Tag Archives: Movie Review

The Breaker Upperers. A movie review.

New Zealand humour is quirky. The accents certainly help (no offence intended, kiwi readers—I love your accents). The Breaker Upperers, the new comedy from the scripting and directorial team of Madeleine Sami and Jackie van Beek (also the two leads) is funny and sweet, with a bit of raunch thrown in for good measure. MelContinue reading “The Breaker Upperers. A movie review.”

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. A movie review.

The dinosaurs are back! The sequel to massive money-spinner Jurassic World and the earlier Jurassic Park films contains all the big action bluster you expect from a major tentpole movie, and just enough story to keep the audience engaged for the two-hour running time. A volcano is about to erupt on Isla Nubar, home ofContinue reading “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. A movie review.”

Tomb Raider. A movie review.

There’s no such thing as spoilers (in this review, anyway)! Alicia Vikander is the new Tomb Raider (for those of you not familiar with the previous movie incarnation, Angelina Jolie was the titular heroine), and she ably fills the tank top—umm…role. This is a reboot of the franchise, based heavily on the popular computer gameContinue reading “Tomb Raider. A movie review.”

Annihilation. A movie review.

Alex Garland’s new science fiction movie, Annihilation, is now available on Netflix in Australia (part of Paramount’s current risk management strategy is to recoup production and distribution costs in smaller markets by going directly to streaming). Natalie Portman stars as Lena, a Cellular Biologist with an Army background, whose army husband Jake (Oscar Isaac) hasContinue reading “Annihilation. A movie review.”

Red Sparrow. A movie review.

A few minor spoilers! Red Sparrow is a harrowing spy movie starring Jennifer Lawrence and Joel Edgerton and directed by Francis Lawrence. Why harrowing? Because it includes several excruciating scenes of graphic torture and explicit violence (there’s sex, too—surprisingly it’s kept to a minimum, but it’s generally pretty nasty as well). Lawrence plays a RussianContinue reading “Red Sparrow. A movie review.”

Black Panther. A Movie Review.

No spoilers here! Okay, you’ve read the reviews already. More than likely you’ve already seen it. I’m talking director Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther, the latest Marvel Studios’ superhero film that ends up being one of the best movies Marvel has released since Spiderman: Homecoming. I’m not going to talk about the story. I’ll just giveContinue reading “Black Panther. A Movie Review.”

The Shape of Water. A movie review.

I’m a big fan of Guiermo Del Toro. I loved the Hellboy movies and Pan’s Labyrinth is in my Top 10. I’m also a big softie for romance movies (so sue me). The Shape of Water is Del Toro’s homage to the monster movies of the 1950’s, a ‘beauty and the beast’ romance about aContinue reading “The Shape of Water. A movie review.”

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. A Movie Review.

No Spoilers! My son dragged me (literally) to see the new Jumanji film. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Four teens given school detention find an old game machine with the Jumanji game loaded. They are sucked into the video game-world of Jumanji, where they take on the roles of fourContinue reading “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. A Movie Review.”

Justice League. A movie review.

I read about twenty negative reviews of Zack Snyder and Joss Whedon’s Justice League prior to going. I took my son with me to see it and we and everyone else in the theatre had a fantastic time. Screw you, critics. The big DC heroes come together in this huge romp ‘em, stomp ‘em popcornContinue reading “Justice League. A movie review.”

Thor Ragnarok. A movie review.

By Odin’s shaggy beard, there shalt be no spoilers here! I’m one of those moviegoers who felt the Marvel formula was getting a bit stale. Well, Thor Ragnarok hasn’t varied it too much, but has added enough humour and lasting change to a major character and setting that I’m still interested. Thor Ragnarok is aContinue reading “Thor Ragnarok. A movie review.”

Blade Runner 2049. A movie review.

Spoilers? Don’t think so. Okay, so you saw the trailers and it looked interesting. Maybe you were interested enough to stream the original 1982 Blade Runner (actually one of the four director’s cuts, because the original with the horrible Harrison Ford voiceover is long gone). Maybe you read the fauning reviews or glanced at theContinue reading “Blade Runner 2049. A movie review.”

American Assassin. A Movie Review.

Minimal spoilers. But it won’t matter much, because you know what’s gonna happen before it happens anyway. I was dragged along to see American Assassin. My best mate paid for the ticket, and it got me out of the house, so I couldn’t complain. Mitch Rapp (Dylan O’Brien) watches his girlfriend and lots of peopleContinue reading “American Assassin. A Movie Review.”

It. A movie review.

Nein spoilers! A mini-series of Stephen King’s horror novel, It, was made in the late ’80’s. At the time it was considered pretty scary, but by today’s standards it’s very tame. My favourite horror movie is The Grudge and I tend to compare it to every other horror movie I see, in terms of scare-value. It is not inContinue reading “It. A movie review.”

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. A Movie Review.

Spoilers? No, none needed for this. And even if there were, they wouldn’t spoil this mess. Luc, Luc, Luc. Here you had the perfect opportunity to wow audiences with some unique and memorable SF, and what did you do? You blew it. Here I was, waiting for the next The Fifth Element, and you gaveContinue reading “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. A Movie Review.”

War for the Planet of the Apes. A movie review.

Let’s get this out of the way right now. War for the Planet of the Apes is one of the best movies this year. You should do yourself a favour and see it. Matt Reeves has directed an incredible movie (which bodes well for his proposed Batman trilogy). Andy Serkis as the driven and emotiveContinue reading “War for the Planet of the Apes. A movie review.”

Manchester by the Sea. A movie review.

Thar be spoilers ahead… Manchester by the Sea is a depressing movie. Even with the great dialogue and character performances, it leaves you wondering what just happened. In truth, not much did. Kenneth Lonergan’s script, from his play, won the 2017 Oscar for best original screenplay; he directed as well. But a story is supposed toContinue reading “Manchester by the Sea. A movie review.”

Dunkirk. A movie review.

So, if you haven’t seen the movie Dunkirk by now, all I can say is: “why not?” Dunkirk is a movie about the evacuation of 330 000 British and French troops from the Dunkirk beach after being surrounded by the German offensive in 1940. No doubt you’ve read piles of reviews praising this movie and how wellContinue reading “Dunkirk. A movie review.”

Spider-man: Homecoming. A movie review.

Spoilers? What spoilers? No, none here Okay, okay, I was a bit late coming to the party on this one, but I finally got to see it today. Great movie! Excellent performances: Tom Holland, perfect as 15 year old nerdy high schooler Peter Parker; Michael Keaton, who’s very menacing as the Vulture (and possibly the second mostContinue reading “Spider-man: Homecoming. A movie review.”

Baby Driver. A movie review.

Ain’t no spoilers here Edgar Wright has made some spectacular movies: Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, World’s End, and one of my Top 10 faves, Scott Pilgrim vs the World. Having read several positive reviews, I went to Baby Driver with high expectations that this would become one of my all-time favourites. I wasContinue reading “Baby Driver. A movie review.”

Wonder Woman. A movie review.

No spoilers on the Western Front It seems like it was only yesterday that I was commenting about the superhero movie formula becoming stale (oh, it was – check out my Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 review here). Little did I know that I would be watching Wonder Woman and feel the excitement of seeingContinue reading “Wonder Woman. A movie review.”

Guardians of the Galaxy – the Marvel formula strikes again…A movie review.

No spoilers here… I’ve seen all the Marvel movies and generally I love them (Incredible Hulk was a bit meh, but that’s okay, you can’t have everything). The last few have bordered on a bit average, though. So why is this? Is it because I’m basically seeing more or less the same film every time,Continue reading “Guardians of the Galaxy – the Marvel formula strikes again…A movie review.”

Alien Covenant. A movie review.

No spoilers! Not real ones, anyway… I just saw Alien Covenant. I was a bit concerned that it might be all promise and not deliver the goods (a bit like the rather crappy Prometheus that preceded it). But guess what? I was pleasantly surprised. Alien Covenant was good, it filled in the story behind theContinue reading “Alien Covenant. A movie review.”

Lion. A tear-filled movie review.

This review contains spoilers. I never got the chance to see Lion in the cinema. In some ways, I’m glad I didn’t. Not because it’s a bad movie, but because it’s a movie that guarantees I’m going to cry, and I don’t want to be going to the movies with a mate and tear upContinue reading “Lion. A tear-filled movie review.”

John Wick: Chapter 2. A Movie Review.

No spoilers here! I loved John Wick, the Keanu Reeves actioner from a few years back, about a retired assassin who returns to the business after some local mobsters steal his car and kill his dog. The movie features plenty of martial arts and Gun Fu action, with Keanu doing many of his own stunts.Continue reading “John Wick: Chapter 2. A Movie Review.”

Logan. A movie review.

I saw Logan yesterday. And what I saw was a great movie, one that focussed on character, with a good story, great acting, great action set pieces that contributed to the plot, rather than being there for the sake of it, and some deep underlying themes and messages that resonated with me.

Man of Steel – Superman for a pragmatic generation

I watched Man of Steel the other day, the underrated and divisive Zack Snyder film that reintroduced Superman on film and was the start of the celluloid DC Comics movie universe (known as the DCEU).