Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1

Official Australian release date: 4/7/24. Viewed: 7/7/24.
Director: Kevin Costner        
Actors: Kevin Costner, Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Jon Beavers
Genre: Drama / Western
Rating: M

‘Horizon: Chapter 1’ is a Western in every sense of the word – set in early 1860s Arizona/Utah, as white settlers try to establish a new town called “Horizon” in Apache territory, while the Civil War is being fought back East. There’s a lot of characters and storylines started, but most centre around Horizon as the focal point of the frontier and it’s attached by Native Americans. Interestingly, we don’t meet Hayes (Costner) until almost halfway through, further north in Wyoming. He comes across Marigold (Lee) and a child who are being pursued by Sykes (Beavers), setting in motion their journey.

There’s about 4 main storylines: Hayes & Marigold on the run; Frances Kittredge (Miller) & daughter Elizabeth (MacPhail) and their interactions with Lieutenant Gephart (Worthington) and Sergent Riordan (Rooker) at the Fort; then Elias (Haze) & Russell (Kellici) who are out hunting the Apache that attacked Horizon. And finally there’s the new settlers heading West on their wagons, being led by Captain Van Weyden (Wilson). It’s not all perfectly linked yet, but you can start to see how most of it will connect.

The pacing is quite good, considering it’s 3 hours, with a few slow moments, but given the amount of characters and the 4 distinct threads, it does well to give enough info, but also spend enough time on the epic landscapes of Arizona and Utah, with plenty of beauty on show. The score is particularly impressive. While it may sound long, I’m liking the idea of 4 longs films instead of a 15-part TV series. Costner has set things up well – and while this isn’t a perfect film, with no fitting ending, I’m looking forward to the next chapters.

Overall: Nice platform for a Western epic

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars

 

The Promised Land

Official Australian release date: 20/6/24. Viewed: 30/6/24.

Director: Nikolaj Arcel        

Actors: Mads Mikkelsen, Amanda Collin, Melina Hagberg, Simon Bennebjerg

Genre: Drama / Biopic

Rating: MA

‘The Promised Land’ (‘Bastarden’ in Danish) is set in the 1750s and follows a former Army Captain, Ludvig Kahlen (Mikkelsen) as he sets out to cultivate the inhospitable heath in Western Denmark, with it’s poor soil and bad weather. He encounters all sorts of bureaucratic, personnel and personal hurdles. This is an at-times violent battle of wills shown over a few years, all with subtitles.

His efforts are helped by two runaways, Ann Barbara (Collin) & Johannes (Andersen), priest Anton (Lindh) and then little Roma/Tater Anmai Mus (Hagberg). Kahlen is then unknowingly pitted against the entitled “county judge” Frederik de Schinkel (Bennebjerg, a great “bad guy”), who claims the heath as his own. Matters aren’t helped when de Schinkel’s supposed finance, Edel (Thorp) takes an interest in Kahlen. While it’s a brutal time and place to be alive, the cinematography is excellent and makes you want to visit (when it's not winter!).

It goes for 2 hours and doesn’t drag too much, even if at times you’re not sure what’s driving the plot forward. But it manages to fit a lot in and fits quite a few genres in: Western, revenge thriller, family-overcoming-adversity, romance and drama. The ending is mostly satisfying and while I can’t say it’s flawless, it is a well-made film, carried relentlessly forward by Mikkelsen’s determination and stare.

Overall: Solid foreign historical drama

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars

A Quiet Place: Day One

Official Australian release date: 27/6/24. Viewed: 27/6/24.
Director: Michael Sarnoski        
Actors: Lupita Nyong’o, Joseph Quinn, Djimon Hounsou, Alex Wolff
Genre: Thriller / Horror
Rating: M

‘A Quiet Place: Day One’ is the prequel to 2018’s ‘A Quiet Place’ and while we’ve seen some flashbacks to the alien invasion in the other two films, this follows Sam (Nyong’o) on her trip into New York City from her hospice (she has an undisclosed disease), which coincides with the chaos of the invasion. While we see some of the widespread destruction, we effectively follow Sam and her cat (who has the third most screentime!) as she tries to stay alive as the hundreds of blind sound-sensitive aliens attack. 

While there’s some scares, it’s not necessarily a “horror” film – only rated M after all, and a lot filmed during daylight – but does make you question how fragile civilisation sometimes seems… There’s some cameos from Hounsou and Wolff, but other than that, it’s pretty much only Sam, the cat and Eric (Quinn; Eddie from ‘Stranger Things’) on screen the entire time. Like the other films, lots of whispers and score only, as we watch the characters try to adapt.

Quite quick overall (100min), but still drags a bit in the middle. Not sure what’s missing – maybe Krasinski directing, maybe it feels like lower state without Emily Blunt and the kids? Maybe needed more aliens? It’s certainly not bad, with a few minor chuckles, some good jump-scares and a mostly-satisfying conclusion. Just not sure it does anything too new or adds anything to the franchise. That said, will watch the next one! (Spoiler: the cat doesn’t die)

Overall: Lupita gets a pizza

Gav's Rating: 3 stars

Bad Boys: Ride or Die

Official Australian release date: 6/6/24. Viewed: 9/6/24.
Directors: Adil El Arbi & Bilall Fallah
Actors: Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Eric Dane, Jacob Scipio
Genre: Action / Comedy
Rating: MA

‘Bad Boys: Ride or Die’ (or Bad Boys 4) comes only 4 years after the 3^rd film, a record turnaround-time for this franchise. It picks up the plot from that film, with Mike (Smith) and Marcus (Lawrence) dealing with the fallout of Mike’s newfound son, Armando (Scipio). They have to try to clear Captain Howard’s (Pantoliano) name, after he’s framed by the bad guy, McGrath (Dane).  

Great, opening, re-establishing Mike & Marcus’ connection, with Marcus then having an epiphany which leads to lots of funny moments throughout the film. Lots of the cast are back from the last film: new Captain, Rita (Nunez), Marcus’ son-in-law Reggie (McDonald), and young cops Kelly (Hudgens) & Dorn (Ludwig). We also have Judy (Seehorn) as Captain Howard’s daughter and Lockwood (Gruffudd) as Rita’s partner/future mayor. Everyone does their bit and no more.

When Mike & Marcus are set-up and have to save Armando, they end up on the run south of Miami. This also helps grow Mike & Armando’s characters. It then sets up the big show-down at the end in an abandoned alligator park – what could go wrong? Pretty great final act, lots of explosions, gun battles and always some comedic quips. Nothing feels too long, and there’s a bit more fun in this film than the previous one.

Overall: Best ‘Bad Boys’ since the original

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars

The Garfield Movie

Official Australian release date: 30/5/24. Viewed: 1/6/24.
Director: Mark Dindal
Actors: Chris Pratt, Harvey Guillen, Samuel L Jackson, Ving Rhames
Genre: Animation / Family
Rating: G

‘The Garfield Movie’ is the first fully-CGI Garfield film, 46 years after our favourite fat-cat first appeared in newspaper comics. I can’t compare this film to the other Bill Murray films, as I haven’t seen them. This time, Garfield is voiced by Chris Pratt, who’s earning a solid living voicing lead characters in animated films – ‘The Lego Movie’, ‘Onward’, ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’. We get a nice flashback to how kitten Garfield, super-cute, and Jon (Hoult) first met and their comfortable life with dog Odie (Guillen).

The film then turns into a Mission:Impossible style heist film, as Garfield’s dad, Vic (Jackson) is blackmailed into robbing milk from a dairy, that Garfield and Odie are coerced into too. The “baddie” is Jinx (Waddingham) – a fluffy-white cat that’s straight out of Blofeld’s lap from James Bond – as well as her mean-looking dog goons, Roland (Goldstein) and Nolan (Yang). This is where we meet Otto (Rhames), the bull – very fitting having Ving Rhames in the heist part of the film! There’s lots of action and slapstick “injuries”, as Garfield, Odie and Vic break into the dairy factory and also a train.

The whole Garfield-out-of-the-house is a little different and means Jon’s not really in it much. Garfield also isn’t too surly and is actually friendly with Odie, which is nice. There’s probably not as much charm as ‘The Peanuts Movie’, but it does have a nice little story about family, with Vic and Garfield and explaining why they were separated for the kids. Some smaller kids may find parts scary, particularly the big dog and the factory scene with the cheese and knives. Nothing too hilarious, but enough laughs for the adults to keep it interesting.

Overall: Predictable kids animated adventure

Gav's Rating: 3 stars

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

Official Australian release date: 23/5/24. Viewed: 25/5/24.
Director: George Miller
Actors: Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Burke, Lachy Hulme
Genre: Action / Sci-Fi
Rating: MA

‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’ is the prequel to ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’, which only seems recent, but actually came out 9 years ago! This film does a great job of adding useful backstory to Furiosa (Alyla Brown when young; Taylor-Joy when a bit older), Immortan Joe (Hulme), his sons Rictus (Jones) & Scrotus (Helman) and how the Wastelands (i.e. western New South Wales) are controlled by three “outposts” - the Citadel, the Bullet-farm, and Gastown. We’re shown how Furiosa is captured by motorbike marauders when young and ends up a slave of Dementus (Hemsworth).

Some good Aussie cameos – David Collins (half of The Umbilical Brothers) as Smeg, Dementus’ grovelling sidekick, Angus Sampson as the “Organic Mechanic”, Tim Rogers as one of Dementus’ goons and John Howard back as the “People Eater”. The film sets up well where Furiosa is from, why she’s so stoic and why she wants to escape the Citadel. It’s also good to see Hemsworth having fun and playing a semi-goofball bad guy, but with a bit of nuance (& a bit of prosthetic nose). Praetorian Jack (Burke) as the war rig driver is also good and has an important part in the final act.  

The main star though, is the car chases/stunts/explosions across the desert backdrop, with lots of motorbikes and cars as always, as well as the introduction of the war rig/semi-trailer and some inventive parachuting. Pretty crazy that this film comes 45 years after the original ‘Mad Max’ and while some if it is of an extreme scale, it’s still quite grounded and simple at it’s core, with not too much noticeable CGI. The pacing and score are good and the ending is fitting.

Overall: Another fun, action-packed outback drive

Gav's Rating: 4 stars

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

Official Australian release date: 9/5/24. Viewed: 12/5/24.
Director: Wes Ball
Actors: Owen Teague, Freya Allan, Peter Macon, Kevin Durand
Genre: Action / Sci-Fi
Rating: M

‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ is about ‘Planet of the Apes’ #10, and the 4^th prequel, following the recent 2011-2017 films. This film is set a couple of hundred years after Caesar and introduces new antagonist Noa (Teague) a chimp from a clan that raises eagles to fish with. His friends Laika (Berry) and Anaya (Jeffrey) set the scene of the new world well, undertaking an initiation climb to claim eggs. When their village is attacked by some bad apes, Noa sets out to free his clan.

It's easy to forget this is a post-apocalyptic film, as the CGI is so good and the apes facial expressions so human-like, but there’s some good reminders throughout, with a telescope, ships and the bones of skyscrapers now covered in plants. On his journey, Noa meets Raka (Macon), a wise orangutan that opens his eye’s to Caesar’s philosophy, and they both encounter Mae (Allan), a by-now rare talking human. The “bad” apes are being led by Proximus (Durand) and his gorilla-offsider Sylva (Darville), but suitably arrogant delusional.

Always good to have the tension as a viewer of “which side am I cheering for?” when it’s humans vs apes. Mae’s character starts off as a bit of a caricature, but evolves into something meaningful, setting up future films. Lots obviously filmed in Australia, with gum trees noticeable and lots of bushland recognisably Aussie. Final act is exciting, but a bit predictable. Noa’s character arc holds it all together nicely.

Overall: Solid start to what I assume will be a new trilogy

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars