Film Review Club

A young boy called Sam grows up idolising a fallen superhero known as Samaritan, hanging on to the belief that he is still alive out in the world somewhere. It’s when Sam is suddenly saved by a mysterious old man with abnormal strength, that he begins to believe he might have just met his hero. Samaritan is a grittier take on the Superhero genre, with a similar style to that of Shyamalan’s Unbreakable. Unfortunately it is let down my a super predictable plot, I guessed the twist very early on and you knew how the film would end during the first act. Despite that, I still found the latest Amazon Prime original quite enjoyable, with Stallone and Javon Walton’s chemistry injecting a lot of heart into the centre of the plot. The action sequences aren’t huge spectacles and are kept small in scale but I found that definitely worked in its favour. That, combined with the surprisingly impressive cinematography, Julius Avery has created a darker instalment into an otherwise oversaturated genre,

Sonny is the stay at home dad who finally finds himself with some ‘Me Time’ for the first time in years. He decides to reconnect with an old friend, a decision that nearly upends his life. Me Time works best during the grounded moments of comedy between Kevin Hart and Mark Wahlberg but unfortunately has some bizarre moments which make the latest Netflix flick look more silly, than comical. The idea to have scenes with CGI was a strange creative decision because it looked poor and was definitely not needed. They could have replaced it with a more grounded source of comedy, it would have had the same effect and the CGI wouldn’t have acted as a low budget distraction. That being said there are a lot of moments that had me laughing out loud and that was the purpose of the film, so it had some success. I liked the chemistry between the two lead actors and it wasn’t the worst buddy comedy I have ever seen but it was certainly forgettable. Overall (6/10) Thanks for reading. Callan

After being trapped for centuries, the king of the dream world, known as The Sandman, escapes and finds his kingdom in disarray. He must regain his tools and fix what has been broken but he faces many adversaries working against him. The Sandman is a unique addition to the Netflix catalogue and one that I have thoroughly enjoyed. The team behind the show were ambitious with their creative choices and that paid off well because the visuals were certainly one of the best aspects of the show. The storyline itself is a rather strange one but filled with oddities that intrigue the audience and helps pull them into many unimaginable worlds. I will say that although it’s entertaining, it lacked a real antagonist that could challenge The Sandman and therefore the stakes never felt high enough, so I hope they can improve on that aspect if there is a season 2. I guess that was the cause of my second criticism I have, which is that a lot of the interesting characters only appeared very briefly, i

When a CIA agent known as 6 uncovers agency secrets that could put his colleagues behind bars, he triggers a global man hunt with dozens of assassins trying to kill him. The Gray Man is carried by a talented cast and entertaining action sequences but seriously lacks a plot with any substance. Cliche would be the perfect way to summarise this recent Netflix original, another addition to the catalogue that fails to keep the audiences attention past the all out action that unfolds from start to finish. The cinematography creates a movie that looks good, but if only the story could live up to that feeling. A rare miss in the filmography of Ryan Gosling but nonetheless he does the best he can with the material he is given. The Gray Man is a forgettable movie that fails to live up to the expectations of its Netflix viewers.  Overall (4.5/10) Thanks for reading. Callan

In the 1970’s a young Gru attempts to join a group of super villains known as the Vicious 6, when the interview goes terribly he takes matters into his own hands and soon finds himself being mentored by an unlikely hero of his! Minions: Rise of Gru was certainly enjoyable and it was about time we got an origin style movie about the wishful villain. But I have to admit that it wasn’t really an origin story at all, instead it highlighted one of the adventures Gru had as a child in the 1970’s and that was about it. So I believe they missed an opportunity there! The entertainment value was high, with plenty of vibrant action sequences to accompany the free flowing humour. However I don’t think that the humour here, can compete with the previous instalments, it had its moments but I certainly wasn’t laughing as much as I had been with the other movies. I took my 8 year old brother to see it and he disagreed, giving the film a mighty score of 9.5! So perhaps it’s me getting older and becomin

After his father is randomly killed by mysterious objects falling from the sky, OJ must make ends meet on his families Horse Ranch. Once the horses begin to behave oddly, OJ and his sister notice a flying object in the sky as things start to take a sinister turn for the worse.  Unfortunately Nope feels far from a usual Jordan Peele movie and even further from a successful sci-fi, with the horror aspects few and far between. There was never a set approach, scenes constantly switched from comedic to tense and eerie, before finding itself settling somewhere in the middle. But never sticking to one for more than ten minutes and that made the film feel a little disjointed. The cinematography for me was definitely the strongest aspect of the film, no matter what time of day the scene was set, the visuals were amazing and Peele’s decision to not just film the airborne alien at night was very ambitious and paid off nicely. The acting was okay but I’ve certainly seen better performances from ev

After years of facing supervillains, aliens and other deadly threats, the worlds most famous hero Superman and notorious reporter Lois Lane face their biggest challenge yet… how to raise two sons. Moving back to Smallville the family have to deal with a number of challenges that come their way. Superman & Lois takes a CW budget and produces a wholesome take on the later stages of the Man of Steels life, with surprisingly epic action sequences and some amazing visuals. Tyler Hoechlin performs brilliantly as the lead hero and although I do prefer Cavill’s Superman, this is a completely different version of the character that I have absolutely loved watching. The father, the family man, the friend and Smallville resident that has to constantly balance being a hero and raising his sons. Unlike many of the other CW DC shows, Superman and Lois doesn’t come across as cringeworthy or cheesy and the VFX elevate the storylines rather than acting as distraction for the audience, which is what

Chris, an African American, agrees to visit his Caucasian girlfriends parents for a weekend getaway and although they seem perfectly normal at first, Chris couldn’t expect the horrors that would unfold later. Get Out uses the very real issues of racism in the modern day and combines them with a surreal horror experience that elevates the movie above what I would consider a usual horror flick. Jordan Peele’s storyline constantly treads the line of realism and almost supernatural at times, playing tricks with the audiences mind as they try to configure what is really happening to the protagonist Chris. The performances are definitely one of the stand out aspects of the film, with Daniel Kaluuya delivering a captivating performance, but it was actually Allison Williams who surprised me the most. The way she switched her character Rose from the bubbly and kind girlfriend to the psychopathic abductor was extraordinary and she freaked me out to say the least. Whilst Betty Gabriel and Marcus

Ladybird is an assassin who specialises in snatch and grab operations, hired for an assignment, he hopes to complete the job peacefully and without any hiccups. Fate on the other hand, has other ideas and the mission goes off the rails, putting ladybird on a collision course with deadly adversaries.  Bullet Train is an action comedy that delivers exactly that, free flowing, entertaining action sequences with plenty of comedy executed well by the entire cast. Brad Pitt excels as the lead man and was certainly one of my favourite aspects of the film! He landed every punchline and his combat choreography was spot on. That’s not to take anything away from the rest of the ensemble because they all worked brilliantly together. The dynamic between Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Brian Tyree Henry was great, granted it’s silly back and forth humour but for me it worked incredibly well. There were a couple of characters that were cliche to say the least, Hiroyuki Sanada’s The Elder for example, as wel

A skilled Comanche warrior protects her tribe from a deadly alien predator who hunts for sport, fighting against the wilderness, dangerous colonisers and the mysterious creature, in a bid to keep her family safe.  Prey revitalises the Predator Franchise using a simple, yet effective storyline, set in the 1700’s amongst the Comanche tribe. Dan Trachtenberg utilises the beauty of the Canadian wilderness to create amazing visuals that bring the time period to life on screen. It really has the best cinematography we have seen from a predator film and the soundtrack was a nice surprise that worked well alongside the vast landscapes and intense action sequences. The Hunter becoming the hunted creates an intriguing plot and the combat choreography is executed very well, never failing to keep the audience entertained. There were a few moments where the CGI became slightly noticeable but those instances only occurred when they created the animals (bears, lions, snakes etc) but everything else w

Under the Banner of Heaven follows Jeb Pyre as he investigates the murder of Brenda Lafferty and her 15 month old baby in the Salt Lake valley. Uncovering the disturbing truths behind the origins of the LDS religion, the detective begins to question his faith as he dives further into the investigation. Under the Banner of Heaven provides a unique take on a detective story that explores the disturbing truths behind some elements of religion and how faith itself can be manipulated to suit the desires of monsters. Andrew Garfield takes on a very different role and illustrates why he is one of the best working actors today. His portrayal of a man questioning his faith as the murder case unravels is fantastic and it’s never too extravagant or out there, the slow decline is subtle and realistic and that helps remind audiences that the show is in fact based on true events, it feels real in every aspect. The storyline itself is quite hard hitting, reminding me of True Detective season one in a