Transformers One

Official Australian release date: 19/9/24. Viewed: 23/9/24.
Director: Josh Cooley
Actors: Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry, Scarlett Johansson, Keegan-Michael Key
Genre: Animation / Action
Rating: PG

‘Transformers One’ is a prequel to all the Transformers cartoons and films, and is a great return to form, partly because I think it works better when there’re no pesky humans to worry about, just space robots! This is from Cooley, the writer of ‘Inside Out’ and director of ‘Toy Story 4’, so he knows how to balance comedy and heart. It’s nice to have a fresh slate with Orion Pax/young Optimus (Hemsworth) and D-16/young Megatron (Tyree Henry, who are just miners trying to find their way in Cybertron.

Strong voice cast with Elita (Johansson), B-127/young Bumblebee (Key), Alpha Trion (Fishburne), Starscream (Buscemi – great origin story for his voice) and Sentinel Prime (Hamm), plus many other familiar faces of future Autobots and Decepticons. The plot is clear for younger kids – all the “Primes” (leaders) were killed in a war decades ago and the leadership matrix thing was lost, so Orion, D, B & Elita set out to find it and uncover a huge conspiracy. They set out to fix it while discovering their new abilities.

Crazy to think it’s been 38 years since the first film and 40 years since the cartoon first started. It does well to give each of the main characters time to shine, and does a good of showing Orion & D-16’s friendship and how/why it evolves. Also important to note there’s some great action sequences, a fitting finale and lots of chuckles/funny moments. Should suit older audiences (i.e. me) and new ones: “9.9 out of 10” from the nephew!

Overall: Fun, fast prequel to our favourite robots

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars

 

Blink Twice

Official Australian release date: 22/8/24. Viewed: 26/8/24.
Director: Zoe Kravitz
Actors: Naomi Ackie, Channing Tatum, Alia Shawkat, Adria Arjona
Genre: Thriller / Mystery
Rating: MA

‘Blink Twice’ is a psychological thriller with a simple premise – Frida (Ackie) and Jess (Shawkat) are friends and waitresses who somehow wind up on an Elon Musk-style billionaire’s island. In this case, Slater King (Tatum)’s undisclosed Mexican island, lounging by a pool and drinking all day. What could go wrong? Be careful what you wish for!

The cast is stacked, with Slater’s friends and/or employees including Vic (Christian Slater), Tom (Haley Joel Osment), Stacy (Geena Davis) and Rich (Kyle MacLachlan). We see a sort of bond form between Frida, Jess, Sarah (Arjona), Camilla (Caribel) and Heather (Mullen) and it’s nice to see them evolve from party girls to actual characters. Mostly easy to follow, as there’s only about 12 characters, all good. The film takes time to establish things, with nothing going too astray too quickly, and some of the editing keeping you on your toes.

There’s a little bit of ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’, ‘White Lotus’ and ‘The Menu’ about it – while there’s some horrific moments in the final act, nothing overly gory or terrifying. But there’s certainly plenty of “that’s messed-up” moments and there is quite a few hints dropped along the way which to come together pretty well. Some laughs as well to balance some of the tension, and a very satisfying ending, all in under 100min.

Overall: Well-made directing debut/thriller

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars

Alien: Romulus

Official Australian release date: 15/8/24. Viewed: 20/8/24.
Director: Fede Alvarez
Actors: Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced
Genre: Sci-Fi / Horror
Rating: MA

‘Alien: Romulus’ is the 9^th ‘Alien’ film, and is technically the sequel to the original 1979 ‘Alien’, chronologically falling between it and ‘Aliens’. Thankfully, it takes lots of inspiration from both of those films and while not quite as great as them, comes closes in many respects. The film is called “Romulus”, as that’s the name of a space station our 6 main characters find abandoned, due to whatever experiments they were doing.

A lot of this film working is due to it focusing only on 6 characters and giving them each a bit of time to become sympathetic to – Rain (Spaeny), android Andy (Jonsson), Tyler (Renaux), Kay (Merced), Bjorn (Fearn) and Navarro (Wu). How many will survive? Great silent/‘Jurassic Park’-like start, then quick intro to these 6 characters, then they’re on the “Romulus” and the face-huggers are skittering everywhere – great stuff!

There’s some good tense moments, a few jump scares, a familiar face, a truly-disturbing xenomorph at the end and a strong score. I was very impressed with the visuals/CGI of the planet and it’s Saturn-like rings and how they were used to bring urgency to the final act. It’s probably 15min too long overall, with some head-making decisions towards the end. But is has a strong cast with Rain not being too much like Ripley, and the xenomorph not being too powerful, but nor easy-to-kill – still always great to see emerging from the shadows! Does well to fit into the overall ‘Alien’ storyline and is exciting enough as a standalone sci-fi film.

Overall: Very strong Alien story

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars

 

Trap

Official Australian release date: 1/8/24. Viewed: 4/8/24.
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Actors: Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills
Genre: Thriller
Rating: M

‘Trap’ is M Night Shyamalan’s 16^th film, and is similar to his last few films (‘Old’ and ‘Knock at the Cabin’): a decent concept full of promise, but never truly becomes too exciting or engaging. This time, we follow Cooper (Hartnett) and his daughter Riley (Donoghue) at a pop concert, which is fictional singer Lady Raven (M Night’s daughter, Saleka). There’s lots of police and FBI at the concert (allegedly in Philadelphia, even though it’s filmed in Ontario) as they try to catch a serial killer.

The twist is given away early, with Cooper revealed to be the killer and main character, with the FBI profiler, Dr Grant (Mills) relegated to supporting cast, the opposite of most crime thrillers. There’s another slight twist in the final act, but nothing of ‘The Sixth Sense’ or ‘The Village’ scale. About 75% of the film takes place at the concert, so it kind of feels M Night is trying to shoehorn a star-making turn for his daughter into the film.

Some pretty “very unlikely” moments throughout, but Hartnett and Donoghue are both solid. Some interesting camera choices, almost too obvious, which is how I was left feeling at the end too – not a bad film, but nothing truly memorable or special either. Glad M Night is still making original films, but expected a bit more.

Overall: Not scary enough for a thriller

Gav's Rating: 3 stars

Deadpool & Wolverine

Official Australian release date: 25/7/24. Viewed: 24/7/24.
Director: Shawn Levy
Actors: Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin, Matthew Macfadyen
Genre: Action / Comedy
Rating: MA

‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ (or Deadpool 3) comes almost 8.5 years after ‘Deadpool’, over 7 years after ‘Logan’ and 24 years after ‘X-Men’. A lot has happened in the MCU in that time – not as much in the Fox-verse – but it’s almost instantly comfortable and fun being back in Wade Wilson/Deadpool (Reynolds)’s world. The film does a great job of both making fun of both the MCU and Fox films, whilst remaining true to the Deadpool and Wolverine/Logan (Jackman) characters and simultaneously integrating them into the MCU via the Time Variance Authority (if you haven’t watched both seasons of ‘Loki’, highly recommended and will help with some of the multiverse aspects).

That said, this still works well as a standalone unwilling-buddy-journey film, with Logan being a curmudgeon with no hope and Wade being a defeated optimist trying to save his friends. Wade, obviously, does most of the talking, with Reynolds banter as fast and dirty as ever, but Jackman holds his own. Cassandra Nova (Corrin) and Paradox (Macfadyen) are good as the not-always-sure-they’re-100%-villains. The fight scenes, especially between the 2 of them, are fast and fun. But this is still an MA-rated film – there’s lots of blood throughout! The score and soundtrack are great, with some very famous songs used in unique and funny ways throughout.

There’s so many nods/references to comics and past films from both studios that I won’t mention any here. Except that Peter (Delaney) is back and has a few great moments. Needless to say, as a fan that’s been following these characters since I was a teenager, there’s not much more I could ask for from this film. It’s maybe not as good as ‘Logan’, or the original ‘Deadpool’, but it certainly delivers a fun and emotional journey for both characters, with enough jokes to not get too serious, enough action to make it a blockbuster and enough heart to not let it descend into caricature.  

Overall: Fun, fitting, enjoyable, beginning..?

Gav's Rating: 4 stars

Twisters

Official Australian release date: 11/7/24. Viewed: 16/7/24.
Director: Lee Isaac Chung
Actors: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell, Anthony Ramos, David Corenswet
Genre: Action / Thriller
Rating: M

‘Twisters’ is not necessarily a sequel, but a semi-reboot of 1996’s ‘Twister’, with no direct links to the original film, but lots of nods. This time we have a more noble storyline, with Kate (Edgar-Jones) using science (meteorology and polymer chemistry!) to attempt to dissipate tornadoes before they destroy towns. And if the science is questionable, she has a “gift”, so it’s OK. Her high-school friend Javi (Ramos) has a good story-arc and Tyler (Powell, in everything right now!) is the tornado-chasing cowboy – a nice change, as Paxton and Hunt were exes.

It's filmed in Oklahoma, so looks the part, and has a fair bit of Americana in it, not least of which is the mostly-country soundtrack. The score is good though, and there’s plenty of tornado-action, with not more than 15min of screentime passing without having one on screen, so it delivers on that front. The 3 main characters take a while to grow on you, which also helps, as they have to earn your cheering for them. The film starts quickly and strongly, wasting no time in proving that it’s not afraid to have on-screen deaths.

It's not all hectic, but does go fast at 2 hours. Kate and Javi have good stories and Tyler isn’t as cliched as he initially seems. Scott (Croenswet) is adequately punchable. There’s still plenty of dumb/“as if” moments, but the GCI of the tornadoes is good and the sound effects hit home. Solid ending, and another great cinema scene.

Overall: Better than ‘Twister’

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars

 

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