Film Review Club

Good Girls is a Netflix series about 3 women, Beth, her sister Annie and their best friend Ruby, who become fed up with their mundane lives as mums struggling to make ends meet. They decide to take action and turn to a life of crime which puts them in a hole that just keeps getting deeper and deeper. CAST & THE ACTING  Christina Hendricks leads the cast as Beth, the main character and I think she does really well. She fits the role as a mum perfectly but also nicely portrays that change into someone who enjoys danger and darkness. Annie is played by Mae Whitman and Ruby is played by Retta. Both of them inject a lot of humour into the series but especially Whitman who delivers the dialogue so well that the comedy is always funny and effective. I also loved the fact Matthew Lillard is in this series, the man most of us know for being perfectly cast as Shaggy in the live action Scooby doo films! His character goes on quite the journey over the 4 seasons that have been released so far,

Aliens is the 2nd instalment in the Alien franchise and is directed by James Cameron. This film leads directly on from the first, when Ripley is discovered by a salvage ship and awoken for the first time since escaping Nostromo. She is then sent back to planet LV-426, to reestablish contact with a terraforming colony, after signal had been lost.  CAST & THE ACTING  Sigourney Weaver reprises her role as Ripley and once again delivers a strong performance as the iconic character. I believe her performance stands out amongst films of a similar ilk during that time period because the character is much more relatable. She displays fear but also compassion and determination and she doesn’t seem indestructible or overpowered compared to other action stars of that time. The chemistry between Weaver and Carrie Henn who played the young child Newt really stood out. Their performances emphasised that bond between the characters, which made Ripley’s determination to save the girl understandabl

Alien is a Sci-Fi horror directed by Ridley Scott and follows the crew on a spacecraft called Nostromo as they intercept a distress call from a planet. Things soon take a turn for the worse as they discover an alien that terrorises the ship and hunts everyone on board. CAST & THE ACTING  For a lot of this film there isn’t really a lead actor because it follows the crew equally, showing us who each of these characters are. However Sigourney Weaver, who plays Ellen Ripley, ends up being the main character and she delivers a fantastic performance! She increases the intensity of the film and that keeps you on the edge of your seat with your heart racing. It was probably one of the best performances I’ve seen from an actress in a film of this genre. Ian Holm played Ash the science officer on board and the undercover artificial intelligence. He done well to create suspicion around his character, almost switching from very real and human like with little behavioural signals that got me qu

Predator, directed by John McTiernan, follows a group of hired commandos on a mission in a Central American Jungle but soon find themselves being hunted by an extraterrestrial warrior. CAST & THE ACTING Arnold Schwarzenegger leads the cast as Dutch and this is probably one of his most iconic roles. That being said I don’t think his acting is very good at all, yes he looks the part but his performance is very one dimensional. Predator is a big 80’s action sci-fi flick so I wouldn’t expect to much depth in the main character but I just found the performance a little cringe-worthy. Carl Weathers plays Dillon the CIA agent who hires the team of commandos and I do think his performance was slightly better then Arnold’s but it was still pretty similar. The other actors that make up the cast are Bill Duke as Mac, Elpidia Corrillo as Anna, Jess Venture as Blain, Sonny Landham as Billy and Richard Chaves as Poncho. They all bring a certain level of excitement to the film and the chemistry b

Sex Education is a Netflix original comedy series following socially awkward Otis, who may not have much experience in the lovemaking department but living with his sex therapist mum Jean means he gives great advice on the topic. He begins using this unwanted knowledge to help his fellow school mates with their embarrassing sex problems.  CAST & THE ACTING  Asa Butterfield leads the cast as Otis and perfectly captures the socially awkward teen. He nicely portrays the transition from almost an outcast at school to becoming one of the most well known people there and provides some great humour along the way. He also does very well during the more emotional moments on the show, as he proved in season 3, making the character really relatable to the audience. Emma Mackey plays Maeve his partner in the school therapy business and she does well to portray a character with so many layers and has to show a real range in her acting ability in order to play a character like Maeve convincingly

Here Are The Young Men is a drama directed by Eoin Macken and follows a group of teenagers from Dublin as they transition out of school and into a life without purpose, fuelled by alcohol and drugs. This life affects each of these teens differently, one a monster, one mentally ill and one who can’t help but continue to make bad decisions.  CAST & THE ACTING  I was really impressed by this cast, I am a big fan of most of the actors and they didn’t disappoint because the acting in this film is brilliant. Dean-Charles Chapman plays Matthew, Finn Cole is Kearney and Ferdia Walsh-Peelo plays Kez. They make up the main three characters for the film and they deliver really strong performances. Kearney is a real monster and Finn Cole’s performance is that good that a lot of his scenes made me feel so uncomfortable which was the purpose of his character. He also does well to portray the decline of Kearney, where he becomes more and more of a psychopath as the film goes on. Chapman’s perform

1917 is a film set in World War 1 and is directed by Sam Mendes. It follows two soldiers as they are given impossible orders, to cross enemy terrain and deliver a message that could save over 1,600 lives. Loosely based on the true story of the directors grandfather Alfred H. Mendes.  CAST & THE ACTING  The cast includes an array of huge names but the two main characters are actually lesser known. George MacKay plays Lance Corporal Schofield and Dean-Charles Chapman plays Lance Corporal Blake and these two soldiers are tasked with carrying the message across enemy territory. The chemistry between the actors is excellent, they work together really well and although the two characters are very different they compliment one and other. MacKay’s acting is great and I think the best thing about his performance was just how authentic his portrayal of Lance Corporal Schofield come across. That authenticity really drew you into the character and because the film was so tense you were always

Chaos Walking is the film adaptation of the book ‘The Knife of Never Letting Go’ and is directed by Doug Liman. This film centres around Todd Hewitt, a young man who discovers a crashed spaceship near his home and soon after finds Viola, the first female he has ever seen. On this planet Todd believes all the women were killed by the alien inhabitants and all the men are effected by ‘the noise’ a projection of inner thoughts which everyone can see. He vows to protect Viola and accompanies her on a dangerous journey.  CAST & THE ACTING  Tom Holland and Daisy Ridley lead the cast as Todd and Viola respectively and it’s not the best performance I have seen from either actor. I think the problem was they were let down by the writing and therefore it was hard for the audience to connect to their characters. I think Tom Holland definitely carries the partnership, Todd was far more likeable compared to Ridleys Viola. He does well to portray a more three dimensional character, where the aud

Midsommar, directed by Ari Aster follows Dani and Christian, a couple having issues as a result of Dani’s recent psychological trauma. In an attempt to make amends and fix things, they both visit a friends ancestral commune in Sweden where things don’t go quite to plan. CAST & THE ACTING  Florence Pugh leads the cast as Dani and I am a big fan of Florence’s work so I expected her to deliver a great performance, which she certainly did. She really emphasised the trauma that Dani was going through with her performance, which causes you to have a lot of sympathy with the character and you take a liking to her almost immediately. Her body language and facial expressions play a huge part in this film and they really visualise Dani’s emotions well. Her partner Christian is played by Jack Reynor and I think his performance at the start of the film is completely different to what we see at the end of the film. At first it was average at best, he didn’t really have to portray much emotion a

Sweet Tooth is a Netflix series based on the DC comics by the same. After a sickness has wiped out a lot of the human population, babies are born half human half animal. Sweet Tooth (Gus) sets out on an adventure through this post-apocalyptic world in an attempt to find his mother, meanwhile he is hunted for being half human and half deer.  CAST & THE ACTING  Christian Convery plays Gus AKA Sweet Tooth and delivers a great performance which really surprised me considering he is only 11. Gus faces many challenges throughout the series which meant Convery had to portray a whole range of different emotions to authentically deliver his character, which he did well. You really connected with his character and was so invested in his journey, which is a credit to his performance. Nonso Anozie plays Tommy AKA Big Man and I am a big fan of his having enjoyed his performance in the series Zoo. He plays the sort of reluctant protector of Gus but his character has so many layers that the audie

The Amazing Spider-Man 2, directed by Marc Webb picks up from where we left off in the first instalment. Spider-Man is more familiar with his powers and is well known across New York City but Peter is having a hard time dealing with the promise he made to Gwen’s father. However he soon finds himself having to battle more villains genetically modified by Oscorp.  CAST & THE ACTING  Andrew Garfield returns as Peter Parker and delivers another strong performance as the web slinger. There are many elements in this film where Peter is struggling and Garfield really portrays those emotions well on screen. His chemistry with Emma Stone is great and that presents a really authentic relationship between Peter and Gwen. Another partnership that is elevated in this sequel is Andrew Garfield and Sally Field as Peter and Aunt May. There is a sweet, emotional moment between the pair that really hit me and that’s a credit to the two actors, reeling in the audience like that to portray the special

The Amazing Spider-Man, directed by Marc Webb is the second live action version of the Marvel web slinger. Bitten by a radioactive spider at OSCORP, Peter Parker soon finds himself forced to use his newfound abilities to battle the Lizard. CAST & THE ACTING Andrew Garfield takes on the iconic role of Spider-Man in this instalment and in my opinion he is the most underrated and disrespected actor out of the three who have taken on the role. The more I watch this film the more I like Garfields performance! I think he plays the transition very well, from the shy ‘geeky’ school photographer to being Spider-Man, inheriting the confidence that comes with his abilities. He also delivers a great performance in the more emotional moments of the film, such as uncle Ben’s death, showing range in his acting abilities. Emma Stone plays Gwen Stacey and I believe she takes to the character nicely, in the absence of Mary Jane in The Amazing Spider-Man I think she plays a much better love interest,

Shang-Chi is the latest Marvel instalment, directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and introduces the martial arts specialist Shang-Chi as he is forced to confront his past and stop his father, the leader of the criminal organisation The Ten Rings. CAST & THE ACTING  Simu Liu leads the cast as Shang-Chi and he really surprised me, I haven’t seen much of Liu’s work previously and went into the film expecting a serious, sort of macho performance of this martial arts specialist. This couldn’t have been further from what was delivered, Liu was charismatic and joyful, who injected a lot of comedy into the film. Yes he had the more serious emotional moments, as you could expect with a character that has the family issues Shang-Chi has but even in those moments he done very well, showing his vulnerability allowing the audience to connect with his character. The combat choreography was fantastic as well and definitely one of the stand out elements in the film, reminding me of the classic martial

Cruella, directed by Craig Gillespie, is a film exploring the origins of the famous Disney villain Cruella Devil. Estella a young orphaned girl finds herself alone in London when she meets a pair of thieves who soon become her new family. As they try to make a life for themselves on the streets of London, aspiring fashion designer Estella is noticed by Baroness Von Hellman for her talents and soon enough Estella’s past starts to get unveiled.  CAST & THE ACTING  Emma Stone leads the cast as Estella and she does well, convincingly portraying a young Cruella on the rise. Some moments did come across rather cringeworthy but I do believe that was down to the poor writing/dialogue in the film and not Stones performance. Emma has to play two characters, Estella and Cruella and there is a slight distinction between the two so I suppose Emma Stone was effective there but I just felt like that split personality approach wasn’t needed and I will explain why in the next section. However Cruel