Genre: Adaptation

Children of Men (2006) – Film Review

/ Joe Baker / 1 Comment

An intelligent, dark, and grounded sci-fi film, with ‘Children of Men’ director Alfonso Cuaron (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Gravity, Roma) crafts a truly memorable experience, as the film’s fresh take on the science fiction genre combines some great performances, alongside decent writing and some absolutely incredible cinematography by Emmanuel Lubezki, alongside many scenes throughout the film being done within a single take.

Plot Summary: In a world in which women have somehow become infertile, former activist; ‘Theo Faron,’ agrees to help transport a miraculously pregnant woman across a war-ridden country out to a sanctuary at sea in order to save the human race…

Based on the acclaimed novel; ‘The Children of Men’ by P. D. James, the film adaptation begins its narrative in a similar fashion to its source material, as the story kicks off with a quick peek into the grim world of the film, as the protagonist; ‘Theo,’ makes his way into a small café to grab a coffee. This soon leading onto a very shocking moment, which instantly establishes the tone of the film, and really helps give the audience a clear understanding of how these characters are coping with this reality. This soon leads onto the opening becoming very iconic in its own right (as well as my personal favourite scene of the film) and still feels effective, even today.

When it comes to the characters, all the performances throughout the film are pretty great, as every actor is really giving their all here regardless of the importance of their roles within the story as Clive Owen, Clare-Hope Ashitey, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Michael Caine are all terrific. Julianne Moore as ‘Julian,’ in particular, was a stand out for me, however, having some very memorable moments within only a short amount of screen-time. This is also one of the few films where I must really praise the extras, as many of the continuous takes are done using enormous amounts of extras, and from the foreground through to the background, there isn’t one out-of-place extra.

Every piece of the cinematography by Emmanuel Lubezki throughout the film is nothing short of phenomenal, using hand-held shots to the best of their advantage. Many scenes are filmed from the perspective of the characters, placing the audience in their own tense scenarios. Furthermore, the dark grey colour palette of the film also lends itself well to the war-ridden country setting, as every location always feels rustic, dirty, and lived-in. The original score by John Tavener is also effective, despite being used sparingly throughout the film to further add to the bleak atmosphere.

My only real criticisms with the film are related to the lack of character depth and the film’s overall pacing, as the pacing throughout the film is extremely slow, leading to many scenes feeling a little drawn out at points. Despite this slow pace sometimes adding to the building of tension, it feels mostly unnecessary for most of the film’s runtime. The lack of characterisation throughout the film is also a problem, as although a few characters do get some development, it’s usually few and far between, as I found myself finding more information about the characters online than within the film itself, luckily, however, the decent writing does save this from being a huge issue.

In summary, ‘Children of Men’ is an exceptional piece of the sci-fi genre. Coming across as a very different approach than what you’d usually expect from a film such as this one, the film almost feels like more of an apocalyptic drama at points. But, with a thought-provoking narrative, some amazing cinematography, and a fantastic cast, ‘Children of Men’ truly is a very captivating (if not a very bleak) piece of entertainment, which never fails to impress me every time I revisit it. Final Rating: 8/10.

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World War Z (2013) – Film Review

/ Joe Baker / Leave a comment

Very loosely based on the novel of the same name by Max Brooks, ‘World War Z,’ directed by Marc Forster, attempts to tell an enormous globe-trotting story of a spreading virus, and although it does have a few entertaining elements here and there, so much so that it was one of the highest grossing films of 2013. I personally found the film to be extremely messy, and, in general, rather forgettable.

Plot Summary: After narrowly escaping an attack in Philadelphia, former United Nations employee, ‘Gerry Lane,’ traverses the world in a race against time to stop a deadly pandemic that is toppling armies and governments, soon threatening the survival of humanity itself…

Even with a pretty standard plot for a zombie flick, the film is, unfortunately, still brimming with plenty of cliché moments and jump-scares throughout, in addition, of course, to the film’s overall lack of style. Making the entire experience really struggle to stand on its own amongst the many other films within its genre, which I do feel can be mostly put down to director Marc Forster (Finding Neverland, Stranger Than Fiction, Christopher Robin).

Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos both do a decent job as ‘Gerry’ and ‘Karin Lane’ within the film, despite their characters having pretty much no characterisation outside of them being a loving family. Their children, however, portrayed by Sterling Jerins and Abigail Hargrove. I found very irritating, as aside from their constant screaming and crying, their child performances weren’t very convincing to me at all. Strangely, Peter Capaldi also has a small role within the film, despite barley adding anything to the narrative.

Ben Seresin handles the cinematography throughout the film, and aside from a few scenes were hand-held camera techniques are used to reflect the chaos we see during many of the infected’s attacks, many of the visuals are extremely flat, as the cinematography is very bland and uninspired, usually sticking to very standard shots and never really experimenting with anything incredibly interesting. The CG effects throughout the film’s runtime are also very inconsistent, as in some scenes the visual effects work perfectly fine. Whereas in others, they look truly awful, with many of the infected bouncing around as if they were made out of rubber. I do appreciate the various aerial shots which are used during many of these scenes, however, as I feel these shots really incapsulate the enormous scale of the film’s devastating pandemic.

The film’s original score by Marco Beltrami is decent overall, it works within the film to increase what tension and drama there is on-screen. But, outside of the film, it isn’t memorable in the slightest. Coming off as your standard blockbuster soundtrack with the occasional ‘Inception’ noise thrown in for good measure, it is very possible the score was rushed, as for those who may not know, ‘World War Z’ actually went through a very troubled production process, as multiple different directors, writers and producers were brought onboard and then dropped off constantly. This is mostly why the film sometimes feels very unconnected and messy (which also isn’t helped by its quick pacing). Taking this into account, the film definitely could’ve been far worse, but I still found it very noticeable.

Despite all of this, the film does still have some elements I enjoy, as it is simply fun to watch the madness ensue at various points during the film, as the hordes of infected bring chaos to the streets of whatever city the film finds itself in. My favourite scene within the film is definitely near it’s ending, as the film takes a very different direction in choosing to focus on a small tension-filled scenario, which I thought was decently well-executed for the most part. That said, most of the climax is remarkably dull, grinding the film’s pacing to a halt to focus on a small group of infected over an exciting, climatic set-piece.

In summary, ‘World War Z’ isn’t the worst big-budget film you could spend your time watching, it definitely has a variety of problems. From the predictable and generic plot, to the boring characters and the mix of poor CG effects and writing. Which all ensured that I wasn’t such a huge fan, but if you enjoy a mindless zombie blockbuster every so often, then there may be some enjoyment in this for you. But, for me personally, ‘World War Z’ simply felt like a hollow experience, and is nothing more than a generic zombie flick when it’s at it’s best. Final Rating: 3/10.

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Bird Box (2018) – Film Review

/ Joe Baker / 1 Comment

‘Bird Box’ is based on the novel of the same name by Josh Malerman, which mostly aims to be a dark horror/thriller with an original and twisted story as well as a few other interesting aspects in regards to its filmmaking. Unfortunately, however, the film soon falls into a pit of disappointment which it really struggles to escape from, resulting in ‘Bird Box’ becoming nothing more than another generic Netflix fright-fest.

Plot Summary: In the wake of an unknown global terror, a mother must find the strength to flee with her two children down a treacherous river in search of safety. Yet, due to the unseen deadly forces pursuing them, the perilous journey must be made blind-folded…

As the film jumps back-and-forth between the two different time-periods, the film’s structure can become very frustrating at points, as I personally found the initial chaotic event far more entertaining than the other time-period the film provides, yet this was always cut short as the film continuously cuts between the two at unusual points. The film also chooses to wrap the majority of its story in mystery, never really exploring what the monsters actually are, or how their abilities work. The film even chooses to never actually show the creatures on-screen at all throughout the runtime, and although I agree that not everything has to be explained within a story, the way ‘Bird Box’ presents it makes it nothing but frustrating as the film introduces questions without answers.

Sandra Bullock portrays a struggling mother alongside Danielle Macdonald, Trevante Rhodes and John Malkovich who all portray people attempting to survive in a brutal world, and they do their best considering the weak characters they had to work with. The majority of the supporting cast are also decent, with Sarah Paulson even having a short appearance within the film. However, I actually found she was incredibly wasted in the small (and mostly pointless) role she had within the narrative.

In spite of the film’s many wilderness scenes being shot near the beautiful Smith River in the far north of California. Nearly the entire visual presentation of ‘Bird Box,’ is extremely dull, as the cinematography by Salvatore Totino and editing Ben Lester never really excel beyond ‘okay.’ Usually having scenes consist of many boring shots which never really add much to the tension or atmosphere aside from the occasional moment, this, of course, also alongside the extremely bland grey colour palette.

This is also the case when it comes to the original score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, coming across as nothing more than your standard score for any modern horror/thriller with a slight technological twist, which is very surprising, considering these composers did excellent work on the soundtrack for ‘The Social Network,’ back in 2010.

Although the novel obviously came out before last year’s ‘A Quiet Place,’ I also couldn’t help but notice many similarities between the two films. Such as the lack of a certain sense, the apocalyptic setting, a theme of family and the eerie atmosphere/tone (despite the idea of the monsters making you kill yourself being very original). I also couldn’t help but feel the film never made enough use of its concept of simply witnessing the creatures drives characters to suicide, as this is a terrifying idea, and could’ve provided some very gory and truly shocking moments.

In summary, ‘Bird Box’ is one of those few films that gets a large amount of attention for reasons I’m not entirely sure of, as personally, I thought the film was nothing but bland and forgettable in many aspects. Aside from perhaps the main performance by Sandra Bullock and the original idea of its story. There wasn’t much I enjoyed about this adaptation, perhaps give it a watch if you’re really interested, but, in my opinion, there are many similar films which explore these same ideas just with a much better execution. Final Rating: 3/10.

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Ghost Stories (2018) – Film Review

/ Joe Baker / Leave a comment

Based on the West End play of the same name written by Jeremy Dyson, ‘Ghost Stories’ is a British horror directed by Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman, featuring many tension-filled scenes and plenty of clever story elements throughout, it’s not quite the cliché horror you might expect, as the film definitely takes a unique approach with its storytelling and ideas, and I would say I enjoyed the film quite a bit due to this, although I feel this may not be the same for everyone.

Plot Summary: Sceptical professor; ‘Phillip Goodman,’ embarks on a trip into the terrifying world of the paranormal, after he is given a file with details of three unexplained cases of apparitions to investigate…

Whilst nothing incredibly original for a horror narrative, this story does allow the film to have almost an anthology-like structure in a way, with the three separate case files all being their own contained story. The film also takes a very interesting direction for the majority of its runtime, mostly focusing on the paranoia and imagination of the human mind, and how certain tragic events throughout life can lead the mind to wander. Whilst I personally think this is a very creative way to explore paranormal encounters and the horror genre in general, I can definitely say not every horror fan would enjoy this element, as I can see many hating this film mainly due to its exploration of these ideas. This concept even plays-into title of the film, which was misspelled as ‘Ghost Stories’ in much of the pre-release media. This was done to accord with the film’s tagline; ‘The Brain Sees What it Wants to See.’

Andy Nyman portrays the main protagonist of the film (Phillip Goodman), and I’d say he does a pretty great job with the arrogant character he is given, especially being a mostly unknown actor. Then, of course, we also have Phil Whitehouse, Alex Lawther and Martin Freeman as the various victims of the cases, who I also quite enjoyed watching. All the performances here are also backed-up by the writing in the film, as I feel the writing is pretty on point here. Having many elements of dark comedy along with giving some development to the various characters and having some little pieces of information hidden within dialogue for later in the narrative.

The cinematography by Ole Bratt Birkeland is pretty impressive throughout, only having a few shots throughout the runtime which I thought were a little bland. ‘Ghost Stories’ also utilises many wide shots throughout the film which really lend themselves to the eerie atmosphere, alongside the hauntingly beautiful original score which also lends itself to the film. This time being handled by Haim Frank Ilfman, a composer who I actually hadn’t heard of before this film. But, I do hope to see his name in credits more following on from this, as the soundtrack works perfectly throughout the film, changing from emotional to tense, to chaotic, without ever feeling rushed.

My main criticism of the film is the usual issue I have with modern horrors, as while I do feel this film builds-up a lot more of an eerie atmosphere than many other horrors. The film is still littered with jump-scares, and while I do believe jump-scares can work if used to a minimal extent, here I felt many of them were just thrown in a points without much reason, the film does have plenty of visual horror however which I appreciate. Another small issue I have is the design of one of the creatures we see in the film, as to me it’s design felt very out-of-place when compared to the other paranormal entities we see within the story, but again, this is only a small issue.

In summary, ‘Ghost Stories’ is a very distinct horror film, as while I don’t think the film is perfect, I did find it pretty entertaining for the majority of my watch. Having an original story and great direction as well as many attractive shots along with some great writing and a terrific original score, I’d say the film is a definite watch for someone seeking something a little different from the horror genre. Final Rating: low 8/10.

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The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) – Film Review

/ Joe Baker / Leave a comment

Only five years after the previous ‘Spider-Man’ franchise ended, ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ attempts to be a fresh and slightly darker reboot of the superhero’s classic origin story yet, sadly, falls pretty flat. Feeling too similar to the previous iteration of the franchise, as well as never really perfecting any of the interesting ideas the film introduces itself.

Plot Summary: When ‘Peter Parker’ is bitten by a genetically altered spider, he gains newfound spider-like powers and ventures-out to solve the mystery of his parent’s mysterious death. Meanwhile, a menacing new threat emerges on the streets of New York City…

Aside from the new focus on his lost parents, the story is far too similar to what we have seen before. Featuring all the classic scenes of ‘Peter’ beating up criminals, making his iconic costume (which now has an unpleasant redesign) and, of course, witnessing his ‘Uncle Ben’s death. This can make the story feel very bland and predictable for the majority of its runtime, if the film was to come out many years after ‘Spider-Man 3,’ then perhaps it wouldn’t have been as bad. But, due to Sony wanting to keep the rights to the Marvel character, a new remake had to be rushed out.

‘Peter Parker’ is this time portrayed by Andrew Garfield (The Social Network, Hacksaw Ridge), and overall, I think he does a decent job here, as while this version of the character isn’t incredibly memorable, he does portray the character as a nervous and awkward yet still likeable teenager, despite looking a little too old for the character’s actual age. The rest of the cast of Emma Stone, Sally Field and Rhys Ifans all do a decent job throughout, but are never really given anything interesting to do when it comes to the story.

The cinematography by John Schwartzman is nothing outstanding, as aside from the unique P.O.V. shots from ‘Spider-Man’s perspective, the cinematography mostly just stays at a consistent level throughout the runtime. However, this is easily redeemed by one of the best elements of the film for me, the great chemistry between Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone, as Stone portrays ‘Gwen Stacy’ (Peter Parker’s first love interest) all of their scenes together are very funny and charming, reminding heavily me of director Mark Webb’s prior film; ‘500 Days of Summer.’

The original score by James Horner is once again nothing amazing, but it does fit the film’s style. Feeling like a classic superhero score, mixed with some more emotional elements, equalling to a pretty varied but not very memorable soundtrack. The majority of the film could be described in this way, however, as many aspects of the film never seem to pass the level of ‘decent,’ which is a real shame, as I think this director and cast have some great potential. But, this simply wasn’t the film for it.

The writing is definitely one of the weakest elements of the film for me, as the film is full of cheesy lines and cliché moments throughout the story. My main issue with the film, however, is the film’s antagonist, the ‘Lizard,’ as his motivation, awful appearance and general lack of an intimidating presence really portray this classic comic book foe in a bad light.

The action sequences throughout the film are nothing really exceptional of note, as although they are decently entertaining, none of them ever manage to become as memorable as anything from the original ‘Spider-Man’ trilogy. My personal favourite most likely being the action scene set in ‘Peter’s high school, as the scene utilises the location very well. It’s also here when we get a great look at the various different CG effects in bright lighting, and I feel overall they look decent.

In summary, although I initially gave this film a lower rating, the actual filmmaking on display here isn’t terrible, and what the film does well such as great chemistry between the lead cast, ‘Spider-Man’s spectacular P.O.V. shots and the occasional entertaining action scene, I simply can’t ignore. Maybe check this one out if you’re a huge fan of the character, if not, you’re not missing out on much. Final Rating: low 5/10.

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Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010) – Film Review

/ Joe Baker / Leave a comment

One of my all-time favourite films, my favourite Edgar Wright flick, and a film I’d always recommend to any film fan. ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. The World’ is a super stylised, incredibly fun action-comedy, utilising some great CG effects along with brilliant editing and writing, I honestly can’t see anyone not enjoying this well-crafted piece of filmmaking.

Plot Summary: ‘Scott Pilgrim,’ an unemployed twenty-three-year-old gamer in a going nowhere garage rock band, while dating an underage seventeen-year-old high school girl; ‘Knives Chau,’ he comes across the girl of his dreams. That is, until he discovers that he must defeat her seven evil exes in order to win her heart…

This over-the-top concept for a narrative is taken from the comic book series of the same name, and provides an insanely fun, hilarious and surprisingly emotional story. Edgar Wright truly directs the film with all his creativity and charm, using the ‘comic book nature’ of the story to its full advantage, with every scene usually containing many visual jokes or comic book like effects, mostly inspired by ‘Scott’s eternal love for video games, music and comic books.

Speaking of ‘Scott Pilgrim,’ he is portrayed expertly here by Michael Cera, coming across as awkward, funny and charismatic from beginning to end. The rest of the cast are also fantastic, however, with Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kieran Kyle Culkin, Ellen Wong and Jason Schwartzman all being great within their roles. Truly giving life to their characters, and bringing Edgar Wright’s dialogue to another level. I also personally enjoyed Chris Evans as ‘Lucas Lee’ (the second evil ex), as he always manages to get an enormous laugh out of me every watch, but this isn’t to say all of the evil exes aren’t given their own distinct personalities and fighting styles.

The cinematography by Bill Pope is very well done throughout the film’s runtime and greatly adds to the already impressive editing style. Once again similar to the CG effects, the cinematography and editing are also used for comedy many times throughout the film. Many techniques like these really help the film feel fresh and really fit with the tone, ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. The World’ also has the usual bright colour palette to be expected from this director, this also backs up the tone very well and feels reminiscent of the comic book series in a few shots.

Although the original score by Nigel Godrich is heavily overshadowed by a great choice of songs, very similar to Edgar Wright’s other film; ‘Baby Driver,’ every piece of music whether created by the band within the story or not, always seems to fit the scene very well and fits with ‘Scott’s passion for music.

The action scenes are also extremely well-executed throughout the film, utilising stunts very well mixed in with some nice effects. All alongside the interesting locations used throughout the story, as the film also does a great job of combining music with visuals, both in and out of the various action sequences during the runtime.

If I had to give any criticism of this film it would most likely be the reincorporation throughout the story, as some characters/ideas do sometimes appear and then never appear again within the story, can make the film feel a little jolted at times, this along with the pretty quick pacing, the film can sometimes feel a little overwhelming. However, as the story is based on multiple different comic book issues with a similar story structure, I wouldn’t say it’s an enormous problem and can be overlooked.

In summary, ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. The World’ is the pinnacle of a stylised film, in my opinion, making great use of all elements of filmmaking to create a truly incredible experience, along with the enjoyable story and likeable developed characters, there really isn’t much to dislike about ‘Scott Pilgrim.’ Personally, I adore this film to pieces and would always recommend giving it a watch. Final Rating: 9/10.

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The Woman in Black (2012) – Film Review

/ Joe Baker / Leave a comment

Fresh off the success of the final ‘Harry Potter’ instalment, Daniel Radcliffe now takes on a paranormal horror story in this adaptation of the classic British gothic horror novel; ‘The Woman in Black,’ by Susan Hill. Yet, sadly, the film ends up being a pretty lacklustre (and even somewhat boring) experience overall.

Plot Summary: In 1906, a young solicitor travels to a remote village where he discovers the vengeful ghost of a scorned woman is terrorising the locals and stealing their children. But, as he begins to investigate further, he soon uncovers a darker history than he initially thought possible…

Although this type of plot is nothing new for the horror genre, the film does attempt to experiment slightly to engage its audience more through mystery and tension. This is especially clear in the eerie opening stinger, which is probably my favourite scene within the film, but I still personally feel the film doesn’t have quite enough experimentation to stand out that much, as I initially hoped due to its distinct British roots and story based on a successful novel, the film would be somewhat memorable. Unfortunately, the film is mostly quite bland, having a few eerie visuals, but nothing overly exceptional in terms of filmmaking.

Daniel Radcliffe portrays the protagonist of the story, ‘Arthur Kipps,’ very similar to how he has portrayed many of his other characters in the past. Coming across as a mostly likeable character with a little bit of development but nothing extremely major, this is an issue with the majority of the characters, however, which leads me onto the fairly dreadful writing throughout the film, as the film always talks directly to the audience, usually leaving no room for subtlety and coming as mostly cliché and cheesy throughout. Despite the rest of the cast of Ciarán Hinds, Janet McTeer and Liz White, also doing a decent job with what little they are given.

The cinematography by Tim Maurice-Jones is mostly fine throughout the film, having the occasional attractive shot, but never really anything overly interesting. Although I was actually impressed with a variety of the transitions throughout the films, as many of them really utilised the location they were set in very well. Interestingly, many of the music boxes and mechanical toys in the nursery scenes weren’t created for the film, but were genuine antique toys from the time-period, loaned to the production by a collector, which I feel really enhances the film’s set design. However, the film’s original score by Marco Beltrami is sadly also very mediocre, never really becoming very memorable or unique other than the occasional scene where the soundtrack is overly loud and extremely irritating.

Being a modern-day horror film, it’s also probably not much of a surprise that ‘The Women in Black’ is littered with jump-scares, with many of them even being false scares, such as birds appearing out of nowhere, slamming doors and loud screams without a source. All of this adding to the mostly weak atmosphere and many slow scenes, leaving the film with not much to offer beyond its pretty average filmmaking.

One element of the film I did enjoy is the production design, as despite the film definitely not delivering on an eerie atmosphere or well-developed characters, the film does truly feel like it is set in the twentieth century, as every location/set, prop and costume all feel used/lived-in and are very accurate to the story’s time-period. However, I’m personally not an enormous fan of the design of the title character herself, ‘The Woman in Black,’ as even although this may be more of an issue with the novel rather than the film, I find her design simply lacks in many aspects, as every-time she is on-screen she feels very generic and bland for what is attempting to be a tense paranormal horror story.

In summary, ‘The Woman in Black’ didn’t really impress me all that much, as while not completely awful, it felt very similar to 2018’s ‘Winchester,’ to me, as the film does have some great elements, yet gets completely bogged down by its overreliance on jump-scares rather than a creepy atmosphere, alongside a fairly uninteresting story and characters, and is, by the end of its runtime, a lot of wasted potential for a classic British horror. Final Rating: low 4/10.

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Man of Steel (2013) – Film Review

/ Joe Baker / Leave a comment

Being one of the most iconic and beloved superheroes of all-time, it was inevitable that ‘Superman’ would come to life on the silver screen once again. This time from director Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen, Sucker Punch), a director I’m not particularly fond of due to his weak focus on storytelling and overreliance on action and CG visuals. And, unfortunately, ‘Man of Steel’ is no exception to this.

Plot Summary: ‘Clark Kent,’ an alien who as a child was evacuated from his dying world of ‘Krypton’ and soon arrived on Earth, where he began living as a normal human under his newly found parents. But, when survivors of his alien home-world invade the planet, he must reveal himself to the world…

The main issue that I have with this film is that the filmmakers seem to not understand the character of ‘Superman’ very well, as the entire film is extremely bleak, dull and even somewhat dark. In addition to this, ‘Superman’ himself actually does very little heroic acts throughout the film’s runtime. Almost the complete opposite of the original ‘Superman’ from 1978. This is even seen in the colour palette, as the film mostly uses a dark blue and grey colour palette. But, when your superhero protagonist is supposed to be a symbol of hope and heroism, this is definitely not the direction to go.

Henry Cavill, Amy Adams and Russell Crowe all give decent performances throughout the film, but sadly they never really elevate to anything above acceptable. Henry Cavill is likeable enough as the protagonist but I always found Michael Shannon’s villainous incarnation of ‘Zod’ far more interesting. As he does a great job giving his character a motivation despite how sinister it may seem, as well as making him extremely menacing, very similar to his character in ‘The Shape of Water’ in many ways.

Amir Mokri‘s cinematography throughout the film is mostly very generic cinematography for an action blockbuster, having far too much hand-held camera at points as well as shaking around constantly and utilising many quick cuts during the action scenes, making them even more difficult to follow. The film also uses many artificial zooms when ‘Superman’ is soaring through the sky, which I personally think looks abysmal.

The original score by Hanz Zimmer is easily my personal favourite element of the film, while being nothing new for this composer. Zimmer really brings his ‘A’ game here, and creates an exciting and uplifting score which sometimes really makes-up for the lack of heroism and use of bright colours in the film. I would say this soundtrack is up there as one of my favourite scores by Hans Zimmer, for sure, even playing over my favourite scene in the film when ‘Clark Kent’ learns to fly as ‘Superman’ for the first time.

However, many of the film’s action scenes don’t help the film, as the action within the film ranges from extremely entertaining, as the superpowered characters battle brutally for the fate of the planet. To sometimes being incredibly overwhelming, with constant explosions going off and CG buildings being destroyed left and right. Many of these action scenes don’t even feel very real, due to the enormous barrage of CG effects we get within them, or as ‘real’ as they can be, anyway.

In summary, ‘Man of Steel’ is a mess of a superhero film, as it almost feels like a ‘Batman’ sequel more than a ‘Superman’ film for most of its runtime. Relying very heavily on a dark colour palette and a bleak more ‘realistic’ feel. Alongside the generic cinematography and bland acting. The original score, a few actions set pieces and the occasional attractive visual, are really all the film has to offer to superhero fans. Hopefully, this iconic superhero will have his chance to grace the skies with another outstanding instalment soon. As for ‘Man of Steel,’ though, it’s a disappointing superhero outing. Final Rating: low 4/10.

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Goosebumps (2015) – Film Review

/ Joe Baker / Leave a comment

Based on the iconic children’s book series by R. L. Stine, the film adaptation of ‘Goosebumps’ actually takes a very different approach to its source material. By this time actually having the book series itself play a part in the story, allowing for multiple different monsters from the classic series to appear, alongside Jack Black’s extreme portrayal of ‘Goosebumps’ original author R. L. Stine, of course. This all leading to a somewhat fun yet mostly flawed spine-tingling suburban adventure.

Plot Summary: When angsty teenager Zach moves in next door to the children’s horror author, R.L. Stine, and his teenage daughter, Hannah, he soon finds himself in a strange scenario as the writer’s own monsters are brought to life from their own stories to inflict chaos onto their small town…

Rob Letterman (Shark Tale, Monsters vs. Aliens, Pokémon: Detective Pikachu) directs the film with a fun Halloween-like atmosphere, bringing together many different monsters and creatures ripped straight from their own books, with most of the designs of the monsters being recreated perfectly based on their original designs, despite many of them only getting a few seconds of screen-time, with the haunted dummy, ‘Slappy,’ being the leader of the monsters, and the main focus of the narrative, portrayed as an almost more sinister side of R.L. Stine himself. But, as I’ve always been a huge fan of the original ‘Goosebumps’ television series on Cartoon Network, the film’s lack of scares is quite frustrating as sadly, ‘Goosebumps’ chooses to focus far more on comedy than light-horror to appeal to a new generation of youngsters, which I personally think is a huge mistake.

Most of the cast here give decent performances for a family flick, as Dylan Minnette and Odeya Rush portray a couple of teenagers thrown into this mad adventure fairly. Alongside their friend; ‘Champ,’ portrayed by Ryan Lee, who I found extremely grating after a while. All lead by Jack Black’s portrayal of R. L. Stine, as previously mentioned, in addition to his portrayal of the film’s antagonist; ‘Slappy the Living Dummy.’ Who, as both characters, gives a performance a little too over-the-top for me.

The cinematography by Javier Aguirresarobe is nothing amazing, coming across as mostly bland and generic throughout, but it does it’s job regardless. Danny Elfman also takes on the original score for the film, and again whilst not being anything super memorable, the score is a decent mixture between a spooky horror score alongside a more traditional family film soundtrack. The CG effects, however, are actually one of the better aspects of the film, as while not outstanding they do succeed in bringing the various creatures to life, alongside many of the make-up effects and costumes, which I personally thought added to many of the action scenes throughout the runtime.

Although there are a few funny lines throughout the film, the writing here is one of the film’s biggest issues, as the somewhat original story is dragged down by some awful jokes and very cringey moments, which again falls back on why I would’ve preferred for the film to go for more of a creepy tone over a completely comedic one. The colourful end title sequence of the film is also a great throwback for classic ‘Goosebumps’ fans (despite not adding much to the film as a whole).

In summary, ‘Goosebumps’ was disappointing for me, as I was really expecting something more along the lines of ‘Coraline’ or ‘Monster House’ on my initial viewing; a creepy family flick with plenty of eerie atmosphere, a few original ideas and plenty of throwbacks to the book series. While I’m not completely against the idea of comedy within the story, the film simply comes down to nothing more than your standard family adventure with an overreliance on goofy humour, with the only difference being the slapped on ‘Goosebumps’ name. Of course, I’m also not the film’s target audience, and I could definitely see some families enjoying this spooky adventure for what it is. Final Rating: low 4/10.

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The Girl With All the Gifts (2016) – Film Review

/ Joe Baker / Leave a comment

‘The Girl With All the Gifts’ released in 2016 and based on the novel of the same name by M. R. Carey, is another zombie story, this time attempting to focus more on young children and how they would cope with an infection wiping out all of humanity, as well as leaning more towards the ‘fungus’ side of infections when it comes to some of the film’s visuals and ideas, and while I appreciate the attempt to turn this narrative into a film. I don’t think it was incredibly successful in the long-run.

Plot Summary: In a dystopian future where humanity has been ravaged by a mysterious fungal disease, humanity’s only hope is a small group of hybrid children who crave human flesh while still retaining the ability to think and feel. But when their base is later attacked, a teacher, a scientist and a group of soldiers must embark on a journey of survival with a special young girl…

Directed by Colm McCarthy, the idea of a group of characters going on a dangerous journey is a pretty standard outline for an apocalyptic story, sadly however, ‘The Girl With All the Gifts’ doesn’t manage to improve much on this structure as many of the decisions throughout the film were pretty strange, to say the least, as the film flips back and forward between horror and drama rapidly within some scenes (sometimes even implementing comedy as well). As a result of this, the film’s tone is very inconsistent, and can really take the viewer out of the story at points. Even the name given to the zombie-like creatures within the film; ‘The Hungries,’ I personally found a little too-ridiculous.

Sennia Nanua portrays the main character of the film; ‘Melanie,’ a young girl with the abilities of ‘The Hungries’ that still retains her human mind, and while I think her character is definitely interesting, I don’t feel her performance is up-to-par here. As she was only thirteen during filming, many of the emotional scenes with her feel very unbelievable. Alongside this, there are a variety of scenes with her character acting like a wild animal as her hunger continues to grow, most of which I found unintentionally hilarious. Perhaps if she was a little older when filming began this could’ve been avoided, although the weak writing also doesn’t help. The supporting cast do redeem this somewhat, however, as Gemma Arterton, Paddy Considine and Glenn Close are all fairly excellent within their roles.

The cinematography by Simon Dennis is easily my favourite element of the film, as there are many stunning shots throughout the runtime, as every shot really lends itself to many of the film’s more impactful or beautiful scenes, with the brilliant make-up effects and great set design also adding toward this, which is especially surprising considering the film’s budget, which was actually a lot smaller than many other zombie flicks. This does, unfortunately, affect the CG effects throughout the film, however, as a variety of shots throughout the story have some very out-of-place looking CG visuals.

The wonderful original score by Cristobal Tapia de Veer is another element of the film I also really enjoyed, as the soundtrack is very atmospheric and really adds to many of the tense scenes throughout the film, very similar to the composer’s other scores, with Channel 4’s ‘Utopia’ and Netflix’s ‘Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency’ being some great examples, with the tracks; ‘Gifted’ and ‘Pandora,’ being my personal favourites purely for how unique they sound. 

In summary, ‘The Girl With All the Gifts’ isn’t the worst zombie film I’ve ever seen, as the story does have some interesting elements and the cinematography and original score are pretty on point throughout the film, but sadly, the poor writing and laughable main performance combined really drag the film down for me. Final Rating: high 5/10

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