The Green Knight: Amazon Prime Video Film Review

Cast: Dev Patel, Sean Harris, Alicia Vikander, Ralph Ineson

Director: David Lowery

A Ghost Story director David Lowery's take on the Arthurian legend is effused with an aroma of confronting one's mortality and seeking solace away from one's legacy - all suffused in a wondrous coating of atmospheric execution.

A folk tale writ large via a fantasy-level quest, The Green Knight concerns itself with the elements of an anonymous 14th-century Arthurian poem and Dev Patel's Sir Gawain.

Gawain is under pressure with family asking him if he's a knight ("not yet, got plenty of time" his guarded response) and is summoned by King Arthur (Harris, rugged, venerable and regal) to his court.

When asked to tell a story at court "so that they may know him," Gawain realises he has "none to tell.. yet" and his resolve begins to crumble in the face of his feeble legacy. Enter Ralph Ineson's Green Knight with a challenge to smite him so that he may return the blow one year hence...Suffice to say Gawain sees the chance to seize on his own future and standing, reckless or otherwise.

To say more about The Green Knight's story is to rob an audience of its deliberately paced joys, and its elegaic edges. 

It won't be for everyone, with some feeling the episodic nature of what transpires and the 2hr 10 minutes run time could be less ponderous. But in truth, Lowery's following a similar path to one he trod with A Ghost Story where it was a rumination on one's life and what comes after for those left behind.

But central to The Green Knight is Dev Patel. Seizing on the whipsmart dialogue with gusto but never overselling, Patel's Gawain is perfect leading him. With his facial work matching his "I fear I am not for greatness" ethos, Patel's enigmatic and engaging throughout. Equal parts confused, equal parts confounded, he makes for a sensitive lead whose journey is one of many folk lore tales - and even appears to have roots in Homeric yarns.

Vikander impresses in a dual role, and Barry Keoghan proves to be an impish addition to proceedings.

Lowery deserves acclaim too. 

The Pete's Dragon director makes great fist of mist-soaked vistas and strikingly evocative imagery as the quest goes on. There's an intensity which builds given the lyrical way the story is assembled, and while Lowery is in no rush to get to his denouement, his assembling of the pieces proves to be a compelling addition to the pantheon of fantasy films.

The Green Knight is a film of patience, and a film that rewards patience in its viewers. Highly recommended.

The Green Knight is streaming now on Amazon Prime Video

Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy: PS5 Review

Developed by Eidos Montreal

Published by Square Enix

Platform: PS5

Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy game knows exactly what it wants to do.

It's not really interested in creating a fuss, or creating something truly complicated for you to dive into. 

In many ways, all it wants to do is a tell a story, with a beginning, a middle and an end, and with characters you already know and are likely to want to spend time with.

And it does stunningly successfully.

In some ways, the game feels reminiscent of a TellTale adventure, with plenty of dialogue choices, and options to chat away to the team. But that's no bad thing, and while at times it may feel like some of the game's dialogue choices feel a little rote and unwilling to swerve from the final destination, what it does do is make hanging with Star-Lord and his pals a lot more appetitising than a simple open world shoot and explore ethos.

In Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy you are Peter Quill aka Star-Lord and get to guide your newly-formed ragtag bunch of misfits across 16 chapters of space-spanning action. It's at the relatively formative years of the Guardians that you take hold of things, and it's wise with the dialogue options for developer Eidos Montreal to have seeded in a debate about leadership and whether you as Quill are up to it.

Loosely the plot is best left unspoiled, but the elements are there from the start when you begin in Quill's past, and then zip to the Milano out exploring a region where it shouldn't be before the authorities catch up to them, and the adventure properly begins.

It's as the game gets going that it starts to develop its branches much like Groot's sinewy tree-arms, and you begin to realise what Eidos Montreal is doing. They don't just want to make a Guardians' game, they want to make a Guardians' experience - and that's a key difference.

Here, it's about developing depth and character involvement as you navigate the team's quirks and looser edges. In combat, you can choose a Huddle at a key moment in the battle, pull Gamora, Drax, Groot and Rocket in close and make a decision on how you inspire them. The wrong decision demotivates the team, the right one delivers a perk to all - it's a cunning touch that shows Eidos Montreal is about the team game rather than the individual players.

Combat wise, you get to use all of the others' perks to take down enemies. Whether it's Gamora's splice approach or Rocket's weapon arrays, it's a thrilling way to involve them - even if after a while, it does feel repetitive.

Repetition is perhaps the one criticism that can be levelled at parts of Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy - some of the fights feel too familiar after a certain number of chapters, and at times, some of the team responses can suffer the usual overplay of the same words. 

Graphically, the game soars. Early on, shots in space appear to have endless depth, with Star-Lord peering out over the edges into a never-ending vista of space - it's a small touch but it ironically grounds the game in its universe and makes the most of the hardware to create something stellar.

Whether it's the quips from the team, or the space edges, Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy feels like a great step into the rest of the Marvel universe of games. Its storytelling may not be massively deep at times, but it takes the heart of what makes the Guardians of the Galaxy beat and breathes major life into it before running off and taking you on the journey as well.

Juniper: Film Review

Cast: Charlotte Rampling, George Ferrier, Martin Csokas, Edith Poor

Director: Matthew J Saville

A gin-soaked matriarch, an on-the-edge teenager and a wayward father all collide in a relatively emotionally potent mix in writer director Matthew J Saville's Juniper.

George Ferrier's Sam has been spiralling down since the death of his mother. Returning from boarding school to find his dad (a detached Csokas) on the cusp of heading to the UK, Sam discovers his injured grandmother Ruth (a ruefully dismissive Rampling) has moved in.

Content only to sound her bell screaming for help and consuming large quantities of gin, Ruth is a distraction that Sam doesn't need, an unwanted cripple in a home already destroyed by death. Equally Ruth isn't interested in Sam, choosing only to see him as a slave to her alcoholic whims.

But when Ruth offers up an alcoholic branch, the pair begin to bond despite the initial iciness and brusque behaviour...

It may be an unsentimental family drama, but Juniper has some introspective edges that will appeal to audiences.

Certainly Rampling delights in the more caustic and apparently brittle edges of her character, complemented by a script which indulges in her laissez-faire mix of attitude and bitterness; and Ferrier plays well, going from self-obsessed introspective teenager to blossoming young adult. There's certainly bleakness early on, and it takes a while for the film to settle on a lighter tone as the family edges come more to the fore.

In truth, there's nothing new here - a tale of rural isolation and teen depression is not something we've not seen before, but Saville gives proceedings a fresh lick of paint to keep audiences engaged. The use of soundscapes in the rural location is impressive, and the crunching sounds of the bell Ruth keeps ringing and the stomping as the battle of wills plays out is effectively handled.

Despite only being some 90 minutes long, Juniper starts to sag under its own weight at about 60 minute mark, almost as if the attempt at introspection has weighed heavy on proceedings. 

As the gradual wistful opening up unfurls, there's a feeling that some of the more sensitively handled moments have been captured among the self-loathing of both Sam and Ruth and their respective performances. In truth, this is a film that leads to a very predictable conclusion and takes a very familiar path, but does so with relative aplomb and reasonable engagement.

Summerland: Neon NZ Film Review

You've seen a film like Summerland many, many times before.

The redemptive tale of a recluse brought out of their shell by an unexpected pairing or meeting, a bond forming, and a heartwarming glow dished up on screen.

But yet, Jessica Swale's Summerland may still surprise you with its afterglow, despite any long-buried cynicism you may have, and any reaction to a second-half twist that's incredulous and entirely overly coincidental.

A subtle and nuanced Arterton is Alice, the "beast on the beach" as Tom Courtenay's school teacher dubs her; dubbed by the locals as a Nazi spy, Alice spends her time writing and generally being short and snippy with the locals in her seafront village home of Kent.

When she's forced to take in evacuee Frank (Bond, in an engaging and heartfelt turn) during World War II, she initially refuses, haughtily believing there has been a mistake, and making Frank less than welcome.

But when she decides it's only for a short time, the relationship begins to thaw and Alice finds herself thrust into the past and the memory of a forbidden relationship.

Summerland is bright enough, with plenty of heart and beautifully shot vistas to propel it along in its first two thirds.

Arterton's brusque and at times, wickedly tart, Alice makes a delightfully negative character to hang about with, even if the predictabilities of what the plot contrives can be signalled way off. Managing regret, aching and also loneliness, this tale of feminism and of witch-hunting in small communities is eminently watchable thanks to a subtle Arterton throughout.

Mbatha-Raw brings her usual brightness to her role as Vera, and Bond delivers a delightfully down-to-earth performance as Frank, the kid just trying to find a new home.

While the third act contrivance is a bit too much of a twist initially, the film's inevitable turn into sentiment is relatively nicely handled by Swale both behind the camera and on the writing page. It helps that Arterton sells it, even if some onscreen histrionics don't quite manage to.

Ultimately, Summerland is an intelligent period piece brought vividly to life by its two central characters.  There's a substance lurking below that's easy to break through - as long as you can stomach the contrivances and push on through, like the tried and tested English Blitz spirit.

Wonder Woman 84: Neon NZ Film Review

Be careful what you wish for seems like both a good maxim for this film - and also ironically about it too.

After what seems an eternity thanks to the cinematic ravaging by Covid-19 to the release schedule, Patty Jenkins' Wonder Woman 84 finally arrives on the big screen.

And it's a wonderfully uncynical piece that's clearly more about uplifting spirits than providing something deep and aimed at moving the DC world forward.

In 1984, Gal Gadot's Diana Prince is working at the Smithsonian Museum, but still stuck in the past pining for the love of her life Steve Trevor. Into her world comes the klutzy Barbara Minerva (Wiig, who seriously impresses with the mix of drama and comedy before the usual superhero blur sets in) and also Pedro Pascal's apparent televangelist Maxwell Lord who promises that what you want can come true if you believe.

But as with everything, it all comes at a price...

Wonder Woman 84 opens with a sequence of wonder as a young Amazonian Diana takes on a challenge, and ends up with a scene that feels like Love Actually crossed onto its set and was responsible for a reshoot to add something in for the festive season.

In between all of this is a mixed pot of both good, and bad. 

From Patty Jenkins' unfussy action sequences that unfold with ease and clarity (bar one final showdown) to a heart that beats loudly in scenes with Pine and Gadot that ripple with chemistry (especially in a scene with a plane in fireworks), there's much that will keep the casual DC fan happy. From the wonder and joy of Pine's comedy chops as he wonders at his out-of-time second life, to Barbara Minerva's gradual opening up, the film has its sense of purpose and mission statement high on its own agenda.

And yet, it also falters into an unusual mix of a film that's not quite sure it has what it takes to break out from the mold of the genre. From Pedro Pascal's hamminess as the ghoul of greed who really has nothing much to do to the 150 minutes oddly feeling like it's padded out via way of a MacGuffin that's barely anything, there's a distinct feeling of indifference that settles into the second act of the movie that's hard to shake. Central to some of that is Gadot, who never clearly seems to deliver lines, and exists mainly to assume the mantle of a model shot in slow mo for various action moments.

In among the kitsch opening, and the 80s nostalgia, it's easy to see why Wonder Woman 84 would have been a surefire thing - there's a comfort to the film's central messages and it would take a hard heart to not give in to the feelings of loss early on, the feeling of wonder in the opening scenes and the take on female friendship.

But this throwback film doesn't quite hit all the right beats, and Wonder Woman 84 is frankly, less of a wonder this time around, more a feeling of the formulaic and rote. It has moments of joy, but the pleasures feel more fleeting and the earnest heart which made so much of the 2017 film and its story arc beat with a vibrant life is noticeably missing.

Ema: DVD Review

Director Pablo Larrain's fiery Ema is a film where bad people struggle for your support.

A bleach-blonde Mariana Di Girolamo is Ema, a dancer whose marriage to Gael Garcia Bernal's Gaston is on the rocks after a child they adopted was taken away from them.

Self-destructive in extremis, but looking for the need to become a mother, Ema decides to throw everything up into the air, and pursue her own desires and dreams...

Ema is supposed to be a film of a soul of a fiery nature burning brightly and looking out for number one, but the narcissistic Ema is a distinctly unlikeable protagonist, with a way of rankling and needling viewers rather than getting support.

Fortunately, in Mariana Di Girolamo, Larrain has found a mesmerising actor who transcends the darker nastier edges of the material and who elicits sympathy in less obvious circumstances.

Which is a good thing, because large swathes of Ema fight very hard to get you offside

From character motivations that are hard to fathom to narrative leaps which are utterly ludicrous and almost contemptible, Ema is a film that's stretching credibility to say the least.

However, Larrain's eye for some stunning visuals and outstanding colours ensure Ema is worth enduring - and certainly while realism takes a battering, Mariana Di Girolamo's burning star makes it just about worth sitting through.