Film Review: Pokémon: Detective Pikachu

"So You’re A Talking Pikachu With No Memories, Who’s Addicted To Caffeine..."

For those who happen fall into my particular age group, the original worldwide boom of Pokémon during the 1990's was something of which defined an entire generation of die hard fans eager to collect each and every rare trading card, every cutely designed and easily swallowed toy, and for me personally, play their way through absorbing Pokémon contests on many different modes of video game consoles as they developed from the brick-esque solidness of the Nintendo GameBoy to the high-tech, high definition box of tricks which make up the market today. With big screen adaptations of popular video games famously not faring too well with both critics and the box office when released upn eager audiences, recent years have at least attempted to bring some respectability to the transition, with Assassin's Creed and Warcraft my own particular cinematic saviours, and what we have with Pokémon: Detective Pikachu is a movie which although is by no means perfect, is most definitely a fan pleasing, visually satisfying solid work of child friendly drama which managed to make me laugh and gasp in awe at the world in which I was treated to, and even for someone with only a basic understanding of the Pokémon universe, was a movie which passed the time rather splendidly. 

Directed by Rob Letterman, a filmmaker with a knack for successfully cultivating generic family adventure movies in the ilk of Goosebumps and Gulliver's Travels, Detective Pikachu boasts not only one screenwriters but four, and whilst nowadays it can be usual practice for a movie to have a whole army of different thoughts being put onto paper, Letterman's movie undoubtedly suffers as a consequence of such a decision, with the central murder mystery narrative not exactly worth the time or effort come the final revelation in which every left turn greets us with a twist which even the softest of minds can see from around a mile off. Where the film does overwhelmingly succeed however is in the world in which the narrative plays out, with its' Blade Runner esque, neo-noir futureworld featuring enough neon lights to short circuit most counties whilst beaming with cute Pokémon at every corner which resulted in many of the fellow cinemagoers rightly exclaiming their delight at witnessing their favourite digital characters materialise upon the big screen. With a well designed leading Pikachu featuring the comedic tones of Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool 2) and a well meaning, optimistic sensibility, Letterman's latest is by no means a classic, but with enough positive elements to pass the time nicely, Detective Pikachu is another step in the right direction for big screen video game adaptations. 

Overall Score: 6/10

Film Review: Deadpool 2

"Doing The Right Thing Is Messy. You Want To Fight For What's Right, Sometimes You Have To Fight Dirty..."

With Avengers: Infinity War concurring global box office domination for the past four weeks or so, it seems only fair that another highly anticipated superhero sequel should try and chip at the financial willingness of a 21st century, comic-hungry audience, and whilst that sequel this week is of course Deadpool 2, it comes at no surprise that Marvel, and more unsurprisingly, Disney, feel the need to make even more eye-watering sums of cash with yet another hot release. I mean come on, it almost feels like yet another Star Wars should be coming out soon, right? Right? Swapping mass universal destruction and gut wrenching superhero genocide for the 15 rated oeuvre in which 2016's Deadpool graced its' successful presence, Deadpool 2 swaps original director, Tim Miller, for Atomic Blonde and unaccredited John Wick director, David Leitch, as it attempts to build on the meta-referencing, fourth-wall breaking shenanigans of its' predecessor and proving the joke of R-rated comic book carnage isn't as one note as one might expect. With the original Deadpool described in my own review as "not amazing, but enjoyable nonetheless" and a movie which "goes in one ear and carves its' way out the other in the most violent and adolescent way possible", it's ironic how such sentiments echo the feeling of its' sequel, a movie which takes the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 approach of playing to its' predecessors strengths and attempting to expand upon them to successful degrees, and whilst Vol.2 never was going to match the success of its' respective predecessor, Deadpool 2 does manage to complete such a task and whilst Leitch's movie still isn't on the same level of excellence as other Marvel alternatives, it's still a expletive laden ride. 

With Ryan Reynolds (Life) returning as the invincible and titular figure of Wade Wilson, the added inclusion of 2018's man of the year, Josh Brolin, as the time travelling, futuristic cyborg killer, Nathan Summers/Cable, is undeniably one of the more pressing reasons for the sequel's existence, but with Brolin's superbly crafted digital performance of Thanos in Infinity War setting a new bar for superhero villains, it's surprising how little character development Brolin's Cable is afforded in the movie's extended two hour runtime, resulting in his character somewhat lacking in memorability even when Brolin is as cool and imposing as ever. With an added level of sentiment within a Looper inspired narrative, particularly aided by the inclusion of Hunt for the Wilderpeople's, Julian Dennison, the tonal shifts between shock value comedy and gut punching loss does not work well at all, with the early death of an important character not entirely suiting the film's overly silly sensibility, but with at least eighty percent of the quickfire puns and sharp, slick in-house references resulting in effective laughs, Deadpool 2 feeds the paying audience exactly what they want without ever stopping slow enough to fall out of the carnival-esque state the movie straps you into, and with solid enough action and comedy set pieces, a quickfire editing pace and a combination of brilliantly designed pre and post credit sequences, Deadpool 2 is flashier, more experimental and much more rewarding that its' first incarnation, but too a movie which begs the question how much longer the joke can be stretched out before it begins to feel slightly tiresome. I'm sure the box office will have the final answer on that one. 

Overall Score: 7/10

Film Review: The Hitman's Bodyguard

"I Can Assure You, We Are More Than Prepared For Any Assault..."

Samuel L. Jackson is unfortunately the type of actor who nowadays more often than not falls into the category of "picking up the cheque" when it comes to movie role choices, and whilst I'm game for most things with Jackson in some form of leading role, with recent releases including The Hateful Eight proving that Jackson still has the capacity to show off his acting chops, there comes a time when there can only be so many films in the ilk of xXx: The Return of Xander Cage that you begin to question your fundamental allegiances. With The Hitman's Bodyguard however, the latest from Australian director Patrick Hughes, a filmmaker who came to big budget fame with The Expendables 3 back in 2014, Jackson teams up with Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds, Daredevil's Élodie Yung and Gary Oldman in order to create arguably the most retrograde action comedy of the past few years. Whilst B-Movie nonsense is a genre of movies which sometimes can be overly charming and irresistible even with the fundamental flaws at the heart of it, The Hitman's Bodyguard manages to fail at every hurdle it attempts to maneuver, utilising nonsensical elements to a somewhat cynical effect and testing the patience of its' audience from pretty much the outset.   

After being demoted from his role as a triple A rated security agent due to the extraordinary death of a client, Bryce (Reynolds) is brought back to the spotlight by ex-partner and Interpol agent Roussel (Yung) in order to protect the life of contract killer Darius Kincaid (Jackson) who is set to give evidence against the evil dictatorship of Belarusian leader, Vladislav Dukhovich (Oldman). Cue retrograde treatment of all female characters, unnecessary levels of violence and jarring usage of profanity, The Hitman's Bodyguard is the type of movie which features phoned-in performances from the entirety of its' leading cast, who in their attempt to swivel around the cliched and idiotic plot, scream, shout and swear their way through two hours of absolute nonsense. Reynolds is unbearable, Oldman is worse, and Jackson seems to mixing his performance as Jules from Pulp Fiction with his character from Snakes on a Plane, just without the cool and sophisticated characterisation of the former. The Hitman's Bodyguard is the type of movie which makes Bad Boys II look like a masterpiece. Avoid.

Overall Score: 3/10

Film Review: Life

"We're Looking At The First Proof Of Life Beyond Earth..."

Battling head-to-head this year with Alien: Covenant for the most obvious rip off of the original Ridley Scott classic, Alien (1978), Child 44 director Daniel Espinosa returns this week with Life, a sloppily directed and face-palm inducingly stupid science fiction movie which steals so many cues from previous and inherently better movies that I began to lose count just over the halfway mark. With an impressive cast, featuring the likes of the always superb Jake Gyllenhaal, Rebecca Ferguson and Ryan Reynolds, Life suffers from a fundamental flaw of failing to be something it really isn't, with its' utter silliness and complete lack of plausibility failing to stack up to the movie-maker's obvious intentions, resulting in a sometimes painful experience which exposes its' audience to a rough reek of sanctimony, particularly in a final act in which the film loses all sense of credibility due to wacky direction and a element of deafening inevitability. In a month in which Get Out reset the bar in regards to the power of contemporary horror movies, Life is unfortunately the type of film which just really lets the rest of the team down.

Whilst the film does boast an impressive leading alien species in the form of Calvin, a terrifyingly murderous martian which in a similar vein to the Alien franchise's Xenomorph's, feeds and grows at the rate of knots, Life doesn't entirely put the leading foes' effective features to good use, primarily due to a narrative which conflicts with the intellect of its' supposed lead characters who throughout the movie are incredibly prone to making the most obviously stupid decisions in order to crank the plot into a dramatic submission. Whilst the death of an early character is strikingly shocking in terms of both its' timing and the manner in which we are introduced to the power of Calvin the killer martian, the movie slowly loses its' element of suspense and threat, resulting in moments of utter tedium when there should have been particles of strong horror which I personally was looking forward to after being warned of within the opening BBFC classification. A messy sci-fi which weakens as it progresses, Life is surprisingly uninspiring and mediocre. Also, what is it with films using defibrillators in the wrong way? YOU CAN'T SHOCK A FLAT-LINE. Peace.

Overall Score: 4/10

Duo Review: Deadpool

Dan's Review

I love comic book movies. I admit it wholeheartedly. The Dark Knight is the undisputed king whilst the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a fun and wholly impressive canon of success, with the much anticipated Captain America: Civil War embracing our screens in the near future. One thing that I am not a fan of however is the comic books themselves with none having the pulling power of gaining my attention away from the live-action adaptations that are constantly engrained on us from the small screen to the big and onto the page of their most original and truest form. Strange I know, but keeping up with Arrow, The Flash, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D and many, many more is exhausting enough. With that in mind, the arrival of Deadpool is somewhat something of a enigma. Sure, I know that this particular superhero is not exactly adhering to the notion of being very super, more anti-hero, more foe than friend with a knack of swearing at you and laughing rather then actually lending a hand, but in all honesty. sounds a bit Kick-Ass meets The Punisher with a hint of V For Vendetta doesn't it? Without the political intrigue of course. In that regard, not being part of the hardcore comic book fan-club left me in a state of open-mindedness heading into Deadpool, with the film in the end being another case of superhero origin with added violence, swearing and fourth-wall breaking in an attempt to distinguish itself from other and ultimately, better examples of the genre. Please don't hate me, I'm vulnerable. 

Deciding to flesh out the story of Wade Wilson in a non-linear fashion in which we essentially witness the beginnings of the final showdown within the first few minutes, Deadpool can be seen as adhering more towards the B-Movie end of the cinematic spectrum, with ramped up violence taking precedent over true substance whilst adolescent jokes and endless resorts to swearing paint over the rather shallow origin story, something of which has become ever-increasingly tiresome in an age where comic book movies are indeed the top of Hollywood's wish list. A guy meets a girl. A guy gets screwed over. A guy loses girl. Guy takes revenge. With violence, lot's of violence. Not exactly the hallmark of a masterpiece but indeed something of a 90 minute Roger Corman-esque, culty B-Movie, except with a 58 million dollar budget at its disposal, all of which will no doubt please the comic-book loving masses, but for the lay viewer, leaves nothing but a gaping whole of mediocrity. Ryan Reynolds is good as the titular anti-hero whilst Morena Baccarin tries her best to break type of the two-dimensional superhero girlfriend, but the real winner here once again is Marvel, with them giving exactly what the fans wanted in creating a movie that specifically will be meant for them. As for me, it's just not that special but I can see why many will love it and see it as the best thing since sliced bread. Not amazing, but enjoyable nonetheless, Deadpool goes in one ear and carves its' way out the other in the most violent and adolescent way possible, laughing all the way.

Dan's Score: 6/10

Pete's Review

Unlike Dan, I love my comic books. My only issue is the moths fluttering out of my wallet when ever I open it up. As far as Marvel goes, I'm very much into The Amazing Spider-Man but Deadpool has been a character that I've known and loved for years, whose comics have been out of my reach for quite sometime. Excerpts and clippings surface everywhere and I enjoy every one of them. This passion only increased when the test footage leaked. It depicted the character I had envisioned and Ryan Reynolds sold it. To be brief, for me, the movie is a resounding success. An action "hero" movie with a lot of flair. On the other hand, I vehemently dislike the TV shows. If you're looking for corny action scenes, sup-par acting, low-budget visual and god awful cinematography, comic book TV shows really are right up your street. I cannot watch these without cringing. Arrow's voice changer is enough to make me spit out my drink in laughter.

But I digress. That isn't why we're here. Sure, its an origin movie, but its an origin movie with a difference. It appealed to the comic book lovers. It depicts the world correctly and is incredibly meta. The story and process of what made him into Deadpool is a very dark tale and sure, some of the usual action movie tropes are thrown in but throwing such a diverse character into a lead role and not giving this vital information would mean that the movie wouldn't have traction with the audience and would be a confusing mess. Throwing him into some world ending, overly convoluted story would guarantee its' death, but also shit over the character. As for its opening scene, I felt it was necessary to use this footage sooner rather than later. Being that it was in the test footage that millions viewed, its only reasonable to show that footage first so you aren't left waiting for it throughout.

As for the violence, I cannot see an issue with it. It was creative, exciting, vivid and extremely funny. Giggling like a schoolgirl throughout, I couldn't recommend it more to fans of action flicks and even more so to comic book fans. I have to disagree with Dan. (If you'd like to know more, jump over to our Youtube channel where we shall be talking about this soon!). The only real glaring issues I had with the film was the CGI backgrounds. They lacked the fidelity and sharpness I would have liked and the soundtrack is a little lacking. Apart from that, its everything I could have hoped for and more.

Pete's Score: 9/10

Overall Score: 7.5/10

Deadpool - OFFICIAL RED BAND Trailer

Let's get right to this. Any decent superhero/comic book fan will know of Deadpool. Above we see parts of the reveal trailers and the leaks all bundled into one hell of a package. From this small short, we can really begin to see how Ryan Reynolds fills the shoes of one of the most beloved characters of the universe. Down below is the trailer for the trailer which tears into Reynolds previous appearance as Wade in some of the best marketing I've seen in a very long time.

Now personally, I'm not sure how this movie will fair with the general public who don't know of the character and I worry that his reach and the violence may not appeal to them. Lets hope the Marvel community goes out in droves for this because we could be looking at a cult classic of the superhero universe!

Film Review: Self/Less

The Bored Identity

The final cinematic release out this week is that of Self/Less, a science fiction thriller featuring everyone's favourite Ben Affleck doppelganger, Ryan Reynolds, and everyone's favourite Gandhi, Ben Kingsley, whilst being directed by Tarsem Singh, famous for films such as Immortals and Mirror Mirror of which I am afraid to say I haven't exactly attempted to seek out anytime soon. In regards to his latest release, when property and business tycoon Damian Hayes (Kingsley) is diagnosed with terminal cancer, he decides to undergo a medical procedure named "shedding" at the hand of eerie Professor Albright (Matthew Goode Stoker, The Imitation Game) which transfers his life-force into that of a new and healthy human body in order to further live his life and not succumb to that of an early death from cancer. After a successful procedure in which the newly named Edward Hale (Reynolds) takes advantage of his newly found youth and good looks, the echoes of a distant past begin to trouble his mind leading to Edward/Damian attempting to seek out the ambiguous answers behind the secretive organisation of Prof. Albright and co who have become eager to track him down and put an end to his life once and for all. 

Although Self/Less does feature an interesting, if rather preposterous, premise, any element of supposed greatness is lost in the films' messy presentation, lack of real suspense or excitement, and a knack to abandon all hope of real intelligence by annoyingly resorting to endless, and exceedingly boring, action sequences in a failed attempt to be this years' Total Recall. Unfortunately for director Singh and the one-two writer partnership of David and Alex Pastor, they are most definitely not in the league of Phillip K. Dick with their screenplay attempting to be something that is both highly engaging and clever at the same time but ultimately results in Self/Less being both highly sleep-inducing and ultimately, incidental. Ben Kingsley's absorbing ten minute stint on-screen aside, Self/Less was hugely uninspiring and rather quite boring on the face of it, with seemingly having a lot to say, but ultimately choking at the chance to say it with any form of gusto or fervour in sight.  

Overall Score: 4/10