Film Review: The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part

"Emmet, You've Gotta Stop Pretending Everything Is Awesome. It Isn't..."

When it comes to 2014's The Lego Movie, it is fair to say in retrospect that everything and everyone involved with such a movie was indeed particularly awesome, with my own personal view at the time of its' initial release verging more on the side of caution when contemplating a feature length movie based upon those tiny multi coloured blocks that really hurt your feet when accidentally stepped upon. With the movie blossoming from the much welcome mix of critical and financial success therefore, including the added impotence of journeys into the realm of equally successful spin-offs, including the ridiculously entertaining, The Lego Batman Movie, which remains my personal of the series so far, here we are again with The Lego Movie 2, the inevitable animated sequel which sees Phil Lord and Christopher Miller drop from directorial duties as they boast both a production role and a screenplay for Trolls and Shrek Forever After director, Mike Mitchell, to work around. With the first film famously featuring a central twist in which we see that the lives of our yellow faced friends are actually being controlled by the hands of Will Ferrell and his playful son, The Lego Movie 2 takes matters a step forward as we see the young sister of the family now being allowed to play with the seemingly endless pool of Lego, resulting in Chris Pratt's (Avengers: Infinity War) Emmett being heart and centre of a series of utmost destruction which turns his world into a post-apocalyptic, Mad Max inspired war zone. 

With Emmett attempting to remain as the same old, happy-go-lucky everyman amidst a wasteland of negativity, he is soon called into action after Elizabeth Banks' (Power Rangers) Lucy is kidnapped alongside a group of fellow heroes in order to satisfy the ambiguous wishes of Tiffany Haddish's (Night School) Queen Watevra Wa-Nabi, the shape-shifting ruler of the wonderfully named, Systar System. Sounds bonkers right? And The Lego Movie 2 is just that, a bizarre but highly comical animated adventure which successfully manages to balance the right amount of cinematic appeal to both older and younger audiences, with the colourful, playfulness of the visuals and the smirk-inducing slapstick guaranteed to keep the children in the audience entertained, whilst the array of constantly smart and well-timed comedic gags and slight, off-hand knowing film geek references, including digs at particular film franchises and comic book heroes, are worked effectively into the narrative in order to make the more mature audience member giggle with glee. Whilst the film does struggle to contain the steady hit-rate of comedy throughout its' slightly misjudged one hundred minute runtime, a weakness which also affects the pacing of the piece, particularly around the halfway mark, The Lego Movie 2 is a worthy successor to a movie which I can admit to being wrong about first time around, albeit one which fails to land the same kind of punches The Lego Batman Movie managed to do. Maybe more Batman next time. You can never have too much Batman.    

Overall Score: 7/10

Film Review: Hotel Artemis

"We've Been Here For Twenty-Two Years. This Hospital Was Built On Two Things: Trust And Rules..."

Written and directed by British filmmaker, Drew Pearce, whose previous credits include screenplays for the likes of Iron Man 3 and Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation, Hotel Artemis features a generously stellar cast set as they are whacked slap band in the middle of a dystopian riot zone and forced into the titular, secretive building where entry is gained for members only and is ran with strict rules and regulations by Jodie Foster's (The Silence of the Lambs) Jean Thomas AKA The Nurse. With flashes of neo-noir crime drama and a underlying, wacky black comedic sensibility, Pearce's movie is a strange, tonally manic mess of a movie which sacrifices plot for excruciatingly annoying characters and a narrative through line for dull set pieces, all taking place within a set location which seems to have forgotten to pay the lighting bill, and whilst Pearce in the past has worked alongside the likes of Shane Black, a filmmaker renowned for making dark comedy work successfully, Pearce's debut doesn't take any tips from his cinematic learning curve and is unfortunately a painfully dull and excruciatingly boring waste of ninety minutes in which stuff just happens without any sense of reason or point.  

With an opening backdrop which introduces a future-world Los Angeles in which privatisation of the area's water supply has sparked mass rioting and protest from the lower class of the populous, Pearce's movie follows Sterling K. Brown's (Black Panther) Waikiki after a bank heist gone wrong forces him into the Hotel Artemis, an off-the-books NHS for the criminal underworld which reeks heavily of The Continental Hotel influence from the John Wick series. Cue the introduction of Jeff Goldblum's (Thor: Ragnarok) The Wolf King, who seeks vengeance for the theft of his multi-million dollar priced jewels, and soon the action and violence breaks loose, resulting in the likes of Dave Bautista (Spectre), Zachary Quinto (Star Trek) and the ever radiant Sofia Boutella (Atomic Blonde) all flexing their action muscles in an attempt to overshadow their meaningless characterisation. With Charlie Day (Pacific Rim: Uprising) once again proving to be the most annoying Hollywood actor currently employed, Hotel Artemis fails on a fundamental movie-making level by not only lacking a straightforward central narrative, but also a movie which doesn't manage to be at all accessible or believable, and by the time the movie crawls its' way to the finish line, it almost felt heavenly to leave the seat in which I had been violently squirming in for the preceding ninety minutes. 

Overall Score: 3/10

Film Review: Pacific Rim Uprising

"This Is The Way The World Ends..."

With Guillermo del Toro joyously arriving home earlier this month with a couple of Academy Awards in his back pocket for The Shape of Water, his latest rousing critical success is brought somewhat back down to earth with the release of Pacific Rim Uprising, a sequel to del Toro's 2013 ridiculously silly action gargantuan which in all fairness, is more painfully cheesy than entertaining, and a film which brings to mind the middling rough patch the Mexican seemingly went through before this year's resounding return to form. Swapping the director's chair for a producing role however, the job of taking hold of the unnecessary sequel falls to Steven S. DeKnight of Daredevil Season One fame, undeniably the strongest Marvel/Netflix release to date, whose big-screen debut features John Boyega (Star Wars: The Last Jedi) as Jake Pentecost, son of the legendary General Stacker Pentecost as portrayed by Idris Elba (Thor: Ragnarok) in the first film, who swaps his life of thieving and black market dealings for a return to the fold in line with the Jaeger program after a fresh threat arises from the destructive, otherworldly Kaiju. With awful dialogue, a woeful lack of emotional investment and endless, mind-numbing overblown action set pieces, Uprising is unsurprisingly utter tosh, and even when some of the characters at times threaten to make the film more interesting than it should be, it's plain to see that the main function of DeKnight's cinematic debut is of course, solely monetary.

Whilst the first feature was just straightforward, unadulterated nonsense with an added layer of awfulness due to Charlie Hunnam's vacuous leading character, the performances of both Idris Elba and Rinko Kikuchi meant that the film was at least likeable to a certain degree, and with the latter one of the more interesting returning characters added to the fold once again, her particular narrative strand within Uprising is systemic to the problems of the film. Far too many times are new and returning characters given so little to do in terms of engaging character development that when the film does eventually heed to the wishes of its' true and fundamental natures in the form of CGI-engulfed action sequences, not one audience member actually really cares who does what and who makes it out alive. With it becoming patently clear that any movie touched by the woeful "talent" of both Charlie Day (Fist Fight) and Scott Eastwood (Suicide Squad) is destined to be labelled as god-awful, Uprising does at least benefit from a committed, cockney-fuelled performance from the ever-charismatic Boyega and a runtime which improves on the staggeringly long length of its' predecessor, but with a concluding act which makes Man of Steel look like a Woody Allen movie and a jarring post-credits sequence which makes you roll your eyes in utter condemnation of the movie's future possibilities, Uprising doesn't totally suck, it's just the type of movie you watch with a blank expression and let it leave your consciousness as soon as its' over. If you stay awake that is.

Overall Score: 4/10

Film Review: Fist Fight

"We're Gonna Handle Our Differences Like Real Men..."

When reviewing a film such as Fist Fight, the first thing you have to realise is that the Ice Cube which is top-billed on such a movie is indeed the same Ice Cube famous for being the great wordsmith which invigorated the gangsta rap scene in the late 1980's with N.W.A and indeed the same Ice Cube whose latter-day career choices include seemingly blundering into a continuous array of comedy-based cinematic projects, with only a few actually being of some notable success such as 21 Jump Street and erm, 22 Jump Street. It comes as no real shock therefore that Fist Fight is nothing more than a lazy, thoughtless and cringe-worthy attempt of a comedy, with awful dialogue, a dwindling, lacklustre narrative, and one of the most pain-inducing performances I have ever seen from Charlie Day in a leading role which consists of a character who is slated for being friendly and kind and instead finds redemption and a sense of purpose by resorting to drug dealing, swearing at minors and unreasonable levels of violence. You know, all those things which make you "cool" nowadays. 

Although running for a reasonable length of 90 minutes, Fist Fight is one of those movies in which you absolutely feel every single second drag past until you reach a conclusion and final act which not only is generically mediocre, but smiles at you whilst it crackles at the thought of the money the audience has paid to watch such a dire attempt of a comedy. Although the blame doesn't entirely lie at the feet of Ice Cube, it just baffles me why this is the kind of film in which he has settled for after a strong start to an acting career which started with the likes of Boyz in the Hood and the culty favourite Friday, yet the real loser of the show is indeed Charlie Day who screams his way into a leading role which laughs at the state of modern-day education, resulting in the first case of a fictional character this year who has actively driven me to a straightforward high level of hatred. Saddled with jokes about underage sex, statutory rape, drug use, casual racism and a clanger of a mis-step in the form of a incredibly young child relaying lyrics from Big Sean to an audience of similarly aged children, Fist Fight is just poop from beginning to end. That's right, poop. I can be a child sometimes too. 

Overall Score: 3/10

The Lego Movie! - Review - Possible Spoilers!

Lego stands as one, if not the greatest toy(s) in history. Everyone will remember playing with it at some point in their life and it's creative pliability made it branch across the ages. It's this extensive creativity that has continued to evolve to encompass boardgames, video games, theme parks and now a film! The wide access to Lego makes this movie an instant box office success, but does the movie stand up as a quality piece of entertainment to other audiences. Obviously, The Lego Movie is aimed at children. It's a bright, colourful adventure with light humour that screams a child film that will deter many teenagers/young adults from seeing it. As I'm still a big kid inside with a lot of nostalgia, I felt I needed to go. Upon walking into the cinema, it was filled with children. I avoided looking at how many of the snotty things were actually around me but could easily hear the muttering of what felt like hundreds but could have been one. But, you know, one is enough.

Anyway. The movie is geared towards the younger audience through everything it does. The inclusion of Jonah Hill, Morgan Freeman, Charlie Day and Will Arnett appear more of a gimmick towards nabbing a few extra ticket sales from fans of those involved. It's likely that the voices could have been done by other people without bringing in A list actors to fill the gaps. Jonah Hill doesn't even have a big role so it feels as if the money spent on him could have been used to extend the length of the film. However, being that the movie isn't based upon something already created, Lego didn't have the foundations of Star Wars or Lord of The Rings to develop upon like their games.

Being that the film is targeted at children, the story could have suffered. However, it plays out much like a childs imagination would have played it out. The story of little Emmet in a world so advanced, he blends into the background and stumbles into a deadly situation that leads him on a rather enthralling journey that defies a lot of preconceptions. An evil, corrupt government and police force is quite a shock in a U rated film. Teaching that police are not always these good people is very difficult for children to understand for kids but nowadays the older generations are seeing this more and more. It's an interesting choice that plays towards the demographic but maintains its child exterior. Obviously, there was going to be a love story and I noticed that this connection beats out so many like it that have cropped up in live action. Plastic figures with limited facial movement/expression had more emotion on their faces than Kristen Stewart and a better love story that Twilight could have ever produced.

Lego stands upon the idea of fun. It's a ride that isn't trying to provoke philosophical thoughts. The action was fast, a little jarring at points with the aggressive cuts but flows the way everyone imagines. It's a genuinely good film with so much hard work and dedication that has to be applauded. Perfect for children and is entertaining to everyone else, apart from the god awful selection of music. That truly was horrific. But otherwise, the movie deserves an 8/10. It's a kids movie made by Lego, what the hell did you expect me to say!? Tune in for Monuments Men review and Titanfall videos over the next week!

Pacific Rim - Review -SPOILERS-

If you have been following me on Twitter, you are sure to have noticed my excitement over this film. If you haven't been following my Twitter, go ahead and follow, Its free!
Here is a collection of reasons why I fan girled over this movie:
1) Giant monsters
2) Idris Elba
3) Carnage
4) Massive fights

A general overview of the story is an alien invasion via the Pacific ocean by an alien race using giant monsters. We spend most of the time in Hong Kong, which isn't a surprise after the whole Godzilla incident.  To defend against the incoming assaults, the human race bands together to fight the ugly bastards. So looking at the basics of the story, we can find it to be a little simplistic or basic yet it follows a few little sub stories throughout. One is the research team, which takes you onto the streets of Hong Kong and into its dark underworld ruled by Hannibal Chau (Ron Perlman). Another is the story behind the damaged Mako Mori (Rinko Kikuchi) which explains her connection to Idris' Stacker Pentecost. The little stories inevitably collide and aid the final event, but it is nice that it jumps between them and doesn't overplay the action scenes.

Speaking of actors and the action, both were brilliantly executed. The crazy researchers were both irritable but comedic in their own style which makes their performances stick out vividly in my mind, but the main man for me was Idris Elba, whose ability to switch between anger to a calm silence

which makes you shiver in anticipation for his next move. As you see in the trailer, Idris has a prominent speech to raise morale. A well written speech, well performed with a vigour that makes his character even more believable. I do have a couple of bones to pick with acting though. A scene which entails a young Mako Mori is disturbing and wrong on so many levels. Good child actors are hard to come across, but when she moans like she's in an Asian porn movie on repeat, it turns a few heads and should have been toned down to avoid such incidents.

As one of the only giant monster movies in recent years, its safe to say that it has enough to compensate for the years the genre has been non existent. In true Hellboy fashion, monsters are big, stunning to look at and violence is plentiful, splashed with wisps of humour. The action and fight scenes were incredible and great fun to watch. Shots are erratic and hard to track but immerses you into the settings while disorientating you like our heroes. If you are anything like me, you would have been giggling and laughing like a little kid at the sheer carnage and the severe beatings that were being rained down by both sides.

Just looking at the scenes, it is obvious that the film had a huge budget and FX specialists worked day and night to create some of the best visual effects that I have ever seen.  Everything looked real; the scales on the beasts, water rippling at every move, glass twinkling in the Hong Kong's neon and the general scenery which was flawless all the way though. Even set pieces were gorgeous. The blending of so many colours, lights and debris was stunning and is the perfect example of what the area would look like. We also have the costumes which were a mix of many different style. From a Sci-fi white to a badass carbon fibre armour, the suits are simplistic, yet elegant. It's also nice to see that the women aren't sexualised throughout with skimpy armour and little clothing. You will also notice Hannibal's distinctive golden armour plated shoes which are just crazy and would fit well in my collect, so if you know where I can find them, be sure to comment below!

I'm still pumped from seeing it and want to get my hands on anything and everything in relation to the movie (Already got the soundtrack!), which will most likely be a badass poster and maybe my first collectable statue. But anyway, the movie is a must see blockbuster hit. Certainly one of my favourite films of this year and is a good summer smasher, so this movie shall be getting a 8/10 simply for its generic story and a few little niggly bits throughout.