Film Review Club

Over the course of a decade, a motorcycle club turns from a gathering of local outsiders into a nation wide gang, threatening the original members way of life. The Bikeriders was a congregation of very talented actors and a captivating true story that provided drama, romance and violence. The storytelling angle, presented through the interviewing of key characters, worked really nicely! It was a smart approach to incorporating the movies exposition in a way that’s engaging for the audience, whilst illustrating how the source material was actually formed. The first and second act were strong, with my only criticism being that the timeline was a little hard to follow at times. Unfortunately the final act was far from satisfying, the film is based on a true story and the book written by the journalist who follows the club in the movie, so I guess their hands were tied, they couldn’t suddenly fabricate an ending. However, my point still stands, there was no satisfying conclusion and if it

Chiron, a young boy from Miami, finds guidance from Juan, a drug dealer and their relationship leaves a lasting impression on Chiron’s entire life. Moonlight tackles tough themes such as loneliness, sexuality and unstable upbringings, but does so with elegance, hooking the audience to Chiron’s story as it takes you on an amazing, yet emotional coming of age journey. This is another example of a character driven, high quality film from A24, who have such an eye for storylines that will leave a lasting impression on its audience. For me the relationship between Juan and Chiron is the heartbeat of the movie, the two characters playing a guiding light in each others lives. On the surface it may seem like it’s just Juan looking out for the young boy, but Chiron is the metaphorical mirror causing Juan to assess his own life and the remorse of his profession really starts to kick in. It’s a beautiful relationship, but unfortunately it’s cut way too short and by the time the first act finishes

Years after Rick Grimes was taken from Alexandria, Michonne is on one final push to find him and bring him home to his family. Unfortunately The Ones Who Live felt like a mess of ideas forced together to justify a fast tracked explanation of where Rick has been for the last eight years. Was it great seeing Rick Grimes back on our screen? Of course it was, but this felt far from the man fans loved in The Walking Dead. I understand that they needed to show a changed man who had pretty much given up hope of getting home and that their hands were kinda tied in the sense they had to show an entire character arc in a single limited series… But that being said, there were so many awful decisions that ruined the experience for me. What can we do to show he was getting desperate? Oh let’s have him chop off his own hand with no thought on how he would escape after doing so. That’s not Rick Grimes! This man survived through the Negan dilemmas and never did such a thing. There were so many other o

Joy, Anger, Fear, sadness and Embarrassment receive a shock to the system as Riley hits puberty and a new wave emotions arrive. Inside Out 2 is another example of Pixar and their ability to produce great sequels, now some may disagree with me there but every sequel they’ve produced, I’ve really enjoyed! In this case, I actually think they improve upon the first film. What made this movie better, in my opinion, was that I could relate to the new emotions even more, relate to those high school stresses and awkward scenarios Riley experiences, we’ve all been there! If there’s one thing that can get audiences invested in the storyline, it’s relatability to the lead character! I think Maya Hawke was the perfect choice for voicing Anxiety and although she is technically the antagonist of the movie, per se, I actually found myself agreeing with her actions in the early stages. It may be targeted at kids but it does a fantastic job at presenting the audience with morality dilemmas, seeing whic

After their late police captain is framed for a crime he didn’t commit, Mike & Marcus go on the run to prove his innocence. The fourth instalment in the Bad Boys franchise is one of the most enjoyable yet! They have turned up the humour but in the best kind of way and the movie gives Martin Lawrence the limelight to shine! Will Smith and Martin’s chemistry is one of the best in the business and they could work wonders with any material put in front of them. But I also want to shine a light on the directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Farrah who hold nothing back here! Their ambitious camerawork and editing style combined innovative technology with an early 2000’s action vibe and it worked really well! As with any excessively creative style, there are some hits and some misses but for the most part it helped spice up the action and it certainly pumped Marcus’s humour full of adrenaline. I loved how the story flipped the script on the two characters, having Mike as the unsure one with hi

An American artists finds herself lost in a remote forest in Ireland, saved from the darkness by a group of strangers she soon finds herself trapped by mysterious beings called ‘The Watchers’. The Watchers is Ishana Night Shyamalan’s directorial debut and one I believe has been harshly criticised by critics and fans alike. She has clearly inherited the style of her father and has delivered a tense, dark, horror fantasy that has a lot to enjoy. Is it perfect? No, but it’s rare that films of this particular genre ever are! Personally my favourite aspect was the cinematography, I’m a sucker for the aesthetic of an expansive forest in movies and you combine that with the eerie colour grading, the horror features and it created a really cool aesthetic that juxtaposed perfectly against ‘The Coups’ bright interior, centred at the heart of the forest. The writing was unfortunately one of the weaker elements, with the characters making unrealistic decisions, but that’s very common in horrors. H

Gary Johnson, an academic, teacher and ‘contract killer’, breaks protocol to help a women flee from her abusive husband.  Richard Linklater’s Hit Man showcases the talents of Glen Powell like we haven’t seen before! There’s no doubt that Powell’s wide variety of contract Killer personas were the highlights of the movie, with an array of fantastic accents, make up designs and of course, the hair styles too! The movie doesn’t take its self seriously, a light hearted comedy take on the real life Gary Johnson and one that you can sit back and enjoy without kicking your mind into gear. Adria Arjona was the perfect choice for Maddy Masters and boy did she kill it (pun intended). The writing isn’t Shakespearian that’s for sure, but Hit Man clearly wasn’t intended to be that way, it’s easily digestible and something most audiences can enjoy. It didn’t have a large theatrical release and to be honest, I think that was for the best with the recent financial flops, but it has the quality to be an

Centuries after nuclear bombs make earth inhabitable, one vault dweller leaves for the surface in a quest to get her dad back from raiders.  Fallout tackles the post apocalyptic genre in a fun yet highly captivating way, mixing humour, drama and conspiracy to hook audiences into its story. I haven't played the games but from a purely neutral standpoint, it seems like a pretty successful adaptation and one that has the legs to produce many more seasons! The visual effects are executed really nicely, with an equally impressive make-up and costume team too. The design for Walton Goggins ‘The Ghoul’ was impeccable. I will say that not all of the eight episodes had a steady pace and some were a little too slow at times. It also took me a while to really invest in any of the characters. Maximus especially, he was just useless at everything and the character just seemed to irritate me, which was unfortunate considering just how much screen time he had. But once the conspiracy elements kic