Sadly, Mortal Engines uses up all it’s petrol in its fantastic opening and runs out of steam soon after. It’s got an brilliant concept at the heart of it but sadly fails to live up to the potential it possesses. The visuals are beautiful, but nothing else comes close in terms of quality.
King of Crime is so ambitious with the amount of twist and turns it wants to add into its narrative that it eventually crumbles under its own pressure. What makes the opening grab your attention soon turns into an eye rolling routine. By attempting to live up to the early plot twists, it actually managed to remove the impact of every subsequent twist by over using them.
Taking all the fears and anxieties that have come to the forefront in a post-Trump America, Assassination Nation tackles these head on at an unrelenting pace. Presenting us with a wildly unrealistic prospect that an entire town would want to kill four girls, it all sounds like the plot for the next entry in The Purge franchise. However, as the utter chaos unfold, it’s scary how we do start to believe in what’s unfolding and don’t even blink at some of the atrocities being performed.
This year’s Official Competition at London Film Festival has 10 unique project from all over the globe, and Shadow highlights the welcome diverse nature of films on offer this year. Set during China’s Three Kingdom’s era (AD 220-280), The King of Pei’s (Ryan Zheng) trusted Commander (Chao Deng) brings danger to the kingdom by challenging a rival ruler to a duel. However, under constant threat of assassination many nobles secretly employed surrogate men, known as shadows. Commander is one of these shadows, unbeknown to all but a select few.
Any other MCU fans out there still not over …Infinity War? Me neither, but thankfully we’ve got the latest in the ever expanding universe to hold us over. Ant-Man was something of a surprise hit back in 2015, but I was never as sold on it as everyone else. I thought it was a fun but pretty forgettable film and definitely not up to the standard of the rest of the MCU. The sequel sees Hope (Evangeline Lilly) suit up as the titular Wasp (also becoming the first female superhero to be in the title of an MCU film – finally) this time around and, with the help of her Dad (Michael Douglas) and Scott (Paul Rudd), attempt to save her Mother (Michelle Pheiffer) from the Quantum Relm (something set up in the original film). Without a change of director half way through and the need to set up future instalments, AM&TW (as no one is calling it) is an improvment over it’s predeccessor. However, it still feels a lot less audacious than other MCU films.
Two banker robbers, a deadly assassin and an arms dealer walk into a seedy hotel run by a nameless nurse. It may sound like the start to a bad B-Movie, but Hotel Artemis is a lot more than cliches and violence. For starters, it has a strong ensemble and manages to fully utilise each and every actor to their strengths. Jodie Foster (in her first staring role since Elysium in 2013!) shows that even without a hard hitting dramatic script, she is still an absolutely phenomenal actor. She brings laughs naturally but also adds an surprisingly large emotional weight to the film. Continue reading
Growing up, it became exceedingly easy for everyone at school to hate on ‘Twilight’. Despite the fact most of its critics were teenagers who’d never seen the film, it became a punching bag for people to take their anger out on. This is probably why I never even considered watching them when they were out. Even as I got more and more into watching a variety of films, it still was never one that I ever considered putting on. Finally, after a sick girlfriend asked to show me it, I couldn’t really say no as I had given her my cold. Despite all the negativity, I went in wanting to enjoy it. I thought there’s no way it’s as bad as all the internet trolls make out. Turns out, it’s pretty unwatchable.
I went into the latest dinosaur film feeling slightly cautious as the trailers I’ve seen on almost every cinema trip since April haven’t filled me with confidence. However, I hoped it would be a surprise and in a way it was. I can’t say I loved the film and it definitely left me wanting more, but I’d also be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy parts of the film.
Starting with the elephant in the room, this is the first ‘Star Wars’ film to officially flop. It’s something I thought was impossible but here we are. Whilst there are many factors as to why this is the case, I won’t dive into them here as I’m here to write about the film and the film alone. Due to the countless issues this film had during production, I went in with cautious expectations. I imagine this is how a lot of people went into it and it’s understandable. I wasn’t sure what I was going to get, but thankfully, I’m pleased to say I thought ‘Solo…’ was great and a lot of fun.
The merc with a mouth is back with a bigger and swearier sequel after the original set the world alight. The odds are once again stacked against our favourite hero, but this time he has a lot more help thanks to new heroes joining the frey. While it’s hard to argue ‘Deadpool 2’ is a bad film, it’s still a shame it feels like a bit of a disappointment.