Film Review Club

F9 is the latest instalment of the Fast and Furious franchise and we see Dom and Letty now living off the grid with Dom’s son Brian. However a distress call from Mr Nobody soon calls the team back into action, where Dom discovers this is more to do with family then group realise.  CAST & THE ACTING  All of the cast return, with Vin Diesel reprising the role of Dominic Toretto, Michelle Rodriguez as Letty, Tyrese Gibson as Roman, Jordana Brewster as Mia, Ludacris as Tej, Nathalie Emmanuel as Ramsey and even Sung Kang returning as Han! John Cena joins the cast as Jacob Toretto and Charlize Theron also returns as Cipher. The acting is actually pretty good with a nice blend of comedy and emotion. After 9 films you would expect the cast dynamic to be great and it is, you can see the chemistry come across on screen. There wasn’t any extraordinary acting displayed but it was good enough to get you invested in the story, particularly the complicated relationship with Dom and Jacob. I was s

Harry Potter consists of 8 films based on the books written by JK Rowling. They are set in a magical world where a baby boy miraculously defeats a Dark Lord named Voldemort thanks to his mother’s sacrifice. Having grown up in the muggle world (non magic), Harry turns 11 and begins his new life at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. CAST & THE ACTING  I think it’s fair to say the casting for all 8 films is perfect, I have never come across another fan who has suggested another actor who should have played any of the characters. Daniel Radcliffe portrays Harry Potter, Rupert Grint is Ronald Weasley and Emma Watson is Hermoine Granger. We see this trio grow up on screen, small children in the Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s stone to being adults in the final film The Deathy Hallows Part 2. It’s fair to say with each film their acting improves, which is expected given the first film was each of their first acting roles. By the time the final film was released they were all g

Fatherhood is a film directed by Paul Weitz and follows single father Matthew who loses his wife just after she gives birth to their first child. We see him deal with the challenges of raising a child and also getting back into the world of dating. This is an emotional film about fatherhood, friendship and family. CAST & THE ACTING  Kevin Hart is Matthew the widowed father and I believe this is the best performance I have seen from him in terms of acting range. We all know him as one of the funniest actors in Hollywood but Fatherhood showcases his other talents as his character deals with grief and an array of other emotions. He creates such a likeable character which really gets the audience invested in his journey as a father. Melody Hurd plays his young daughter Maddie and for such a young actress she delivers a great performance, bringing so much personality to the character. The other cast members include Anthony Carrigan, DeWanda Wise, Alfre Woodard and Lil Rey Howery, who al

Intelligence is a Sky One comedy series created by Nick Mohammed and is about a NSA agent called Jerry who moves to England to work for the Government Communications Headquarters and teams up with computer analyst Joseph Harries to combat cyber crime.  CAST & THE ACTING  David Schwimmer leads the cast and in my opinion this is his best role since his iconic portrayal of Ross in Friends. He hasn’t lost his comical timing and his physical comedy is still brilliant too. Nick Mohammed plays his sidekick Joseph and it’s clear from episode one that the pair have great on screen chemistry. Although the rest of the cast are not huge names in the acting world they still deliver strong performances, with each of their characters being extremely funny in their own kind of way. The dynamic between the cast creates a really funny series with characters you can enjoy.  THE PLOT & THE STORYLINE  Intelligence is something different to what I have seen before, it’s set in the offices of the Gov

The latest instalment of The Conjuring sticks with Ed and Lorraine Warren as they take on one of the worst cases of their careers. After a failed attempt at an exorcism sees the demon jump to take on a new host, a brutal murder soon occurs where Ed and Lorraine must convince a jury of demonic possession to prevent the death penalty. They soon realise that it isn’t a normal case. CAST & THE ACTING  Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson reprise their roles as Lorraine and Ed Warren and do well to portray the convincing characters as they take on another case. Julian Hilliard plays the initially possessed young boy David and he does brilliantly, for such a young actor he really does deliver a great performance. Especially in the opening 20 minutes or so. Ruairi O’Connor plays Arne and similarly to Julian, he delivers a strong performance showing a real range of ability throughout the journey of his character. Overall I think the acting was actually pretty good, however they were let down by

The Blade Trilogy centres around the half vampire, half human vampire Hunter from the Marvel Comics. It consists of three films; Blade (1998), Blade 2 (2002) and Blade: Trinity (2004). The first film Blade takes on one of his famous adversaries Deacon Frost and in the 2nd instalment he joins forces with vampires to take on the mutated reapers. The final film sees him take on Dracula, whilst teaming up with the Nightstalkers. CAST & THE ACTING The casting of Blade himself was spot on, Wesley Snipes is a brilliant Blade and in general his acting is pretty good. The action choreography is good throughout the three films but there are a few silly moments where it just wasn’t pulled off too well. Kris Kristofferson plays Abraham Whistler, mentor to Blade and although I don’t think he particularly looked liked the character from the comics his performance was convincing enough. The third film is the film which contains the biggest names with the likes of Jessica Biel, Ryan Reynolds, Trip

A Quiet Place: Part 2 is the sequel to the original 2018 film, directed by John Krasinski. The grieving family must leave their home and face the outside world beyond the sand path. Under constant threat from the deadly creatures that pounce on every sound, they soon realise that they are not the only danger in this post apocalyptic world.  CAST & THE ACTING (8.5/10) What I enjoyed most about this film is how perfectly they casted one of the new leads Emmett played by Cillian Murphy. It’s rare that a sequel replaces a killed off character so brilliantly but this was certainly that. Murphy plays the grieving husband and father who has lost all hope for the world but soon feels obliged to help protect the Abbott family. He delivered a fantastic performance and the chemistry between himself and Millicent Simmonds Regan comes across really well on screen. Emily Blunt reprises her role as Evelyn and so does Noah Jupe as her son Marcus. They all delivered really strong and convincing per

Spider-Man 3 is the final instalment by Sami Raimi and follows Peter Parker as he battles the Sandman, bonds with the symbiotic alien Venom and also fights his best friend Harry. Whilst the film is full of enemies for Spider-Man he also struggles to maintain his relationship with Mary Jane Watson. CAST & THE ACTING  It was good to see the entire cast return again for the third film with Toby Maguire back as Peter, James Franco as Harry Osborne, Kristen Dunst back as MJ and J K Simmons back as Jonah Jameson. The two new villains casted were Topher Grace as Eddie Brock who later bonded with the symbiotic alien to become venom and Thomas Haden Church as the Sandman. Personally I think this was the one time Sami Raimi got it wrong, I don’t think they were the best people to play those roles and although they weren’t terrible, I think it could have been better. What I did like was Bryce Dallas Howard as Gwen Stacy, I think that casting worked well and her performance was good too. There

Spider-Man 2 is the second instalment by director Sami Raimi following Peter Parker as he struggles to maintain his own regular life which ultimately results in the loss of his powers. The rise of Doctor Octavius means he soon has to bounce back to save New York City. CAST & THE ACTING The same cast return for the second film with Toby Maguire reprising the role of Peter Parker, Kristen Dunst returning as Mary Jane Watson and James Franco as Harry Osborne. Similarly to the first film, they all deliver strong performances, the character relationships become more complex and difficult now they begin to work and go to college. This requires more depth and range from the actors to make sure those relationships come across as authentic, which I believe they do. Alfred Molina is a perfect Doctor Octavius, showing the clear transition from an acclaimed academic to a mad scientist under the influence from his robotic tentacles. They continued to cast great villains and improve the acting w

Spider-Man is the first instalment of the original live action trilogy directed by Sam Raimi. It follows Peter Parker as he transitions into the infamous Spider-Man after being bitten by a genetically altered spider. We see him take on one of his most iconic nemesis, the Green Goblin. CAST & THE ACTING I personally think Toby Maguire is the best actor to play Spider-Man so far, that could be because I grew up on those films and that version holds a sense of nostalgia. I think he shows great range, being able to convincingly portray all the emotions Peter goes through such as the anger and grief losing his uncle Ben but also the sense of empowerment that comes with his new found powers. Willem Defoe is Norman Osborn (AKA the Green Goblin) and he does brilliantly at bringing that iconic villain to life. James Franco plays Harry Obsorn and Kristen Dunst plays Mary Jane Watson, both delivering strong performances. There are some cringe-worthy moments in the film but I think overall the