Jumanji: The Next Level

Official Australian release date: 26/12/19. Viewed: 26/12/19.

Director: Jake Kasdan

Actors: Karen Gillan, Jack Black, Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart

Genre: Action / Comedy

Rating: PG

  

‘Jumanji: The Next Level’ is technically the fourth ‘Jumanji’ film, but the second of the new sequels, with all the main four back – Martha/Ruby (Gillan), Bethany/Sheldon (Black), Spencer/Bravestone (Johnson) and Fridge/Franklin (Hart). They obviously get sucked into the game again, but for a stupid reason – and this time, Eddie (DeVito), Milo (Glover) and Ming (Awkwafina) are along for the ride too.

The concept is pretty much the same, with most of the comedy coming from the actors playing the “real life” versions of themselves, which is funny when it’s The Rock acting like Dany DeVito. Kevin Hart talking really slow like Danny Glover is great to watch. Plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, as Eddie & Milo come to terms with the video game they’re in. It’s also good to have Nigel (Darby) and Alex (Hanks) back and Awkwafina is funny as usual, but doesn’t get too much screen time.

Some new settings, with the desert when they first enter the game and snowy mountains for the final act. It’s obviously left open for another film, but it does fly by and seems like less than 2 hours. It’s fun and easy to like, with not that many flaws, once you suspend believability. I think focusing on Martha & Spencer is OK and the story of Milo & Eddie is very nice. The Rock has less to do and the first half is mostly carried by Black and Gillan, which works for the film.

Overall: Good, fast-paced family comedy.

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars. 

Ip Man 4: The Finale

Official Australian release date: 20/12/19. Viewed: 23/12/19.

Director: Wilson Yip

Actors: Donnie Yen, Scott Adkins, Van Ness, Yue Wu

Genre: Action / Drama

Rating: M

  

‘Ip Man 4: The Finale’ is the final film in Yip’s saga of kung fu Master Ip (Yen)’s journey of taking his Wing Chun teachings across China, and this time to America. Not sure there needed to be a fourth film, but they wanted to shoehorn some of Bruce Lee (Chan) into it, as he was Ip Man’s most famous student. Ip Man travels to San Francisco to find a boarding school for his son, so he can learn independence.

Once in America, Ip Man is confronted with adversity from other kung fu masters, led by Wan Zong Hua (Wu), the tai chi master – they don’t like Bruce Lee trying to teach non-Chinese people kung fu. Ip Man must prove himself is an impressive battle with Hua, as Bruce Lee has to do in an alleyway fight scene.

The political commentary comes from a young marine, Hartman (Ness), who wants to incorporate Wing Chun into the US Marines’ hand-to-hand combat training. This is not appreciated by Geddes (Adkins), the racist Sargent who then becomes the main villain and beats Hua and then has the final fight with Ip Man. It’s a bit predictable by the final act, but it’s very impressive to see Yen’s skills and see what he can still do as a 56 year old.

Overall: Solid conclusion to kung fu saga.

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars. 

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Official Australian release date: 19/12/19. Viewed: 19/12/19.

Director: J.J. Abrams

Actors: Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Carrie Fisher, Oscar Isaac

Genre: Sci-Fi / Action

Rating: M

  

‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ (Episode IX) is the final piece of the trilogy of trilogies that comprise the Star Wars film phenomenon. It’s hard to sum up the film objectively, as there’s so much history, emotion and identity associated with the films – I can only imagine what it’s like for people who saw the original trilogy in cinemas. I doubt this is the last time we’ll see the opening title crawl & trumpets, but it will be the end of the Skywalker saga. It’s a massive shame Carrie Fisher didn’t film all her scenes before she passed away, but Leia still has an important role in the film   

Similar to the last two films, the plot centres on Rey (Ridley), Poe (Isaac) and Finn (Boyega) as they try to stop Kylo Ren (Driver) and the First Order. I don’t think it’s a surprise to say the Emperor (McDiarmid) is back in this film – via cloning and the Dark Side – adding to the direness of the Resistance’s situation, as they have to fight more than they bargained for. There’s plenty of cameos from old hands and new, and a small but suitable role for Luke (Hamill) one last time. The glue holding the story together is the interactions between Rey & Kylo, their ability to communicate even when not in the same place and whether Kylo will return to the light or if Rey will fall to the dark.

The overall palette is dark & foreboding, with the Unknown Regions planet the Emperor is on being the setting for the third act, with plenty of clouds, stone and lighting. But, as ever in Star Wars, hope is never lost, so long as they stick together and help one another. Plenty of nice moments throughout – I almost cried at a moment with Chewie – and the film does well to tie up 42 years of shared film history. It’s by no means the best film, but is certainly not the worst of the series. Will see how it ages as a ending over the next 30 years before comparing it to ‘Return of the Jedi’!

Overall: Fitting finale that holds true to the Star Wars ethos.

Gav's Rating: 4 stars.

Knives Out

Official Australian release date: 28/11/19. Viewed: 24/11/19.

Director: Rian Johnson

Actors: Daniel Craig, Ana de Armas, Christopher Plummer, Chris Evans

Genre: Crime / Comedy

Rating: M

  

‘Knives Out’ is a mostly-light-hearted timeless ensemble “whodunnit?” Essentially, Blanc (Craig), Elliott (Stanfield) and Wagner (Segan) are investigating the death of the patriarch of the Thrombey family, Harlan (Plummer). Thankfully, there’s plenty of flashbacks in the first hour, so Plummer does get some screen time. We then meet the extended family and start to unravel various potential motives and inconsistencies in their stories.

The cast is huge and all solid – Marta (de Armas) as Harlan’s nurse, Linda (Lee Curtis) and Walt (Shannon) as Harlan’s children; Richard (Johnson), Joni (Collette) and Donna (Lindhome) as their partners; Randsom (Evans), Meg (Langford) and Jacob (Martell) as Harlan’s grandchildren. I think that the main 12 characters – needless to say, not everyone gets enough time to shine, as the focus is on Blanc and Marta trying to piece everything together.

This is Johnson’s first film since ‘The Last Jedi’ and it’s very assured – excellent set design and cinematography, with a simple score. The hose is literally a life-size Cluedo game. The film drags a tiny bit in the second act, but comes home strong. There’s plenty of fun had by the cast and Craig clearly relishes the non-Bond role – even if his Southern accent gets annoying at times! Satisfying ending – nothing revolutionary, but enjoyable. I think we’ll be seeing more of Ana de Armas in the future.

Overall: Fun and well-executed mystery.

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars.

Ford v Ferrari

Official Australian release date: 14/11/19. Viewed: 20/11/19.

Director: James Mangold

Actors: Matt Damon, Christian Bale, Jon Bernthal, Josh Lucas

Genre: Action / Drama

Rating: M

  

‘Ford v Ferrari’ – underwhelming title, but exceptionally put-together sports biopic about the 24-hour endurance Le Mans motor race in 1966. If that puts you off, the good news is that the film’s not all about racing – probably only ~30% – with much of the focus on Shelby (Damon), Miles (Bale) and Miles’ wife, Mollie (Balfe) and son, Peter (Jupe). There’s also the tension with Ferrari, where Ford executives Iacocca (Bernthal), Beebe (Lucas) and Ford (Letts) are trying to take the racing crown from Ferrari (Girone) and Agnelli (Cirfiera)

It’s nice to hear Bale using something close to his actual accent and the rapport he has with Damon carries the film. All the actors are good, but their relationship is what has you caring about what happens, rather than just the cars. The pacing is quick and it feels faster (pardon the pun) than 2.5 hours. This would be as good as, if not better than, ‘Rush’ and ‘Senna’.

Great directing from Mangold (coming off ‘Logan’) throughout, with a nice balance of family time, racing scenes and the car politics. The fact the 24-hour race is condensed to less than 20min and feels both quick and like it’s been a marathon is a true feat. If you don’t know the story, don’t Google it and let the ending be a surprise. There’s good editing, cinematography, authentic 60s cars and soundtrack throughout.

Overall: Well-made and enjoyable racing biopic.

Gav's Rating: 4 stars.

Terminator: Dark Fate

Official Australian release date: 31/10/19. Viewed: 2/11/19.

Director: Tim Miller

Actors: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Natalia Reyes, Mackenzie Davis

Genre: Action / Sci-Fi

Rating: MA

  

‘Terminator: Dark Fate’ is the sixth film in the franchise, but effectively acts as a direct sequel to ‘Judgement Day’ and ignores everything that happened in ‘Rise of the Machines’, ‘Salvation’ and ‘Genisys’. Since it’s pretending those timelines never happened, it borrows ideas from each of them. Unfortunately, this film’s first few minutes also taint the whole point of T2.

It’s good to see Sarah Connor (Hamilton) back, and (eventually) Arnie as “Carl”. However, the main characters this time are Dani (Reyes) and Grace (Davis). Grace is an augmented human, sent back from the future to protect Dani, a Mexican factory worker. They’re hunted by a Rev-9 (Luna), a Terminator that can separate it’s nanites from its skeleton. Looks cool, but not revolutionary after ‘Genisys’. It’s essentially one big car/helicopter/plane chase.

Since this if from Miller (‘Deadpool’ director), there’s no real humour or fun, which is a shame. Plenty of explosions and good fight scenes, and both David and Reyes are solid, but Arnie has far too little screen time, the film has way too many clunky explanations for what’s happened to the future – pesky time travel! – but the biggest let down is how unoriginal most of it feels and how the Sarah/John Connor storyline that was set up in the other five films seems to be betrayed.

Overall: Good action, but not up to Terminator standards.

Gav's Rating: 3 stars.

Zombieland: Double Tap

Official Australian release date: 17/10/19. Viewed: 19/10/19.

Director: Ruben Fleischer

Actors: Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin

Genre: Comedy / Horror

Rating: MA

  

‘Zombieland: Double Tap’ is perhaps an unasked-for sequel, but since it’s been 10 years and has the entire cast back, it doesn’t feel too forced. One of the opening scenes, in slow-motion with Metallica’s ‘Master of puppets’ playing is a great re-introduction, as is Columbus (Eisenberg)’s narration of the “evolved” zombies. He, Tallahassee (Harrelson), Wichita (Stone) and Little Rock (Breslin) are now living comfortably in the White House, but things get too comfortable and a road trip ensues.

This is good, because it means new characters are introduced – the ditzy Madison (Deutch), the under-used Nevada (Dawson), and the almost-doppelgangers of Albuquerque (Wilson) and Flagstaff (Middleditch), which provide a great middle act. The stakes and horror/zombie levels aren’t really too high until the final act.

Still plenty of funny moments, new “rules” and tongue-poking at the zombie genre, while also holding true to lots of zombie-isms. Nothing too serious or groundbreaking happens, but it’s a solid, mostly-fun watch throughout – and almost worth it to see Harrelson dressed as Elvis! Also, an excellent mid-credit scene too.

Overall: Not as great as original, but still good fun.

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars.

Joker

Official Australian release date: 3/10/19. Viewed: 4/10/19.

Director: Todd Phillips

Actors: Joaquin Phoenix, Zazie Beetz, Robert De Niro, Frances Conroy

Genre: Drama

Rating: MA

  

‘Joker’ is definitely not a comic book film – don’t expect Batman, any good guy/bad guy battles, CGI or falling into a vat of chemicals. This film is 100% focused on Arthur (Phoenix)’s transformation from misunderstood clown and comedian into the psychopathic killer that is the Joker. The only Batman connections are via Thomas Wayne (Cullen), two scenes with ~10-year-old Bruce Wayne (Pereira-Olson) and a few mentions of Gotham.

Phoenix is the fourth live-action film Joker, with each seeming to be of their time. This is the opposite of Nicholson’s Joker and an extension of Ledger’s Joker. The difference is that both Nicholson & Ledger only had ~30min of screen time, whereas Phoenix is in almost every second of this film’s 2 hours – and is mesmerising throughout. Especially his weight loss and how his ribs show, and how he uses that awkwardness in his dancing and movements.

It looks great, the score and soundtrack are solid. It’s not overly violent until the final 25min and Arthur/Joker doesn’t always make sense, which is the point. It’s a bit slow in parts and doesn’t fully utilise De Niro (a Letterman-like TV host). The "laughing" that Phoenix does looks physically painful, but is a bit too convenient as a plot point. Does a great job of being the outcast though.

Overall: Different and sometimes difficult take on the villain’s origin.

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars.

Ad Astra

Official Australian release date: 19/9/19. Viewed: 29/9/19.

Director: James Gray

Actors: Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones, Ruth Negga, Liv Tyler

Genre: Sci-Fi / Drama

Rating: M

  

‘Ad Astra’ is another very solid entry into the semi-realistic space films of the past few years – ‘The Wandering Earth’, ‘Interstellar’, ‘Gravity’ – and is conveniently set in the “near future”, meaning some of the potentially questionable physics can be explained away. Major Roy McBride (Pitt) follows in his father’s – Clifford McBride (Jones) – astronaut footsteps. Clifford’s either dead or stranded around Neptune, so Roy sets off to rescue/recover him.

Firstly, it’s amazing that Jones is only 17 years older than Pitt – he looks about 30 years older! Good to see him again, but he has very little screen time – as does Eve (Tyler), Helen (Negga) & Pruitt (Sutherland). Basically, this is Pitt’s journey and most of the film is him on his mission from Earth -> Moon -> Mars - > Neptune. Thankfully, Pitt brings a great earnestness and honesty to the role  and is easily watchable.

As well as being visually spectacular, with all the planets (including Earth and the Moon) and the spaceships looking excellent, the score’s good and the colour motifs are superb, especially on Mars and around Neptune. It’s also great to see a futuristic Moon, with a few winks to ‘Total Recall’. The father/son relationship is pivotal and well-handled – it never gets too overbearing, but is still logical. The isolation of space is very well depicted.

Overall: A very well-made space journey.

Gav's Rating: 4 stars.

Good Boys

Official Australian release date: 19/9/19. Viewed: 21/9/19.

Director: Gene Stupnitsky

Actors: Jacob Tremblay, Brady Noon, Keith L. Williams, Molly Gordon

Genre: Comedy

Rating: MA

  

‘Good Boys’ is almost a prequel to ‘Superbad’ and ‘Pineapple Express’ (both of which are better), but this time around, there’s three of them & they’re in grade 6, not grade 12. The three “tweens” call themselves the “beanbag boys” – Max (Tremblay), Thor (Noon) and Lucas (Williams) and they do everything together, including the main plot point – trying to get to a spin-the-bottle party.

Needless to say, as a Seth Rogen-produced film, there’s plenty of language, drugs and crude sex references. Plenty goes wrong and they end up on a low-stakes adventure, trying to replace a drone, even though they end up in a cat-and-mouse game with Hannah (Gordon) and Lily (Francis), two college-aged women who they’ve accidentally stolen drugs from.

There’s lots of winks and ‘adults-only’ jokes as the three boys mess up terminology or misinterpret things. Some good physical comedy and a fair few laugh-out-loud moments. Plenty of stupidity too, but in the end, they are genuinely boys trying to be good and not intentionally bad – the underlying story of friendships and how they change resonates.  

Overall: Quick & simple with enough laughs.

Gav's Rating: 3 stars.

It: Chapter Two

Official Australian release date: 5/9/19. Viewed: 5/9/19.

Director: Andy Muschietti

Actors: Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, Bill Hader, Bill Skarsgard

Genre: Horror / Drama

Rating: MA

  

‘It: Chapter Two’ is the sequel to ‘It’ from only two years ago, but this is now the prophesized “27 years later”, with Pennywise (Skarsgard) back to wreak havoc on Derry. The seven teens from ‘It’ come home as adults to fulfill their oath of stopping Pennywise. This time, they’re: Bev (Chastain), Bill (McAvoy), Richie (Hader), Ben (Ryan), Mike (Mustafa), Eddie (Ransone) & Stanley (Bean). Don’t worry – there’s plenty of flashbacks so you can recall who’s who.

Thankfully, there’s some humour, thanks to Hader and Ransone, but the others seem to kind of coast through – no one’s bad in this, but no one stands out either. Unfortunately, for a film based around his psycho-killer-clown, Pennywise has very little screen time until the final 30min and you kind of forget what his motivation is. Being released so close to the first one, not sure we need so many prompts/reminders. That’s the main problem with the film – it’s almost an hour too long at 2 hours 50 minutes.

The second act where they have to each get a totem could’ve been done in a 10min montage, not a 45min drawn-out mini-mission for each character. There’s a few good CGI bits, some jumps, some gross moments, but nothing truly terrifying. Still, wouldn’t want to be watching this is I was under 12. Considering how tongue-in-cheek the film is with it’s references to Stephen King and crappy endings, I’m not sure if the ridiculous ending is supposed to be meta, or is just poor.

Overall: Better than the 1990 version, not quite as good as the 2017 one.

Gav's Rating: 3 stars.

The Nightingale

Official Australian release date: 29/8/19. Viewed: 28/8/19.

Director: Jennifer Kent

Actors: Aisling Franciosi, Baykali Ganambarr, Sam Claflin, Damon Herriman

Genre: Drama / Thriller

Rating: R

  

‘The Nightingale’ is a revenge film set in early 19th century Tasmania from the director of ‘The Babadook’. While not technically a horror film, there’s certainly some horrific moments – rape, lynching and murder. Unfortunately, it’s probably pretty realistic for Tasmania in the 1820s. Clare (Franciosi) is an Irish convict under the rule of the English Lieutenant Hawkins (Claflin) and married to newly-free Aidan (Sheasby). It’s not really a spoiler to say that Hawkins and Ruse (Herriman) murder Aidan, leave Clare for dead and set off north to Launceston, setting in motion her trek for revenge.

While Clare’s totally unprepared for the Tasmanain wilderness, she manages to enlist Aboriginal tracker Billy/Black Bird (Ganambarr), who ends up being the star of the film. He brings compassion and justified anger, but also humour and warmth. It helps that his Black Bird can sing along with Clare’s “Nightingale” song(s), some sung in Gaelic. It’s nice to see them bond over both being subjugated by the English. Much like 2009’s ‘Van Diemen’s Land’ (which I probably slightly preferred over this), the Tasmanian bush is a key character, with so many stunning forest, beach, mountain and valley vistas. You should make sure you visit Tasmania if you’ve never been!

The acting is great, with the villains callous, Clare obsessively determined and Billy trying to find his place in his disrupted world. It’s probably 30min too long and has lots of slow moments that don’t add too much, and lots of people will have an issue with some of the violence. The film really hits home what English colonisation did to Indigenous Australians and particularly it’s compounded effect on Tasmania. There’s a truly touching scene near the end with an old English man helping Billy and Clare – but it highlights the exception to the rule.

Overall: Brutal, single-minded early Australian revenge story.

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars.

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

Official Australian release date: 15/8/19. Viewed: 17/8/19.

Director: Quentin Tarantino

Actors: Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Al Pacino

Genre: Drama

Rating: MA

  

‘Once Upon A Time In Hollywood’ is set in 1969 Los Angeles and follows TV actor and almost-has-been Rick Dalton (DiCaprio) and his stunt double/friend Cliff Booth (Pitt) as they try to stay relevant. Given it’s a Tarantino film, there’s plenty of long shots of just actors talking – probably too many. While Margot Robbie is third billed, it feels like she has about 10min screen time and is almost pointless to the story.

It’s good to watch DiCaprio and Pitt together and there’s a natural ease and confidence to all their scenes. The problem is that half the film is just Pitt driving around and DiCaprio acting on a set. There are plenty of nods to the late 60s – Playboy Mansion, drive-ins, the fashion, dozens of film posters, smoking in almost every scene, snippets of songs – but overall, it doesn’t really come across as nostalgic, just gimmicky. Might be more impactful if you lived through it.

Plenty of cameos/small roles – Pacino, Hirsch, Olyphant, Dern, Dunham – but none of significance. There’s Roman Polanski (Zawierucha), Charles Manson (Herriman) and Bruce Lee (Moh), but all have minimal screen time – except Lee, who’s portrayed as an idiot for some reason. It’s basically 2 hours 20min of nice cinematography – although too many shots of peoples shoes as they’re walking – and then a hyperviolent/crazy final 20min which half links some of the film together. As an entire film, it struggles to keep your interest, there’s only a few funny moments and has a very loose plot.

Overall: All style, no substance.

Gav's Rating: 2.5 stars.

Danger Close: The Battle For Long Tan

Official Australian release date: 8/8/19. Viewed: 4/8/19.

Director: Kriv Stenders

Actors: Travis Fimmel, Daniel Webber, Richard Roxburgh, Luke Bracey

Genre: War / Action

Rating: MA

  

‘Danger Close: The Battle For Long Tan’ is a Queensland-filmed Vietnam War film from the director of ‘Red Dog’. Queensland does a good job of standing in for the Vietnamese jungle, as about a third of the film is during rain – realistic. It’s 1966 and a bunch of mostly conscripted ANZAC soldiers – Delta Company – are sent into a rubber plantation to fight a potential Viet Cong attack on their base. Led by Major Smith (Fimmel), the film shows all aspects of the battle – headquarters, helicopters, artillery, and the chaos on the ground.   

While it’s hard to focus on all 100 or so ANZAC soldiers, we do get to know a few – along with Major, there’s Private Large (Webber), Sergeant Buick (Bracey) and Lieutenant Roberts (Peacocke), and back at base is Brigadier Jackson (Roxburgh) and Lieutenant Colonel Townsend (Hayes). Interesting to see some dissention in the ranks when there’s lives on the line and what the soldiers do for each other. The film does well to establish a bit of “normalcy” at the base, before the troops are thrown into battle.

The main feeling I’m left with after watching this film is gratefulness – the fact that these men (mostly 19–22) had to go to a place they knew almost nothing about to fight an essentially pointless war and see so much death. This film is an exceptional piece of filmmaking, with silence, score, lighting, overhead and slow-motion used expertly to raise tension, anticipation and action at all the tight times. The acting is good and the film flies by. Definitely rewatchable – up there with ‘Gallipoli’ and ‘Hacksaw Ridge’.

Overall: A modern Australian classic.

Gav's Rating:4 stars.

Spider-Man: Far From Home

Spider-Man: Far From Home

Official Australian release date: 1/7/19. Viewed: 4/7/19.

Director: Jon Watts

Actors: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Samuel L. Jackson, Jake Gyllenhaal

Genre: Action / Sci-Fi

Rating: M

  

‘Spider-Man: Farm From Home’ is the second “new”/MCU Spider-Man and Tom Holland’s fifth time playing Spider-Man/Peter Parker. It’s a good follow-up to ‘Endgame’, in that it doesn’t ignore what happened, but chooses to focus on this group of teenagers getting on with their lives. The romance between Peter and MJ (Zendaya) is funny, because they’re supposed to be awkward teens, but are actually both 22 – as are Ned (Batalon) and Flash (Revolori), both back as the wisecracking friends. Also worth a mention are the comedic support offered by the teachers – Mr Harrington (Starr) and Mr Dell (Smoove) – with plenty of great little moments

It’s also good to see Nick Fury (Jackson), Maria Hill (Smulders), Aunt May (Tomei) and Happy Hogan (Favreau) back, linking this nicely with other MCU films, but also hitting home how important Tony Stark was to Spider-Man. Bascially, after ‘Endgame’, Peter just wants to go on his European science trip/holiday (what type of school does he go to!?)  and not worry about “superhero-ing” for a while. Obviously, things don’t go to plan, as he teams up with Mysterio (Gyllenhaal), who has Dr Strange-like powers, to beat “elementals” – giant fire/water/earth creatures.

Obviously, if you know anything of Mysterio from the comics, all’s not what it seems. The illusions and CGI-within-CGI is expertly done and some of the best scenes in the film. Love Peter’s black & red suit at the end. Every character gets enough screen time, but there’s definitely some slow moments where not too much happens. Pretty satisfactory ending, with a great final battle and it’s definitely worth staying for both credit scenes.

Overall: Good, without being spectacular/‘Into The Spider-Verse’.

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars.