A Minecraft Movie: Movie Review

Cast: Jack Black, Jason Momoa, Sebastian Hansen, Emma Myers, Danielle Brooks, Jennifer Coolidge, Rachel House, Jemaine Clement
Director: Jared Hess

For a film that's based on a game about mining and crafting, A Minecraft Movie doesn't half feel shallow and underdeveloped in parts.

And yet, in among the heavy exposition early on and plenty of the story being led by a character introducing what's happening (despite the inclusion of five screenplay writers), there's a lot of fun to be had by the sheer inanity of what's happening on screen and the antics of its cast.

If you're into Jack Black Jack Blacking and Jason Momoa playing dumb at his own expense, then A Minecraft Movie is for you.

Black is Steve, a grown-up kid who lost the art of being creative and one day decided to go into a mine to dig, before finding a cube that unlocked a special portal to another world, the Overworld.

However, when he's captured by ruler of the dark underworld the Nether Malgosha (a brilliantly maniacal Rachel House), his last hope is a ragtag bunch of outsiders - a former gaming legend (Momoa, complete with fringe, pink outfit), a pair of new-to-the-area kids and a real estate agent whose passion is actually animal zoos.

And that's really all there is for plot for A Minecraft Movie; it's a shallow film that somehow doesn't dig deeper for its character arcs or developments. Much of the script sees Jack Black simply being manic, shouting or over-explaining elements. Other parts see Momoa doing goofy and dumb. As for the kids and Danielle Brooks' realtor, the less said the better - there's no depth and heart in the character interactions.

Worse still is Jennifer Coolidge, whose deputy principal is thrust into a side plot involving a romance with a silent character from the Minecraft world. It's bizarre to say the least, but the payoff at the end with a well-known cameo is too delicious to not get a laugh.

But House has a nice way of leaning into the silliness and with her Dark Crystal-esque physically hunched character gets to play Malgosha's tragedy with effect early on.

Yet, somehow large swathes of this film just revel in the zaniness and the winking realisation that "It's just a Minecraft movie, what do you expect?"; it's not rocket science, it's better than you thought it would - or should - be and somehow manages to create a passable 90 minutes of leave your brain at the door and then don't ever think about it again filmmaking.

Holland: Movie Review

Cast: Nicole Kidman, Matthew Macfadyen, Gael Garcia Bernal
Director: Mimi Cave

If Holland does anything right, it's capturing the feeling that Nicole Kidman really has perfected the art of the Stepford Wives' style of acting.

In this latest she plays Nancy Vandergroot, a teacher and tradwife who believes everything is perfect at home in her idyll of Holland, Michigan.  But when her dentist husband Fred, played by Succession star Matthew Macfadyen keeps going out of town for conferences, she begins to become suspicious wondering what he is doing.

Teaming up with fellow teacher and potential paramour Dave (an underused Gael Garcia Bernal), she starts to investigate...

Holland has its moments, its unsettling visual imagery leading to an eerie feeling something darker lies beneath the seemingly perfect veneer.

But director Mimi Cave and the film's script don't quite know got to capitalise in the feeling of unease, sculpting a facade that's less fascinating than it thinks it is.

Kidman is strong though - albeit in a role she's played before, but the story doesn't give her enough to do other than looking horrified or appalled as she searches for answers.

Ultimately Holland feels far too familiar, afraid to mark out something new and not quite bold enough to reinvent the cinematic wheel or break free from it.

Holland is streaming now on Prime Video.

The Penguin Lessons: Movie Review

Cast: Steve Coogan, Jonathan Pryce, Alfonsina Carrocio

Director: Peter Cattaneo

Based on a true story and memoir by Tom Michell, The Full Monty director Peter Cattaneo's The Penguin Lessons is about as sentimental and crowd-pleasing as they come - but as to how much that will gel with you or grate depends largely on your tolerance for gentle storytelling and gradual reveals.

Coogan underplays the role of Michell, who's come to 1976 Argentina to teach at an exclusive all-boys school. Getting out of the taxi, his shoes are sprayed with paint flicked by a caretaker painting over anti-government graffiti. Making a joke with the school head master (played with prissiness by Jonathan Pryce), it's clear which side of the ledger Michell's on - and collision is inevitable.

But before the movie heads into the familiar, there's a detour where Michelle heads to Uruguay and in a misguided attempt to woo a woman, he rescues a penguin from an oil slick. When his paramour abandons him, saddling with him with his paraffin-infused featered friend, Michell has no choice but to take it back to the school - and use it as a tool to engage his disinterested class.

Part Dead Poets Society, part animal cuteness, this all-gentle film is not without its charms.

Scenes of revolution barely enter proceedings, bubbling away as they do in the background; this is not a film concerned with the politics of the time, merely shadowy governmental figures who snatch naysayers from the streets, while wearing trenchcoats and sunglasses. 

But Cattaneo's less interested in harsher edges, adopting a softer approach to proceedings and ensuring a more broad approach that pulls in audiences, rather than alienate them.

Coogan's affable enough - even though there are traces of Alan Partridge sayings creepings through in some of the dialogue - but he's not quite strong enough to make us care in the way that a stronger-written character would be. Equally Pryce's headmaster seems like he's on a collision course with Michell, but even that falters out into the inevitable, with tension being replaced by a ticking off.

The Penguin Lessons is family-friendly enough fare, but a lack of bite given the film's background feels slightly like a betrayal. However, if you're after an unchallenging night out that has a warmth that's hard to ignore, this low key charmer could be exactly what you're searching for.