It's been a while hasn't it? In my defence, there have been a lot
of releases in the movie world, but then again procrastination gets the better
of us every now and then so here I am! Rather than doing individual posts for
each film, I'll be writing about them on the same post to resemble the late
April, May and Early June period. There is quite a spectrum here, there are
films that remind me how good cinema is but again realising how far the
industry still needs to go in terms of development; unnecessary cash grab
sequels as well as gender equality in film making.
I'll be ordering my lists from worst to best, and I think I'll
start with the films...
Pirates of the Caribbean:
Salazar's Revenge, [Insert sinking ship pun here]
2003 saw the release of 'Curse of the Black Pearl', the first film of what was then to be one of the biggest movie franchises in world. Johnny Depp even earned his first Oscar nom. for best male lead as Captain Jack Sparrow! But if we fast forward 14 years later, it is rather tragic to see how the quality of these films have sunken, sharing a reputation with the Titanic. The plot of Salazar's Revenge is mostly non-existent but centres around Henry Turner's (Brenton Thwaites) desire to rid his father of the curse that binds him to the Flying Dutchman (yes that's right Will Turner from the original played by Orlando Bloom! but don't get excited as he is in the film for around 2 minutes) and therefore needs to find the Trident of Poseidon which will allow him to free his father. Cue Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) and his crazy crew who end up running into the young Turner as well as scientist Carina Smyth (Kaya Scodelario) whom is also looking for the Trident, for her own reasons which I can't remember. Something about a book? Anywho you're probably wonder where Salazar (Javier Bardem) fits into all this? The truth is, he doesn't. not only can you not understand or hear what Bardem is trying to utter, other than the words "Sparrow' in a quiet yet vengeful fashion.
The original title of the film was 'Dead Men Tell No Tales' which
is rather cryptic, but still has a sense of meaning behind it in comparison to
'Salazar's Revenge'. Naming the film Salazar's
Revenge is thus, a mistake. Jack never feels the wrath of Salazar's
revenge neither does the film dwell on why he does want to kill him. Yes, there
is a segment of the film dedicated to Jack luring Salazar and his crew into a
cave but by this point I had fallen asleep. It's just your typical 'he killed
me and unknowingly cursed me to an eternal undead life of suffering so I must
have revenge story'. Combine this with very poorly edited action sequences,
terrible acting and boring special affects you have an extremely dull film.
Geoffrey Rush's performance of Barbossa does stand out however as I don't think
I will ever get tired of hearing his fantastic voice. Alas, it is not enough to
save this shipwreck.
4/10
Next off we have...
Alien Covenant, still lightyears
away from recapturing the magic
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD WHY DO SCIENTISTS KEEP POKING ALIEN OBJECTS
WHICH END UP KILLING EVERYONE?! I'm sorry, but not really sorry, but that had
to be said. After Ridley Scott's Prometheus,
audiences all over the world went into excepting answers to the origins of the
Xenomorph and how they came to be. Scott had other ideas and thought his fans
were tired of the Aliens and decided to focus on these massive white being
called the Engineers who supposedly created both humans as well as the Aliens.
This was met with negative reactions and so he began looking for a way to bring
back the horror he and H.R Giger created back in 1979 with the original Alien. Covenant falls short however as it creates
more questions for audiences to account for, but on the other hand does give us
some answers on the creation of the Aliens as well as foreshadowing the demise
of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation as they try to colonise planets to ensure the
survival of the human race.
The crew of the Covenant are colonists tasked with colonising a
planet suitable for housing humans but are rudely awoken out of cryo sleep to
only discover a transmission from another planet that has suitable conditions
for humans to live on and therefore colonise. The most glaring flaw in this
movie's plot is that Katherine Waterston's Daniels is the only character to
question the stupidity of landing on a planet without extensively researching
it first, which is what the crew had done to the planet they initially intended
to colonise! Being the only character who asks, "We don't know what the
F***'s out there" makes her the smartest character in the whole franchise.
Regardless of her logic and going on record with her feeling, the scientist’s
touchdown on the planet and begin their experiments whilst the pilots wait for
their return. Then we have the obligatory poking of Alien looking objects which
thus leads to the death and destruction of their crew and mission. (I'd say
spoilers but come on you know what you're getting into with this film...)
The best things about this film are the visuals and Michael
Fassbenders characterisation of David/Walter. The special effects of space
travel look phenomenal and Scott has taken another step closer to creating the
horror audiences once felt when witnessing the Xenomorph for the first time.
However, a new form of the Alien is presented to us in the form of the Neomorph
and the Protomorph. They produce some scares, but as I mentioned before, their
creation only adds to the list of questions. Are there different variations of
the black goo that creates them? Are different aliens created from different
lifeforms? Moving on, Fassbenders acting is incredible. He retains the
villainous personality of David as well as the obedient nature of Walter.
Introducing Walter as David's upgrade, there are noticeable differences in his
characteristics, most notably his ability for free thought and imagination
which was what made David so dangerous. David's lack of a moral compass and
lack of comprehension surrounding his creation fuels his desire to create and
therefore, have meaning. When misquoting Shelley for Byron in stating "My
name Ozymandias, King of Kings; Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"
shows his delusion as a being obsessed with creation, but is not a creator of
life, only death and destruction.
With some great moments, Alien:
Covenant is worth a watch
despite some continuity errors which include how the aliens grow, the
differences between David and Walter with the whole film almost mirroring the
events of the original. With a sequel already in the works however, I am
interested to see where the Alien universe is taken.
6.8/10
It should then come as no surprise then that my favourite film
from this list is...
Wonder Woman, #girlpower
The DCEU has had a pretty terrible run of films recently. Man of Steel was received with mixed reception, but
provided fans with a ray of hope that Clark Kent/Superman could be a character
worthy of the big screen one again. Batman
vs Superman was then released
which then only divided fans and critics even further and the next layer of
this seemingly disgusting cake was Suicide
Squad. Both films had so much potential but did not deliver on anything the
trailers or executives promised. It is with absolute pleasure that I can say
that Wonder Woman is
a great film. It suffers from a very CGI heavy, Man of Steel like fighty bashy final act which
partially damages the end of the film but this does not spoil the events and
set pieces earlier on in the film.
To kick things off, Gal Gadot is perfect for Dianna Prince/Wonder
Woman. She is both naive and witty but is as brutal as she is compassionate. We
were given a very small glimpse at what she could do in BvS but in this she
truly stands out as character whom can hold her own in both combat scenarios
and emotional situations. The best thing about this film is that it could be a stand-alone
film with no attachments to the Justice League whatsoever. This is possible in
the way the story is told. With Dianna working as a museum curator, Bruce Wayne
uncovers the original photo of her squad mates from the First World War. The
rest of the movie is then a flashback of her life as a child training to become
a warrior on the Amazon home of Themyscira. One day, Steve Trevor (Chris Pine)
crash lands in the islands waters after fleeing a German post with vital
information that will aid in the halting of the experimentation with inhumane
weapons that could then win them the war. She then makes it her mission to
travel with Steve and end this war once and for all, which then marks her
transition from a young amazon girl into Wonder Woman.
Where lines and comparisons can be drawn between this and Captain America: The First Avenger,
Wonder Woman is both its very own film with its very own heroine. This
is a real coming of age story revolving around all beings and not just those
with outstanding power, the Amazons for example. The old friends and allies of
Trevor all have their demons as well as their strengths which integrates Dianna
into the man in excellent fashion. It is then an absolute shame that the film
results in a generic protagonist vs villain punch up which depends so heavily
on CGI and special effects. Comparing the No Man's Land sequence to the final
battle really hurts and if Warner Bros want to drive DC in the right direction
then new approaches need to be taken.
To conclude, I liked this film and if Zack Snyder continues to
mishandle these characters he'll be butchering what could be, arguably, the
strongest and most influential female superhero. Where it doesn't shine brighter
than say many films in the MCU, it really works as a standalone film and as a
female led superhero flick. We can only hope Gal Gadot carries the great
performance made into November's Justice
League as well as hoping Patty Jenkins returns to direct the sequel,
but in the meantime, let's remember DCEU has actually has a good film under its
belt.
7.9/10
