Eternals

Official Australian release date: 4/11/21. Viewed: 3/11/21.
Director: Chloé Zhao
Actors: Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Salma Hayek, Lia McHugh
Genre: Action / Sc-Fi
Rating: M

 

‘Eternals’ is both a Marvel superhero film, but also not – unlike some other MCU films having lesser-known superheroes, this is almost a parallel universe, or a ‘What If?’ episode, with 10 new Eternals (good immortal aliens) introduced to us in 5,000BC that help save humans from Deviants (bad aliens), sent by Celestials (big aliens). The film spends most of it’s time in 2021, but has plenty of flashbacks over the previous millennia.

As they’re not mainstream heroes, they all seem to have a generic power, with no-one being too special. As with all ensemble casts, not everyone gets much screen-time and it takes a while to figure out who does what and how they fit in. For the record, Ajak (Hayek) is the leader, with Sersi (Chan; the heart of the film) and Ikaris (Madden) essentially acting as the leads/love interests. The next most screen-time goes to Sprite (McHugh, the “kid”) and Kingo (Nanjiani, a little comedic relief). Then there’s Thena (Jolie, barely used), Phastos (Tyree Henry), Makkari (Ridloff), Druig (Keoghan, such a punchable face) and Gilgamesh (Dong-seok). Once you figure out who’s who, it’s basically over!

There’s not really a “big bad guy” as such, and the whole Celestials thing is pretty laughable, but if you go with it, there’s still quite a bit that doesn’t really come together until the end. The final 30min or so is pretty exciting, but there’s certainly a sizeable lull in the middle. It certainly has it’s moments, with some good CGI, but the stakes never seem quite as high as they should and the tone is often a bit too dour, with not as much fun and effervescence as I’d expect. The post-credits scenes create more questions for the next set of films to answer.

Overall: Not bad, just a bit strained

Gav's Rating: 3 stars.

The Last Duel

Official Australian release date: 21/10/21. Viewed: 21/10/21.
Director: Ridley Scott
Actors: Matt Damon, Adam Driver, Jodie Comer, Ben Affleck
Genre: Action / Drama
Rating: MA

‘The Last Duel’ was not quite what I was expecting from a Ridley Scott historical epic – better than ‘Kingdom of Heaven’, ‘The Duellists’ and ‘Exodus: Gods & Kings’, but not of the same calibre as ‘Gladiator’ and ‘Robin Hood’. It’s set in 14^th century France (but no subtitles here, all in English!) with Jean de Carrouges (Damon) and Jacques Le Gris (Driver) seemingly ageless knights. Marguerite (Comer) is Jean’s wife and Pierre (Affleck) is the count for which Jacques is a squire. It should be noted that the other main co-stars are Damon’s mullet and Affleck’s dyed blonde hair & goatee!

The first 40min seems a bit scattershot, jumping all over France and to different times during a 20-year period, with lots of blanks. But it soon becomes clear that we’re watching three different retellings from the perspectives of Jean, Jacques & Marguerite, as the plot slowly unveils itself and your assumptions are challenged each time. After the battle at the start, the middle 90min is a bit slow, with it basically being a drama and battle of wills between the four main characters.

The actual duel at the end is really brutal and very well executed. The subject matter, and filming, of the rape that is the focus for much of the film is disturbing and while you admire Marguerite’s courage, the ending left me asking what the point was? I know it’s based on a true story, but the resolution felt unsatisfactory and mostly serves as a bleak reminder of how bad things were for most in past centuries. By no means a bad film, just not as much medieval battling as I was hoping for, or as much humour as I expected from Damon & Affleck.

Overall: Long human-focused drama.

Gav's Rating: 3 stars.

Shang-Chi & the Legend of the Ten Rings

Official Australian release date: 2/9/21. Viewed: 1/9/21.

Director: Destin Daniel Cretton

Actors: Simu Liu, Awkwafina, Tony Leung, Meng’er Zhang

Genre: Action / Fantasy

Rating: M

‘Shang-Chi & the Legend of the Ten Rings’ (or SCLTR?) feels like the proper start of MCU’s phase 4, with a clear link forming to ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’. We’re first introduced to what seems like a Chinese fairytale, as we follow Wenwu (Leung) and his millennium of power with 10 enchanted rings/bracelets. We then meet Li (Chen), who turns out to be the mum of Shang-Chi (Liu) & Xialing (Zhang).

How the mystical realm of Ta Lo fits in and it’s secrets aren’t revealed until the third act, and after the intro, the film does well to show Shang-Chi & Katy (Awkwafina) living their somewhat unfulfilled lives in San Francisco, before the action starts to heat up when Shang-Chi goes looking for his sister. All the actors are very likeable, especially Leung, who does a great job of making sure Wenwu doesn’t descend into a caricature of a bad guy, but truly feels like a misguided father. Some great cameos also round everything out and it’s always great to see Michelle Yeoh.

While a bit slow in some parts, the martial arts scenes and action near the end are great, without being overwhelming – certainly up there with ‘Hero’ & ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’. Also a nice nod to ‘Raya & the Last Dragon’! Nice ending and character arc for Shang-Chi – I look forward to seeing him find his place in the MCU.

Overall: Enjoyable action film.

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars.

Black Widow

Official Australian release date: 8/7/21. Viewed: 9/7/21.

Director: Cate Shortland

Actors: Scarlett Johansson, Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Rachel Weisz

Genre: Action / Sci-Fi

Rating: M

‘Black Widow’ is the latest MCU film, taking place after ‘Captain America: Civil War’ and before ‘Avengers: Infinity War’, where we get to see Natasha Romanoff (Johansson) doing her bad-ass spy thing solo. Or mostly solo – she’s joined, at times, by her “unique” family: father Alexi (Harbour), mother Melina (Weisz) and sister Yelena (Pugh). There’s plenty of backstory there and it’s well handled.

Having Pugh & Harbour actually added way more humour than I was expecting, which was good to see and helped keep things moving. However, this is primarily a Bond-style action-packed car-chase into explosion into hand-to-hand-combat film. And that’s what ‘Black Widow’ should be – she has no super-powers, after all. The plot involves Natasha going after “the Red Room”, which is the spy agency that programmed her to be an assassin. Dreykov (Winstone) and the skull-helmeted semi-cyborg (no spoilers!) are OK as the bad guys, even if they don’t have that much screen time.

Pretty satisfying conclusion, with the post-credits scene linking back into some of the Marvel TV shows. I enjoyed all the scenes with Harbour, but Pugh steals the show, with some solid stunts/fights, but mostly her well-placed quips. It’s also a fitting conclusion if this is the last time we see Johansson as Black Widow, as she’s so assured in the role that you feel light at home when she’s on screen. Bring on Phase 4!

Overall: well-made Marvel backstory.

Gav's Rating: 4 stars.

The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard

Official Australian release date: 24/6/21. Viewed: 13/6/21.
Director: Patrick Hughes
Actors: Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson, Salma Hayek, Antonio Banderas
Genre: Action / Comedy
Rating: MA

 

‘The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard’ is a sequel to the 2017 “odd-couple” film, where Michael Bryce (Reynolds) is a bodyguard to hitman Darius Kincaid (Jackson). This time around, Darius’ wife Sonia (Hayek) is added to the mix, with pleasing results! Plot is pretty simple – Darius & Sonia are attempting to have a belated honeymoon in Europe, and Bryce is attempting to have a sabbatical from bodyguarding. They end up getting involved in foiling Papadopolous’ (Banderas) plan to take down Europe data servers.
 
Nice to see lots of pre-covid Europe – Italy, Croatia, UK – and also plenty of car chases/explosions/gun fights. The film does well to tread the line between action & comedy and covers both bases equally well. The highlight is definitely the dysfunctional relationship between Reynolds, Jackson & Hayek – plenty of great lines and quips. Also nice to see Morgan Freeman, as well as blond/evil Banderas.

Plenty of unbelievable moments, but lots of them played for laughs. Plays like a well-made Bond spoof. The dream sequences are particularly funny, with Reynolds’ charm always coming through. Very satisfying ending – I’m on board for the third!
 
Overall: Fun and fast.
 
Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars.

A Quiet Place: Part II

Official Australian release date: 27/5/21. Viewed: 21/5/21.
Director: John Krasinski
Actors: Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe, Cilian Murphy
Genre: Thriller / Horror
Rating: M

 
‘A Quiet Place: Part II’ is a rare sequel – one that almost surpasses the original! It does a good job of having an action-packed opening 10min flashback, to remind you how the sound-hunting-aliens work, but also so Lee (Krasinski) can get some screen time and we unveil a bit of the initial terror when the outbreak started. From there, we follow Evelyn (Blunt), Regan (Simmonds), Marcus (Jupe) and the baby from the immediate aftermath of the first film.
 
They run into Emmett (Murphy), who we meet in the flashback, who’s been dealing with his own trials while trying to survive. Obviously, a few things go wrong and there’s many fraught moments as they’re hunted by the creatures. The film is smart by making Simmonds the main character and following her journey as she sets out to use her hearing-aid against the aliens.
 
Once again, the score – and often lack of any sound – is used really well and forces you to put yourself in the character’s shoes. The pacing is also great, with there being a few moments of respite, but overall there’s plenty of momentum and it all feels like it’s over too quick (does only go for 90min). Very enjoyable – would watch a third one!
 
Overall: Another taught thriller
 
Gav's Rating: 4 stars.

Wrath of Man

Official Australian release date: 29/4/21. Viewed: 19/5/21.
Director: Guy Ritchie
Actors: Jason Statham, Holt McCallany, Scott Eastwood, Josh Hartnett
Genre: Action
Rating: MA
 

‘Wrath of Man’ is the first Guy Ritchie/Jason Statham film in a few years and it’s good to see them both back doing what they do best! This time, the location is Los Angeles, but still the gritty wrong-side-of-the-tracks, as we follow Hill (Statham) as he joins a security firm for a cash transport company, where he’s shown the ropes by Bullet (McCallany) and Dave (Hartnett). The first act plays like a straightforward heist film.
 
But then we have a flashback for the 2^nd act (I like the title cards between them) to give us more backstory and then the 3^rd act flips everything into a revenge film as we find out what’s motivating Hill and how Jackson (Donovan), Tom (Reilly) and Jan (Eastwood) fit in. The pieces all fit together quite well, but still leave one big question heading into the 4^th & final act.
 
Needless to say, the body count is quite high (30+), Statham does his strong/silent type well, with a few well-placed quips, there’s enough insight into the supporting cast and a crazy shoot-out finale. The score was sometimes overbearing, but the pacing was good. Probably better than ‘The Gentlemen’ in my book.
 
Overall: Assured revenge fun in classic Statham style.
 
Gav's Rating: 4 stars.