or surprise you, it's a very boring story with a colourful cast bumping it along. The humour is pretty lousy, filled with a lot of cheesy jokes or excessive puns that rarely draw a real laugh from the audience. It's a pity this film couldn't strive to do more with this premise, as it stands we have had two very similar films in recent years that have done this entirely better and I'd sooner recommend them: Luca and Turning Red.

I felt so torn with the animation for this one, there are some really nicely designed environments in places but the character designs are absolutely ghastly. Everything looks blob-like, lacks details and feels awkwardly disproportionate. The 3D character models here are some of the worst I've seen in a big animated feature release in quite awhile.

Jane Fonda, who voiced Grandmamah, really overdid it with the melodramatic delivery in this one; Fonda felt like she barely put any effort in to voicing this role at all. Colman Domingo, who voiced Arthur Gillman, was a real background performance in this feature; Domingo really isn't quirky enough to fit the comedic Dad role. Blue Chapman, who voiced Sam Gillman, doesn't quite have the presence to make his role stand out; the cute comedic brother role isn't anything new and doesn't do anything unique here. Liza Koshy, Ramona Young and Eduardo Franco, who voiced Margot, Bliss and Trevin respectively, are a pretty weak ensemble friend group for the protagonist; Koshy particularly misses a lot with her wild energy that feels really randomly placed. Sam Richardson, who voiced Uncle Brill, is a comedic role that often feels unnecessary to the wider plot; Richardson crafts a goofy role who is difficult to enjoy and takes up far too much screen time.

I don't even really recognise Dreamworks Animation much anymore in recent years. I would give Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken a 4/10.

Blue Beetle

 This review may contain spoilers!

 

Blue Beetle follows Jaime Reyes, a young Latin-American graduate who becomes bonded with an alien scarab. Working with some incredible new powers Jaime must work to protect his family, keep this power from the wrong hands and forge his destiny as a superhero. This film works really well when it wears its heart on its sleeve, the major theme surrounding this feature is family and love. While these themes don't always find their footing the genuine connection Jaime has with his family is really sweet and marks him as one of the more charismatic superheroes we've had this year. Jaime has a really strong sense of morality and you feel like he's quite a classic superhero figure; which in a landscape where every superhero project is trying to subvert the expectations can be a nice change of pace. The sequence in which Jaime first bonds with the scarab also deserves a shout out as it stands out for being one of the best origin moments in a superhero film I've seen in a while.

 

The score for this film has a lot of fanfare and really pumps up the excitement during a big battle sequence. Yet the soundtrack is what really shines to me, with a lot of Mexican or Latin American artists on offer that champion the heritage of this Blue Beetle rather nicely.

 

Damián Alcázar, who played Alberto Reyes, really feels like an incredibly moral compass in this film; the bond Alcázar shares with Maridueña makes for a really beautiful father/son dynamic. George Lopez, who played Rudy Reyes, really goes all over the show with just how much his comedy lands in this feature but that wild and random quality works for the most part; it's also nice to see Lopez take a beat in a few more grounded scenes and really deliver a powerful conversation about crossing the border to the US. Belissa Escobedo, who played Milagro Reyes, is really the comedic backbone of the first half of the film; Escobedo really just feels like the biggest presence in a lot of her scenes and she knows how to command audience attention really well. Harvey Guillén, who played Dr. Sanchez, isn't in this film much but he steadily really won me over throughout; I liked Guillén's gentle approach to presenting one of the bad guys who was having a real crisis of conscience the further the film went along.

 

However, the best performance came from Xolo Maridueña, who played Jaime Reyes. I really found this performance to be something worth getting excited about from the very beginning. Maridueña is finding a lot of success right now but to lead a major blockbuster feature like this takes a lot of skill that he is clearly capable of. There is a lot of determination and outpouring of love from Jaime when it comes to his family and supporting them, this really grounds the character with the audience from the very first scene. But more than that Maridueña brings a playful charisma that allows him to be both charming and extremely funny in even measure. I loved the moments that really tested this young actor, watching him portray grief and saying goodbye to a loved one was a real sucker punch. Yet it was also a thrill seeing him present a vengeful anger in response to this too. Xolo Maridueña is a really versatile up and comer and i only expect to see far bigger things than a DC superhero from him in the future.

 

There have been a lot of superhero films this year that have failed because they try to cram too much in, or they take creative risks that simply don't pay off. Blue Beetle fails for a refreshingly different reason: it's a painfully clichéd experience. The first couple of acts boast a pretty passable heroes journey but it is bogged down with side characters who crack jokes or interrupt the flow of the tone to intrude in on scenes. The film opts to make the hero lose a loved one so that he can then become strong and a better superhero. There is a big fight at the end of the film which ends because our protagonist triumphs over the antagonist with a speech about the power of love. This was made even worse because we then get a nearly minute long montage showcasing why this speech works on the villain. Scenes of our hero bumbling through learning his powers are undercut because scenes later we are told he has worked out his problems with the scarab he is working alongside, even though the film really doesn't show the evolution of this relationship at all. The antagonists for this film being an evil corporation wanting the thing the good guys have and there being a back and forth struggle to get it feels extremely unoriginal and nothing is done here to set that apart. Jaime is a great character and his love for his family is very heartwarming but the family as a whole are pretty annoying the further along we get; often the tone is seriously hijacked by a comedic moment forced from that ensemble. Ultimately while the protagonist of the film has a lot of potential he is placed in one of the most forgettable superhero scripts of the year after Shazam: Fury of the Gods.

 

The way this film is shot really highlights a director who isn't used to the scale of a blockbuster feature like this, intimate shots feel cramped and wider shots make you feel like you are on a set. Even when the film tries to get creative with its visuals the risk often doesn't pay off and you get a visual that highlights a film incapable of crafting the desired goal. The visual effects look well enough with the practical suits standing still but the moment things are in motion that illusion shatters pretty profoundly. Across the board there are so many glaringly bad effects-crafted set pieces like the bus being chopped in half, the giant Beetle ship and especially the cityscape and Kord Tower external shots.

 

Bruna Marquezine, who played Jenny Kord, feels like she can't quite capture that heiress to a business empire aspect of her role at all; Marquezine feels out of place paired against Sarandon and the Kord Industries storyline and you often feel she's just here for the thin romance subplot at play. Becky G, who voiced Khaji-Da, is quite bland in the AI character voice she has chosen to take; Becky G is really capable of a high energy role so it's disappointing to see her so entirely underutilised. Adriana Barraza, who played Nana Reyes, was a lightly comic character at first that just got plain ridiculous; Barraza's over the top "storm the enemy" performance in the third act felt cartoonish and pulled me out of the film entirely. Elpidia Carrillo, who played Rocio Reyes, is perhaps one of the most forgettable characters in the film; Carrillo gives quite a generic overly concerned mother performance that just doesn't stick out. Susan Sarandon, who played Victoria Kord, clearly isn't entirely interested in this role or this film because she gives the bare minmum throughout; Sarandon puts a lot of surface level meanness into her delivery but is content at playing her baddie as very two-dimensional. Raoul Max Trujillo, who played Carapax, is little more than a henchman type role with too much screen time; Trujillo gives about as much range as a boulder in this film and is comfortable with letting the visual effects do all the talking for him.

A blockbuster film that looks like it wasn't made with enough money pushing a script that is unbearably clichéd. I would give Blue Beetle a 4.5/10.

The Nun 2

 

 This review may contain spoilers! 

The Nun II is a sequel to the 2018 film, The Nun, and serves as the eighth film in the Conjuring universe (ninth if you count La Llorona). Set in 1956 we follow Sister Irene once again as she ventures across Europe to stop Belial from obtaining a holy relic via the mortal it has possessed. I had a sense this film was going to be better from the first almost immediately, the opening scene that shows Belial slowly working towards killing a priest in a church is spine-chilling. Suddenly Valak is a shade once more, something the camera shows in small moments, just in the shadows or slightly obscured but never hidden. Michael Chaves did some great work on The Curse of La Llorona back in the day for similar reasons and a lot of that skill around knowing when to highlight the monstrous is all present here. The girls boarding school that is our main setting for the feature is a fine choice of environment, we feel this greater sense of dread with there being a large number of children at risk and the addition of the lone man on staff being the threatening force. The way Valak begins to dominate and gain more and more of a foothold over the school while their adversaries are moving too slowly against them is chilling. The scares in the first two acts are genuinely very well orchestrated and unflinchingly land. The audience I was in was verbally shrieking themselves at various points.

The way this feature is shot shows a real understanding of good horror, the balance of colour and lighting in multiple scenes in absolutely commendable. I also liked the variety in those scenes where you knew a scare was coming because the approach felt very different with every new scene. The editing helped construct a decent sense of pace and the special effects were far creepier than the first Nun. I also loved the eerie classic score on offer, it grounded us in the historical setting but it also really gripped you with this deep sense of foreboding.

 

Taissa Farmiga, who played Irene, really finds her feet as a leading protagonist this time around; I found the way Farmiga portrays a role so entirely riddled with fear after her last confrontation with valak was a compelling new character trait. Anna Popplewell, who played Kate, feels like a strong point of motherly guidance and protection for her on-screen daughter (Downey); I also think Popplewell and Bloquet share some phenomenal romantic on-screen chemistry that tells a story without many scenes or dialogue. Katelyn Rose Downey, who played Sophie, really is the heart of the feature; Downey presents a young girl who sees a lot of good in others and is unwaveringly kind in the face of a lot of darkness.

However, the best performance came from Jonas Bloquet, who played Maurice. This was a performance that really surprised me as Bloquet's character in The Nun really seemed to just feel quite secondary to what Bichir and Farmiga were doing. But the sequel would never work without this fantastic display. Bloquet enters most of his scenes with a winning charisma that makes you warm to him immediately. He shares his time onscreen really gracefully and you feel genuine connection between himself and those he performs across from. I loved how empathetic he was in this, the grief he feels over the harm he is doing others really is such a distinct but powerful point of performance. I also found that Bloquet really understood how to play the monster well, it can be hard for an actor with minimal special effects make-up to be so scary but he managed to draw a few jumps from me. This might not have been a role I liked the first time around but Bloquet has converted me entirely this time around.

As much as I really can praise the massive return to horror on display here I also think there are some lingering issues that the Conjuring universe and these Nun movies just aren't shaking. Sister Irene is a far more compelling protagonist this time around but it is a shame she is saddled with a paranormal investigation plot for almost the whole film that feels like the B plot because it is the least interesting part. This film has two major storylines operating in tandem and they don't always cross streams very well; ultimately culminating in a manner that is very abrupt for the viewer. I also found The Nun II to be the sort of film that really loses itself in the final act. Seeing Valak suddenly become a big special effects display was disappointing and undercut the quiet pervasive sinister presence we had earlier. The whole thing felt more like a messy battle or conflict between our heroes and the demon rather than an ending to a horror movie. I also thought Sister Irene using the power of prayer and a few barrels of wine to defeat a truly terrifying demon was a seriously underwhelming way to end the film. No one in the audience was there for the heavy church exposition and reveal of Irene as some kind of Christian demigod nun, something that actually felt instep with the rest of the feature would have served the piece better.

Storm Reid, who played Debra, really just doesn't seem to belong in this feature at all; Reid really struggles to portray a role that feels convincingly from the 1950s. Léontine d'Oncieu and Anouk Darwin Homewood, who played Simone and Celeste respectively, felt exceptionally generic as the young bully roles of the film; the fact the film wound up just shunting these two into screaming roles that ran around a lot in the ending spoke to how little they had to give to the feature.

While this might not be the best horror film of 2023, it is certainly the best the Conjuring universe has been in a long time. I would give The Nun 2 a 6/10.

Haunted Mansion

 

This review may contain spoilers!

 

Haunted Mansion follows a group of four paranormal experts who attempt to help a young mother and her son with thwarting the spirits that haunt the mansion they live within. This film really hits the ground running and opens strongly with showing a fantastic horror open, the sort that you would expect from a more mature horror feature with characters that are a little whackier and light-hearted. Watching the mum and son duo immediately flee the haunted mansion in their introduction gives you a sense that this is going to be more adventure than ghost story, and a good thing too. The movie really thrives when it is having fun, being creative with the hauntings or really diving into the mystery of the mansion as the antagonist works against them. I also like the bonds that are shown throughout the film, there is a lot of heart on display around how these six characters are thrust reluctantly together and become a sort of found family by the end of the feature. Even within that dynamic you have two smaller narratives around a family grieving loss and a man grieving loss alone after the passing of his wife. The work done in this film to surprise us around these themes of grief and coming together is what makes the final act twist such a good one, that key moment marked this as a better blockbuster in my mind.

The visual effects are goofy and silly at times but there is a lot of variety here and the detail to be found is really quite impressive. The designs for the ghosts and how they move genuinely are quite breathtaking, and I adored what they did with the design of the Hatbox Ghost. The score for Haunted Mansion is such a wild ride because it has that light and energetic quality that made 90s family-horrors such classics; my mind immediately going to Casper the Friendly Ghost or even Hocus Pocus.

 

Rosario Dawson, who played Gabbie, is such an incredibly fierce and protective character who has you hooked from her first scene; Dawson gets to portray her mother role as a caring one but also someone who is a bit of a fighter when it comes to her kid. Tiffany Haddish, who played Harriet, is the best film role I've seen from her in awhile; Haddish really shows off her comedic backbone with this wise-cracking medium who will leave you in hysterics. Danny DeVito, who played Bruce Davis, is truly the only performer in the cast who could give Haddish a run for her money when it comes to comedy; DeVito is such an earnest actor and he really gives his all to any scene he happens to be in. Chase Dillon, who played Travis, is such a brilliant young performer with a wealth of talent; I loved how Dillon managed to craft Dillon as this awkward figure with a much more mature outlook than most kids his age. Jared Leto, who played the Hatbox Ghost, really has a bit of a comeback moment with this role in my eyes; Leto as the antagonist of this feature is truly terrifying and intimidating for almost the whole feature. Charity Jordan, who played Alyssa, just has such beautiful onscreen chemistry with Stanfield; Jordan feels warm spirited and portrays a kind sort of love exceptionally well in so few scenes.

However, the best performance came from LaKeith Stanfield, who played Ben Matthias. This was a role that really surprised me and won me over through the course of the feature. When first we meet Ben he is a bit of an awkward figure, but with this quiet charisma that makes the opening scene of him falling in love so endearing. But then there's this great moment of whiplash, we reconnect with Stanfield's character years later and he is so unlikeable. The energy in the performance is gone, the body language screams "I don't care" and the attitude is really abrasive. Yet there's still that humour, those snarky quips here and there that make Stanfield such a good performer; because those little nuggets are what he builds on to bring his character back to the audience. The more time we spend with Ben, seeing him forced to get along with others essentially endears us to him. Stanfield is so good at taking his protagonist's walls down in a way that the audience genuinely believes. The way in which he plays grief really hits the hardest of all, seeing Stanfield in absolute tears as he recounts how he lost his wife is perhaps the most moving moment of the feature. Every film needs some heart and Stanfield is a master and showing a stone one that turns to gold.

Haunted Mansion is a film that starts off surprisingly strong with the ties to horror, you almost get the promise of a great tightrope walk between family film and horror feature. Alas, this film doesn't really manage that walk and what we actually get is a film that really wanders off track in terms of tone. The really scary aspects of the horror get abandoned around the halfway mark, almost as if the movie isn't really interested in being scary anymore. In fact, the ghosts become a lot more playful and the butt of the joke really, taking a lot of the punch out of the work from the first half of the feature. Even the Hatbox Ghost turns more into a CGI moustache twirling baddie as opposed to that dark lingering presence we had initially. The family adventure component really takes over which isn't always a bad thing but it does mean the stakes for the film lower themselves somewhat. More than this the film can be funny but the dialogue struggles to be sometimes; there's a whole scene where two characters exchange egg puns and it really falls flat.

The way this is shot leaves a lot to be desired; there are a lot of simple wides that highlight the studio limitations of where they filmed or the heavy presence of special effects. More than this, when the camerawork tries to get creative it really winds up just feeling too busy and sometimes looks at odds with the style of the rest of the scene.

Owen Wilson, who played Father Kent, seems entirely unnecessary to the film as a whole; this role is really crafted for Wilson to just play himself but the comedy coming from him is constantly eclipsed by his co-stars. Jamie Lee Curtis, who played Madame Leota, feels like Curtis just wasn't really interested in lending much to this role; as a character Leota is very impassive and so Curtis never really rises above that one character trait.

A fun introduction to horror for kids and a great family film that is only really held back by some frequent tonal whiplash. I would give Haunted Mansion a 7/10.