Change Your Image
tdxcwt
Reviews
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)
A Fun Joyride of a Movie
I'm a bit late to the party after having been put off by the reviews received for this movie.
This is a fun, joyride of a movie...a bit of Marvel with a Star Wars feel to it. The actors give convincing performances and there is a glint in their eyes knowing this is a throwback to old fashioned sci-fi action movies and tv shows such as Sinbad, Lost in Space, Land of the Giants, Captain Nemo and Jules Verne type genres done with a modern cgi feel. I felt, previously, that the 2nd Ant-Man movie had a disappointing low budget vibe but this was bigger in scale, literally. It set up a menacing villain played by the infamous Jonathan Majors. Even with his real life anti-social issues, it would not be difficult to recast him as he has multiple images throughout the movie and Marvel Universe. I don't think much for Kang's chances, though, against the Avengers if he can be thwarted by the diminutive Ant-Man team.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023)
Shazam! Fury of the Viewer
This is a very bland, lazy and cliched superhero movie. Every ounce of originality from the first one has been tossed aside and banality has replaced it. Even the costumes are not as good. There are plenty of overused and oversized cgi monsters creating "menace" without ever feeling truly anyone was in danger or peril. The acting talent is wasted throughout and many performances feel phoned in. The action scenes could have been directly pinched from the original 1978 Superman movie, a film of its time, but nearly 50 years later we expect to experience something much more daring and original. Regurgitating bridges falling, sports stadiums and tall buildings being smashed by giant cgi dragons etc wastes the premise of beings with super powers being able to do unimaginable battles with gods in fantastical realms. It all looked a bit like cost cutting and had strong big, red, cheesy whiffs of Superman IV or the 70s Spider-man tv show. I hope they get the chance to redeem themselves with a third and final instalment.
Dream Scenario (2023)
A Very Dark Black Loose Term "Comedy"
Critics keep referring to this as a hilarious comedy. It is not!! If this is a comedy some people must have very strange senses of humour. It is dark, horrific and bleak and reflects cancel culture society. There is a great cast with terrific performances that are woefully let down by a weak script that loses its way by the second act. I got free tickets to see it and even that could not console me that I had wasted 2 hours watching it. None of the characters are particularly nice or even likeable and most are selfish and self-centred with limited empathy for our protagonist's struggles. One watch movie!!
BBC New Comedy Awards (2021)
New BBC Comedy Awards Final 2023, Glasgow
If this is the future of comedy, BBC lend me a TARDIS. When I saw Rosie Jones walk on to host, my heart sank, as she takes longer to deliver than VAR.
She killed the audience atmosphere in the theatre stone dead after the brilliant American warm up had the audience up for a good time.
Unfortunately, the heat winners were not uplifting or particularly funny and regurgitated line for line their heat performance and repeatedly told us how downtrodden and disadvantaged they were.
My wife & I escaped at the interval before the winner was announced but we won't watch to confirm our suspicions as to who "won".
Moon Knight (2022)
Another Marvel Wrong Turn
I kept watching hoping that I would get more immersed in the story and format. I didn't. It really didn't work just like The Eternals. Strike 2 for the next phase of Marvel.
Doctor Who: Legend of the Sea Devils (2022)
Utter Piffle
My eyes were literally bleeding as I forced myself to watch the worst incarnation of the Doctor. I have watched more believable pantomimes. Chinball has ruined Dr Who. His dialogue is emojiesque and caters for a generation with the attention span of a goldfish. His attempt to crowbar LGTQxyz+ relationships between the Doctor and the female companion are pitiful as they have no chemistry but it does, however, tick another fangirl fantasy on his tickbox of BBC woke agendas to make Doctor Who more "modern" instead of trying to make the show fun, adventurous, hopeful and exciting. Good riddance Whittaker and Chinball.
No Time to Die (2021)
Worst Bond Movie....Ever!
First of all I'm a big Bond movie fan, even the cheesy ones, the dull ones and the ones where the main actor is too old for the role. The reason these Bond movies are successful is that they provide the audience with hope, evil and wrongdoing are overcome in a plucky, British way and you leave the cinema having watched a spectacle that is worth paying for and leaving your house for a few hours. I honestly hope this movie is not a success for all the reasons above that it fails to fulfill. Daniel Craig was a good Bond with ups and downs but you always got the impression that he hated the role but put up with it because of the money, fame and opportunity for other acting pursuits that playing Bond brought. Bond should never be a "John Wayne" movie. Aficionados of cinema will know what I mean by that statement.
Cinderella (2021)
What has happened to quality control?
What has happened to quality control before a movie is released?
This had the makings of a possibly good modern song and dance movie. However there were so many parts, including scenes and dialogue that looked as if a test audience had seen them first would have said these don't work, change or lose them. Also the casting was awful as well. The prince had zilch likeability and no chemistry with our "progressive" hero(ine). The bizarre choice of British "comedians" in support roles were also baffling and extremely annoying throughout. I can only guess that their management team had something to do with the production or weird blackmail photos of the director somewhere hidden in a vault. They added absolutely no comedic value to the film but plenty cringe factor. Again quality control. James Corden used to be a good, up and coming actor/writer but now whenever you see his name anywhere near a film cast you think his inclusion is only due to his recognition factor. Established stars like Idina, Minnie and Pierce obviously knew they were in a stinker, collected their paycheques and did the best they could under the circumstances.
Such a shame, really.