Film Review Club

The Wheel of Time is the latest Amazon original series based on the fantasy novels of the same name. Set in a world where magic exists but only some can access it, a women named Moiraine comes across 5 young men and women as she attempts to find the dragon reborn. A mystical being who in the right hands can defeat the dark one but in the wrong hands can help him return to the earth.  CAST & THE ACTING  Rosamund Pike leads the cast as Moiraine and she actually takes to the role really well. The character is actually quite a complex one whose emotional complexities effects her relationships with the other characters in the series. This means that there are many different versions of Moiraine that the audience gets to see and Pike portrays those complexities nicely and creates a really interesting character. Daniel Henney portrays her ward, Lan Mandragoran and the best part of his performance is his action choreography, that’s not to take anything away from the rest of his performance

Arrival is a sci-fi thriller directed by Dennis Villeneuve and the film follows Louise Banks, a linguistics expert, as she is tasked with interpreting the language of aliens that have mysteriously landed on Earth.  CAST & THE ACTING  Amy Adam’s leads the cast as Louise Banks and she delivers a stellar performance. The way she portrays her character as she slowly becomes obsessed with discovering the message the extra terrestrial visitors are trying to communicate, is simply excellent. Her performance was fundamental for the psychological impact of the storyline, so full credit to her. She was supported by Jeremy Renner who plays Ian Donnelly and it was interesting to see him in such a contrasting role to where I’ve seen him before. He plays a physicist and Ian is a rather timid character that Renner pulls off really well. The pair clearly had great chemistry and they created a really nice partnership that was integral to the plot. Forest Whitaker is probably the only other big name

The Witcher returns for its second season on Netflix and follows Geralt and Ciri now that they have finally found each other. The pair travel to Kaer Morhan the stronghold of the Witcher’s and this is where Ciri begins to train and harness her powers.  CAST & THE ACTING  Henry Cavill returns as Geralt and what I really enjoyed about season 2 was we got to see a more emotional side to his character. This was only a subtle change because a Witcher will never be overly affectionate but Cavill done well to portray that protective instinct he has towards Ciri. The chemistry Cavill and Freya Allen have, flourishes in this second season, creating a father and daughter bond that provides some much needed character development for both Geralt and Ciri. Anya Chalotra also portrayed a very different version of Yennifer, she had to create a much more vulnerable version which she does well! Especially when you compare it to the first season when she was one of the most powerful characters in th

Don’t Look Up is the latest Netflix original to hit the streaming platform and the film is directed by Adam McKay. Two unknown astronomers discover a comet that will destroy the earth, they are forced to take up a media tour to warn the world of what is to come, in the hope of urging to the governments the intervene.  CAST & THE ACTING  Don’t Look Up has one hell of a cast, led by Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence who play the two astronomers that discover the comet. The pair portray two very different characters and both deliver strong performances. Especially DiCaprio who takes on a role I’ve never quite seen him in before. He plays the anxious and panicked scientist well and what’s more impressive is that his Dr Randall Mindy almost develops an alter ego whilst being in the limelight after the discovery. This forces DiCaprio to adjust his personality at many different points in the film, very subtle changes but very effective. Timothee Chalamet has a small role in the seco

Hawkeye is the latest Disney+ series under the Marvel umbrella and follows Clint Barton in New York as his dark past seemingly comes back to haunt him. Forced into action to save a young women called Kate Bishop, the pair team up to take on a variety of different foes. CAST & THE ACTING  Jeremy Renner returns as Clint Barton, AKA Hawkeye and it was so good to see him explore this character further. Previously we have only seen glimpses of his personality as he was overshadowed by some of the more powerful Avenger heroes. He aced the more emotional scenes, addressing Natasha’s death and the hard conversations with his family telling them he wasn’t coming home for Christmas just yet. On the other hand, the action choreography was just as good and we got to see a lot of it, which was great. The best part of the performance was his chemistry with Hailee Steinfield, the pair created such a fun partnership and that perfectly set up the Kate Bishop story arc. Steinfield knocked it out of

Last Christmas is a romance comedy directed by Paul Feig. The film follows Katarina, an aspiring singer who finds herself working as an elf, not really knowing what to do with her life. That’s until she meets Tom who seems to provide a new outlook on life.  CAST & THE ACTING  Emilia Clarke leads the cast as Katerina and she injects a lot of charisma into her performance. She plays the role of a lost women well and creates a likeable character that the audience can route for. Henry Golding plays Tom and he brings a lot of joyfulness to his role, it’s clear the pair have great chemistry and that translates nicely on screen. Despite the pair performing well, the storyline didn’t exactly require fantastic acting. There were flashes of intimate and more emotional moments but I think the two actors could have done a lot more if they were given the chance too. Perhaps that’s a little harsh, after all it is a romantic comedy so it couldn’t get to deep for the audience but a little more to

Spider-Man No Way Home is the final instalment of the Tom Holland trilogy, the film is directed by Jon Watts and kicks off straight from where Far From Home ended. The world knows Peter Parker is now Spider-Man and he enlists the help of Doctor Strange to help people forget. However the spell has unforeseen consequences and opens up the world to visitors from other universes.  CAST & THE ACTING  Tom Holland returns as Spider-Man and it’s fair to say it’s his best performance as the hero thus far. He brings a lot more grit and darkness to Peter Parker and finally he could really showcase his talents. The events of the film meant that he needed to deliver a lot more emotion compared to what we have seen in the first two instalments. Holland and Marisa Tomei’s performances in the scene where Aunt May dies hits really hard and that’s down to how well they both sold those emotions, there were people crying all over the cinema! We finally got to see the return of Toby Maguire and Andrew

Titans is a gritty take on the Teen Titans franchise, following the group of sidekicks from the mainstream heroes as they team up to take on a variety of foes from the DC comics. Led by Dick Grayson, the first Robin, he tries to guide these young heroes whilst trying to avoid the mistakes Bruce Wayne made with him.  CAST & THE ACTING  The casting is fantastic throughout all three seasons, everyone really suited their roles, to the point where many fans were wishing the actors could take up the roles in the mainstream DCEU (DC Extended Universe). Brenton Thwaites plays Dick Grayson and I think he does really well at portraying the complex character. The original Robin really goes on a journey throughout the 3 seasons and Thwaites’s performance really gets fans invested in that version of the character. I won’t go through and list the entire cast but I believe all of them do justice to their comic book counterparts. The tone of the series meant that the Titans all had a darkness to t

The Matrix trilogy includes The Matrix (1999), The Matrix Reloaded (2003) and finally The Matrix Revolutions. The films are directed by the Wachowski’s and follow Thomas Anderson, a computer programmer who soon discovers that his reality is in fact a computer programme called the Matrix. He finds himself battling against the very machines that once imprisoned him, fighting for the freedom of humankind.  CAST & THE ACTING  Keanu Reeves leads the cast as Neo (Thomas Anderson) and I would say it has to be one of his most iconic roles, alongside John Wick. The best thing about his performance across the three films is certainly his combat choreography, he has become known in Hollywood for how seriously he trains for his roles and I would imagine that is why he has such fantastic action sequences. I would say he is let down by poor dialogue at times because apart from a couple of iconic quotes, the rest does come across as pretty cringey. Carrie-Ann Moss and Lawrence Fishburne play Trin

Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon city is based on the popular horror game of the same name. In this reboot we see the origins of the outbreak as it introduces us to some of the iconic characters from the game. The film is directed by Johannes Roberts.  CAST & THE ACTING  The cast is actually the thing that got me excited about the reboot, it is filled with familiar faces that I felt could do justice to the characters. Kaya Scodelario and Robbie Amell play Claire and Chris Redfield and I think Kaya in particular delivered a good performance. Amell was a little hit and miss but I think how he faired in the action sequences probably saved his performance. Hannah John-Kamen played Jill valentine and like Sodelario I believe she performed well. Next we have Tom Hopper who portrayed Albert Wesker and Avan Jogia who was Leon Kennedy, I don’t think either of them delivered poor performances but they weren’t particularly great either. I think I’d summarise the acting as a whole as good eno

The Witcher is a Netflix original series based on the novels and the popular game of the same name. It follows Geralt The Witcher, a monster Hunter who is struggling to find his place in a world where people are often more dangerous than the monsters he is paid to kill.  CAST & THE ACTING  Henry Cavill leads the cast as Geralt and I believe he suits the role perfectly! His fluidity in the action sequences in particular make for great TV and although he is portraying a character deemed to be ‘emotionless’ he does well to gradually reveal the emotional conflict residing within him. It was also a casting that made complete sense because Cavill is a gamer himself and he is a self confessed fan of the game and that genre. This means he has a full understanding of the character and could do him justice for The Witcher fanbase. Anya Chalotra plays Yennifer and I think she is certainly one of the stand out performances. The character goes on such a journey, both physically and emotionally

True Story is a Netflix original limited series directed by Stephen Williams and Hanelle M. Culpepper. It follows comedian and global film star ‘Kid’ as he returns to his home town of Philadelphia on the latest leg of his comedy tour. Under the influence of his brother Carlton, Kid continues to make bad decisions that could not only ruin his life but could put him in prison.  CAST & THE ACTING  True Story has a fantastic cast, led by Kevin Hart and Wesley Snipes who play Kid and Carlton respectively. I always enjoy seeing Kevin Hart in more serious roles, showing his range as an actor. I could imagine this role meant a lot more to him considering the similarities between himself and the main character Kid, that passion certainly comes through on screen. Wesley Snipes also performed well, the older brother who is always dragging Kid down. There wasn’t as much emotion with his character, he was an old fashioned tough guy type persona, so almost always had a wall up. However in some c

House of Gucci is the latest directorial piece from Ridley Scott and follows the Gucci family in the years leading up to the assassination of Maurizio Gucci. Exploring the relationships between family and how the success of the brand poisoned those close to it.  CAST & THE ACTING  House of Gucci is full of huge stars, Adam Driver plays Maurizio Gucci and Lady Gaga portrays his wife Patrizia. I think they were certainly the best performers, Driver was more articulate yet still powerful and Gaga’s was portraying more of a mental decline that eventually led to her character ordering the assassination of her husband. The main criticism has probably been how Gaga’s accent crosses between Italian and Russian but to the average person I think that’s something you can look past pretty easily. Al Pacino and Jared Leto play Aldo and Paolo Gucci and although they were certainly very over the top they did make the film more enjoyable even if it did sacrifice some of the realism. Jeremy Irons p