Film Review Club

One day in 1989 43 babies were born to mothers who showed no sign of pregnancy the day previous. Of those infants, 7 were adopted by billionaire Sir Reginald Hargreaves and shortly after creates ‘The Umbrella Academy’, a group of gifted children who are raised to be heroes but not all goes to plan.  The Umbrella Academy returns with possibly the best season yet, the actors are full of charisma and the storyline filled with action, comedy and plenty of heartwarming moments that remind audiences that, after all is said and done, this group are still family. Pulled into yet another world ending dilemma the group find themselves having to work with not only the other members of The Umbrella academy but also with their Sparrow counterparts. A different group of children in a different timeline, raised by a different variation of Reginald Hargreaves. What I really enjoyed about this season was that it had an incredibly intimate setting, it was mainly set in two places; the hotel and the Spar

We rejoin Obi-Wan Kenobi as a broken man, rotting away on Tatooine as he looks over a young Luke Skywalker. However as his old friend Senator Bail asks for his help, Kenobi is forced to face his past and his old apprentice Anakin Skywalker, who has grown more powerful with the dark side as Darth Vadar.  I think it’s fair to say this was one of the most highly anticipated projects of the year, Ewan McGregor returning as the iconic Obi-Wan and even Hayden Christensen reprising his role of Anakin/Darth Vadar. This in itself had everyone excited and I absolutely loved seeing them both back in action! Witnessing a broken Kenobi hurt, but it made for an excellent storyline, a Jedi no longer one with the force, weak and defeated and in those beginning episodes that was more than evident. The initial running away from Darth Vadar, poor combat skills and a rather pessimistic view on life. But as the episodes progressed we slowly started to see the return of the Jedi we once knew and loved, insp

Set over 30 years since the original film, Blade Runner 2049 follows a new LAPD officer who unearths a secret that could cause chaos on planet earth and the outer worlds. On his pursuit of the truth, he must now find a retired Blade Runner who has been missing for three decades.  Dennis Villeneuve has taken the core themes of the Blade Runner universe, expanded them further and improved them in every possible way. BR 2049 maintains the slow paced style of the original, yet unlike the first, it’s incredibly captivating. This is achieved through the amazing musical score, composed by Hans Zimmer, the beautiful cinematography created by Roger Deakins and the fantastic acting from the incredibly talented cast, that includes the likes of Ryan Gosling, Ana De Armas, Sylvia Hoeks, Jared Leto, Davie Bautista, Robin Wright and many more. The central protagonist, officer K, was a very intriguing and multilayered character! A replicant tasked with being a Blade Runner, to hunt down and ‘retire’ h

Set in a dystopian future, Rick Deckard is a retired Blade Runner who is forced back into action to hunt down four replicants who have stolen a ship and travelled back to earth to find their creators.  Blade Runner was a film that I have been excited to watch for a long time, unfortunately it was quite the anticlimax because I can’t help but think that it’s two hours of my life I won’t get back. The first act is executed nicely, introducing us to the dystopian future on earth, surrounded by advanced technology and ambitious landscapes. However from that point on, the storyline declines and simply isn’t engaging enough. The concept itself is captivating, something that has appeared in Hollywood for decades yet never seems to get stale, AI machines that begin to think for themselves! Generally speaking though, that concept has been done far better elsewhere. Although the love story between Deckard and Rachael was predictable, it was probably one of the more enjoyable aspects of the film,

Set 4 years after the events of Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom, Dinosaurs now wonder the globe and live along side humans. But is it the Dinosaurs that pose the biggest threat to Human life or is it the scientists who continue experimenting with Dino genetics?  Jurassic World: Dominion is yet another example of how professional film critics are worlds apart from the impressions of the general public. First of all I want to advise anyone who has put off watching this film because of the 31% rotten tomatoes score, to ignore it completely because Dominion is a lot of fun! Granted it feels like a film that is completely different to the beloved 1996 classic that kicked off the entire franchise but that makes sense right? We don’t want the movie studios to try and recreate a copy but instead to expand the universe and progress in a way that makes logical sense to the audience and Colin Trevorrow has achieved that. It’s far from perfect though, some of the action sequences simply defy physics

Having now settled down in Green Hills with his new family, Sonic is once again attacked by the dangerous Dr Robotnik, who makes a daring return from the ‘mushroom’ planet with the help of his new sidekick Knuckles. Forced to team up with his new friend Tails, the pair try and make it to the magical green emerald before Robotnik, in a bid to save the world.  Sonic the Hedgehog 2 maintains the overly goofy comedy and charm of the first, whilst upping the stakes immensely. The scale of Robotniks threat is ten fold compared to the version of the character in the original film, harnessing the power of the mythical green emerald and teaming up with the iconic sonic character Knuckles. This sequel was a whole lot of fun that’s for sure, Fowler doubled down on the silliness and for the most part that was a pretty smart and successful choice. Knuckles as a character surprised me, I wasn’t expecting him to be as funny as he was and that was both down to the good writing and the delivery of dial