Reviews

The movie started off pretty well, and it looked for a while like it was building toward a decent story. There is some good acting in this, and some very average acting.

When the movie made a sharp left turn into a Fast and Furious inspired romp, it effectively turned into a one out of ten. The movie was never going to be a ten, but the opening of the movie showed real promise. The fight scenes and feel of the Road House certainly lived up to the premise.

It was just a pity that the movie descended rapidly into a completely over the top CGI-fest with unbelievable action sequences. Otherwise this would have made a decent popcorn flick.

This in no way spoils the plot, nor takes away from the story, but if you arrived at the end of the series expecting a second or subsequent season, you really missed what the series was about.

I found the series itself quite well written, with good acting, relatable characters and a well-paced storyline. There are some heavy-handed themes in respect to climate change and capitalism, but they really are secondary to the narrative and plot.

Some of the effects are a little sub-par for 2023, but others create a very immersive world, where you really feel the repetitiveness and isolation of the workers on the rig.

If you are a fan of classic sci-fi, Doctor Who, or similar, this will be a great binge watch.

For someone born in England, Martin McDonagh writes a brilliantly observational movie that cuts to the heart of the Irish people and culture - their propensity for love, their ability to hold a grudge, their wont to fight each other in absence of anyone better to fight. The humour is understated and an aside to the tribulations of the characters, even though it reflects the very best of why we love the Irish.

The drama and tragedy are very real and wholly relatable to those who have, or are experiencing, mid-life existential crises - who am I, what have I achieved, what is my legacy? All very real questions that are brilliantly played out by Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Kerry Condon and Barry Keoghan.

A mixture of craic tempered with a healthy dose of real life are a winning formula.

I have enjoyed Jordan Peele's other outings and I think he is fantastic talent as a writer and director. He certainly brings his A-game to the table in terms of the camera work and the dialogue, but I found Nope to be not only very misleading, but symptomatic of many recent movies where you have to be "in the industry" or "from the city" to get the cultural references and allusions.

The movie seemed to jump from a muddled, but eminently straightforward plot, to making in-house references to the film industry, Hollywood and the fleetingness of fame, back to science-fiction/thriller, and then back again.

I like a good metaphor as much as the next person, but not when it requires me to have insider knowledge of the joke or critique. If Nope had been more about maintaining the thriller type atmosphere and less about running commentary on movie making, I'm sure I would have appreciated it far more.

Let's just hope that Mr Peele's next outings fare better.

The movie has a fantastic cast, a great premise and is gorgeously filmed, taking advantage of some magnificent cityscapes, but at the same time it suffers from cliché-ridden character dialogue, confusing narrative and a not so convincing conclusion.

The actors acquit themselves very well and in theory the storyline should be more compelling, but I was really found my interest waning and deflated by the end of the movie.

If you are a fan of the major cast members I'm sure you will find the movie itself enjoyable, but it really lacks bite to make it stand out from other crime/thriller genre movies.

Don't Worry Darling is a story in the ilk of the golden age of sci-fi, where there are no hard answers, the topic and subject matter are philosophical as much as they are scientific.

The movie itself is very well shot, and has great performances from Florence Pugh and Harry Styles particularly. The dialogue is deliberately vague and the story nebulous up to the conclusion.

Unlike recent releases such as Nope, which are vain, conceited commentaries on small parts of society, Don't Worry Darling speaks more broadly to bigger questions and asks what ifs to the audience.

It's certainly not a perfect movie by any stretch of the imagination, and it will definitely leave a large number of audience members disenchanted as the conclusion is open-ended, but if you like your flavour of science fiction to have a good twist, contain more than fluffy CGI and devoid of action for the sake of action, this is a satisfying watch.

As a thriller this isn't a bad story, and it is, for the most part well acted, but the dialogue honestly feels like a ten year old attempted to write in as many swear words in as random a fashion as possible, and the various fight scenes are so unrealistic as to be comical.

The feel of the movie and it's 70s setting is pretty accurate, but the language and fight scenes really detract from the film's overall impact.

I'm certainly not prudish, nor averse to violence in movies, but this turned a good movie into a passable outing.

Well, for the Tom Cruise naysayers, you can't complain they didn't get Reacher's physicality and sometimes brutality right. We've got a stoic, quiet drifter with a nebulous background wandering into a situation he didn't expect.

The story is solid and the acting is great. The cast really seemed to fit well into the narrative, and they portrayed their characters believably.

My only gripe is that I Reacher himself looks and various himself like someone who spendsa large amount of time in the gym and eating to fuel his body mass. I get Reacher is supposed to be physically intimidating but it's maybe a stretch too far.

Having said that, it's a darker, far more morally ambiguous take than the movies and it's a pretty reasonable watch. Hopefully a second series improves on it.

The first season had me hooked from start to finish and was a compelling mix of historicity and fiction. The historical aspects were fantastically well written and shot with impeccable performances from the series leads, and it really conveyed the atmosphere that must have surrounded the voyage.

The fictional aspects are a bit of a double-edged sword. On one hand I very much appreciated the speculation on the fate of the crew, and I respect the author's choice to include a cultural/fictional element; the metaphorical (eponymous?) "Terror". That said, the cultural element could easily have been eschewed for a more realistic terror - there were certainly plenty of options in the real arctic explorations.

If you enjoy period drama with a sprinkling of fiction this is an engrossing watch and highly recommended.

This is a tough one to review, as the performances, set pieces, storyline and production were all very good, but the movie felt very rushed in a lot of places and the characters never really developed enough to become more than paper cutouts. I think this would seriously have benefited being a series, or two or three movies, rather than trying to cram so much into so little a space. The familiar tropes are all here, do if you like to sit down, switch off and just enjoy action, I'm sure you'll enjoy this popcorn-fest, but don't go looking for introspection or a deep dive into the story.

The scenery and cinematography at points is fantastic, and the movie has elements remiscent of 80s and 90s action genre movies, but sadly the writers seem to have forgotten to include a cogent storyline, never providing reasons for the plot, and utterly failing to tie up any parts of the story.

The acting itself feels very wooden, and whilst I like Angelina Jolie in a lot of action movies, this just felt like a flat, dialled in performance - she really doesn't present an sympathetic role in this outing.

It's an okay popcorn movie if you've got nothing better to watch, but honestly you aren't missing anything here that hasn't been done to death elsewhere and better.

Unlike many many reviews that seem to be universally panning Wonder woman 1984, I found it was a pretty good outing. It's not a Marvel ensemble extravaganza, but I personally found the series grinding, and flogging many dead horses. Standalone stories such as this are a much better fare.

The story itself is pretty basic, with a few twists, and of course there is the obligatory buildup of how awesome the Amazonian people are, but otherwise it's pretty good backstory.

Where I do draw exception is Patty Jenkins shoving every 80s trope down the viewers throat for much of the movie. I remember 1984 very well, and we certainly didn't live out every 80s fad, or fashion faux pas in every single block. Either Ms Jenkins lived in a bubble during the 80s or her parents didn't let her get out much.

As always Gal Gadot and Chris Pine really bring it chemistry-wise, and there are some great parts played by the other cast. To be fair there is some middling acting and story, but overall I was pretty happy. It's no classic, but it's still a good lazy afternoon watch.

There's plenty to chew on with this movie, whether you're looking at it from a sci-fi perspective, drama or just a general watch. The actors portray your everyperson - they aren't superheroes, there's no use of over the top CGI, just a well written, thoughtful piece. I do have some bones about timescales, the physics, biology, and chemistry, but that's true of most sci-fi offerings. If you're looking for a blockbuster, this most assuredly is not for you, but if you like poignant storytelling, it's pretty good. Given the film's likely limited budget, and a not well-known cast outside of Australia, I'm giving extra points for the effort. A credible and enjoyable movie.

This is more of a character-driven drama set to a sci-fi theme as opposed to an action style series. Many reviews unfairly criticise the "instant communications", or mobile phones, and propogation delay as being egregious errors, however I'd much prefer to look at them as artistic license. After all I'd much prefer to ignore such a minor issue, and watch content rather than spend half an episode waiting for comms delays.

If people really want to nitpick the science, why not mention why a mission commander would waste 4-6 hours of pre-eva on gassing, followed by decompressing, simply to take a look at their ship when they are a mere 20 hours from launch and behind schedule?

Yes the characters bicker and have their own agenda, and there is friction, but despite fondly grid beliefs, when teams who train at length can quickly fall apart given stress, and isolation. Astronauts are where they are through a competitive streak, not through acquiescence or keeping their head down. Until you are in the situation, you never know how someone will react to intense pressure. NASA, amongst many agencies, is not infallible in its methods or screening, and so the dynamic of the crew is not unbelievable. In that way I find the crew's individual bent to be quite realistic and at times compelling.

If you're more interested in the story, the characters, the narrative, this is a good watch. If you're a sci-fi wannabe, or just need your action hit, then perhaps you should look elsewhere.

Very slickly presented, Space Force boasts a fantastic cast, excellent props, and just the right mix of sardonic humour to counterbalance the more serious moments. If you're expecting a 40-year old Virgin Steve Carell or The Office, you are going to be disappointed. I'm only the episodes in, but I've found the characters fun to try to pin down. Just when you write someone off, they have a surprising turn. Sure there's some daft ideas, but it really is fun.

I very much liked the style, the tempo and the story. It starts very much in the vein of Kubrick's 2001, and the hook is quite compelling. Somewhere along the line though, physics went out the window, and we ended up with a fantastic adventure in "what the?!?"

Gravity had some very average physics, but it is a superlative study in orbital mechanics by comparison.

On the drama front it delivered, and the acting is first rate, but by the end I expected and received a Deus ex machina moment, and on that turn alone, I knocked off five stars.

It's worth a watch if you don't approach it from a hard science perspective, and if you want to explore the moral and spiritual implications of the storyline.

In that respect the movie has parallels with the likes of Jose-Farmer and peers, but it missed the point for me as a sci-fi vehicle.

I very much enjoyed this alternative take on Hellboy, despite the many negative reviews. The characters are a refreshing change from the black and white characters and storylines we've been inundated with from Marvel, and to a lesser extent DC, and a truly R-rated take, replete with language and full on gore make this a real standout in a saturated superhero market.

Mila Jovovich carries her character well, but it's really David Harbour, Ian McShane and Sasha Lane that made the movie.

It's dark, violent, over the top, but full of irreverent humour, colourful characters, a good, if well-trodden storyline, and just enough Hellboy lore without drowning the movie in backstory.

Don't watch it expecting Ron Perlman or a greatly sanitised Hellboy, but watch it for what it is, a great romp. This is definitely not a kids movie, and that's what makes it a standout.

I've given the snow the benefit of the doubt for the first season and into the second, but I'm past the point of patience. Schmick CGI, and fancy effects side, this has no relation to the last 50 years of Trek stories and lore.

Corny characters, sub par storylines, Deus ex machina plot devices such as the spore drive, all make for forced drama and no real feel of Star Trek.

We've somewhere lost the ideas driving Roddenberry's vision of a multicultural, largely utopian future, with gimmicky effects, paper thin characters, and science-defying concepts. The original series and Next Gen at least tried to predict technological developments, based on existing or new science, whereas lazy writing simply, and magically, resolves any trouble the crew may find themselves in.

Really, if you took away the title, this could be a thin excuse for any other sci-fi tv series out there. I don't know what it is, but it's definitely not Trek.

After watching the final episode on DVD I can list this as one of the best mini series of recent memory. I remained on the edge of my seat throughout each and every episode, so completely drawn into the characters and story line.

James Nesbitt absolutely shines throughout his performance with the contrasting shades of Dr Jackman/Hyde's personalities. The sheer intensity of Hyde left me aquiver, never quite knowing what was next.

An excellent supporting cast showing a range of dynamic talent in bringing the back story to life. An eclectic mix of personalities, each of the characters interacts convincingly with the others, weaving a captivating performance.

The references to Robert Louis Stevenson's works were both subtle and gross, and I think a second watching is in order to truly appreciate the depth of the writing.

Certainly not the kind of television one expects nowadays, Jekyll hearkens to days of true creative writing and absolute engagement with the audience. Whether you while away a day watching the whole series, or watch the series piecemeal, a thoroughly entertaining romp through the annals of a classic with a contemporary twist.