Bohemian Rhapsody: Film Review

Bohemian Rhapsody: Film Review

Cast: Rami Malek, Gwilym Lee, Tom Hollander, Ben Hardy, Mike Myers, Lucy Boynton
Director: Bryan Singer / Dexter Fletcher

To be honest, Bohemian Rhapsody does not, and will not, care for what critics think.

This broad, crowd-pleasing attempt to turn Queen's life story - and ultimately, that of Freddie Mercury - into a cinematic experience, is more akin to putting an inordinate amount of money into a jukebox and blasting out Queen's Greatest Hits on repeat, with Brian May's guitar riffs ultimately numbing you into submission..

That is to say, the Antony McCarten-penned biopic is electric and offers a kind of magic only when its lead Rami Malek prances around on stage, overbite and all, effecting the mannerisms of Mercury himself and the flamboyancy of performance. It's here that Malek just about manages to transcend his "Stars In Their Eyes" moment to remind you of why these songs endure.

Unfortunately, it's all the rest of what sits in between the culmination of the Live Aid performance and Queen experimenting with their sound that feels like a bum B-side, depressingly put out solely because the label demands it.

Racing formulaically between narrative beats, and hitting every familiar moment of a rags-to-riches story - including family tensions and subsequent resolutions, Bohemian Rhapsody suffers from plodding plotting, a defiant coyness over the star's bisexuality and rampant hedonistic lifestyle and also offers an insulting nod'n'wink at hidden gay sexuality throughout. (It's no wonder Frankie Howerd's Up Pompeii is playing on a TV early on).

In many ways, it feels like a three act West End musical in its execution (though some drone shots at the Live Aid performance at the end are thrilling, a sense of spectacle and scale evident in every swoop from the skies through the crowd and to Freddie himself on stage) and is pigheadedly determined to ensure that it provides more dancing to the crowd as it dances around its subject, and subsequently provides rarely any insight into Mercury other than what the downpat story beats demand of it.

While Malek is transcendant at times, and occasionally sells the internal conflict of Mercury well, he's let down massively by a script that's as formulaic as it is predictable.

Ultimately, Bohemian Rhapsody is more interested in serving a crowd a slice of rock'n'roll pie than providing a full meal - heaven alone knows what Freddie would have made of it.

Shadow Of The Tomb Raider: PS4 Review

Shadow Of The Tomb Raider: PS4 Review

Released by Square Enix
Platform: PS4

The Lara Croft reboot series has been a brilliant shot in the arm that the game needed.

The first re-energised Lara and gave her an origin story that was intriguing and engaging; the second built on the promise of the first and added puzzles and tomb raiding to the series to show the foundations were more than solid.

But with the third, the pressure's really on - because most of the new dynamics have been put into place prior and there's nowhere to hide.

In this latest, and set after events of Rise Of The Tomb Raider, Lara's quest against Trinity, the shadowy organisation that's been haunting her life, steps up. Set in south America in the legendary city of Paititi, Lara has to stop an apocalypse after things go slightly awry.

Camilla Luddington returns to the role of Lara, giving the latest a feeling of a trilogy of work (and certainly an ending hints at this being the conclusion of a cycle, rather than a direct continuation) and a sense of a character arc.

Much of the emphasis lies on tomb raiding this time around, and exploring caves, and the darker visuals sometimes make gameplay a little harder to stand out. There's a little less emphasis on combat this time around, and really the focus is about rounding Lara out to be more of a tomb raiding individual than just a cypher for actions and moments.

It does mean that parts of Shadow Of The Tomb Raider feel a lot like stuff you've seen before - but the character work that's put in doubles down on ensuring there's less sense of ennui than could become evident after a while.

While there may be edges of Indiana Jones about Lara's escapades, Luddington and the writing team go into overtime to ensure that she never loses her voice in the melee, and as a result, while the game may suffer from a feeling of over-familiarity, it's still a solidly executed, if slightly unspectacular, episode in the ongoing retooling of the Lara Croft series.

Suspiria: Film Review

Suspiria: Film Review

Cast: Dakota Johnson, Tilda Swinton, Mia Goth, Chloe Grace Moretz
Director: Luca Guadagnino

Feeling a lot like a contemporary cinematic bedfellow / brother to Gaspar Noe's Climax, Guadagnino's Suspiria is an odd beast to say the very least.

50 Shades of Grey star Dakota Johnson plays Susan Bannion, a dancer summoned to Berlin during post Cold war times to audition for a company run by Madame Blanc (Swinton, in icy enigmatic turn).

Initially holding back, Bannion rises to the star pupil role, as her roommate Sara (Goth) begins to grow suspicious of what's going on at the Tanz Academy.

While Suspiria offers one of the most uncomfortable scenes set to celluloid this year, Guadagnino's homage, less remake, has more of the feel of an art film, rather than a full on horror.

With contorting bodies, some truly impressive choreographed dance scenes and a general feeling of unease early on, Suspiria sets the scene well as it ramps up the feminist vibe.

But it begins to fudge the execution of the film, failing to deliver much suspense and horror in equal measures as it unspools. Leading to a finale that's more ludicrous than terrifying is the final blow for this, thanks to some truly weak prosthetics and laughable dialogue. (Which is baffling given that some of the earlier work on this front is more than laudable, and the hints of the madness of possession that swirl early on.)

Mixing in allegories for the East vs West confrontation in Germany, an ongoing series of radio reports about the Baader Meinhof hostage crisis and an old man's quest to find his wife, the film's tendency to hardly deliver on any of these dallies very close to feeling it's undercooked rather than fully formed. It doesn't help the characters field a once over lightly approach either.

That said, Swinton and Johnson impress mightily; from Johnson's naif lost in the pull of something she doesn't understand to Swinton's performance that is evocative and subtle (to say more is to spoil), there is something to admire about the female led Suspiria (and doubtless there will be treatises on the women-led power piece and how it handles men).

Ultimately though, the 2018 remake of Suspiria is as polarising as you'd expect; it fails as a horror film, succeeds as an art piece, and consequently, feels insubstantial and almost inconsequential. The 1977 film from Dario Argento would be slightly appalled.

Assassins' Creed: Odyssey: PS4 Review

Assassins' Creed: Odyssey: PS4 Review

Released by Ubisoft

Platform: PS4

The Assassins' series was growing stale in many ways.

Starting to be consumed only by its own sense of mythology, the run got a boost with a year off and the release of the Origins game set in Egypt last year.

Returning to the annual release window, Assassin's Creed Odyssey's open world scope and the diving further back into the past to embrace mythology sets the gaming bar purely on fun and fiction, rather than fact.

Set in 431BC Ancient Greece and with a variant of the Peloponnesian War unfolding in front of you, you get to play a female or male mercenary cycling between Athens and Sparta.  Not just that, various side missions pop up as well, giving you the chance to either grind away for XP or simply concentrate on the story quest. From tracking down thieves to escorting people, these quests are largely unimportant to the game, but do build a sense of story and world within.

It's fair to say that Assassin's Creed Odyssey is a game to dive into.

While the size of the open world does mean from time to time that horrific glitches occur - there's been occasions where riding horses through walls is entirely possible but defies every sense of logic going - the scope for losing yourself in the game is immense, and time consuming.

Progression is sometimes slow, and to be frank, the gaining of XP is necessary so that you can deal with bounty hunters who tirelessly stalk you (and all of whom have a higher level than you) but it's a bit of a chore to have the gameplay so strictly tied to this.

But some of the skills offered as rewards are worth it.

Chiefly, the chance to get a power up that gives you the propensity to kick like Gerard Butler in 300 called This Is Sparta elicited more than a snigger first up. Later, it became obvious this is quite the tool to have in a fight as well, giving more than a little credence to its use.

The cut scenes and stilted conversations still jar a little, and detract from the game in someways, even though they're a necessity, but again this is a minor niggle.

Ultimately, Assassin's Creed Odyssey is a game that targets epic, and largely achieves it for a playable and disposably enjoyable outcome.

Win a double pass to see Overlord

Win a double pass to see Overlord

To celebrate the release of OVERLORD in cinemas November 8th, you could win a double pass thanks to Paramount Pictures.

About OVERLORD

Starring Jovan Adepo, Wyatt Russell, Pilou Asbæk, Mathilde Ollivier, John Magaro, Iain de Caestecker

Produced by JJ Abrams

With only hours until D-Day, a team of American paratroopers drop into war occupied France to carry out a mission that’s crucial to the invasion's success.

Tasked with destroying a radio transmitter atop a fortified church, the desperate soldiers join forces with a young French villager to penetrate the walls and take down the tower. 

But, in a mysterious lab beneath the church, the outnumbered G.I.s come face-to-face with enemies unlike any the world has ever seen. 

From producer J.J. Abrams, Overlord is a thrilling, pulse-pounding action adventure with a twist.

Overlord is in cinemas November 8th, rated R16 – Graphic violence, horror, offensive language and content that may disturb

To win all you have to do is email your details and the word OVERLORD to this address: darrensworldofentertainment@gmail.com or CLICK HERE NOW!

Competition closes November 8th

Brimstone and Glory: Film Review

Brimstone and Glory: Film Review

Director: Viktor Jakovleski

The immersive touches of this lean documentary lend themselves well to getting you into the heart of Mexico.

Jaklovleski takes viewers into the centre of the action for the annual festival San Juan de Dios in the Mexican town of Tultepec as it's taken over by firework fever. The celebrations honour the saint, who legend has it, rescued people from a burning building without getting burned himself.

Concentrating on two festivals - the Castles of Fire and the Burning of the Bulls - Jakloveski's camera takes a course deep into the events themselves, dispensing with talking heads and interviews, merely choosing to capture it as it happens.

Some shots are thrilling - granted, there are the obligatory moments of slow mo fireworks being waved, people smiling and running - but that's to be expected. But it also manages to get inside the events and the build up too - from the kid who's unsure he wants to follow his father into firework production because of the injuries he's seen to those clambering dangerously high to the top of the Castles of Fire (all captured via bodycam), the camera captures the danger of the industry as well as the thrill.

Casual moments deliver much - a deliberation that "since we're not chemists, our measurements are not perfect" speaks volumes about the state of the industry there, and the OSH issues that workers face.

The roving camera idea works well for Brimstone and Glory - the drama comes from the banal - a storm here, a problem with the building of a bull there; but it also captures the inherent beauty of the fireworks as well - final scenes showing the Burning of the Bulls in full flight are stunning as they negotiate the utter chaos of the streets.

Definitely much ooh and ahhh, this fireworks doco captures the euphoria and danger of our fascination with veritable aplomb.

The Seagull: Film Review

The Seagull: Film Review

Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Annette Bening, Corey Stoll, Elisabeth Moss, Billy Howle, Brian Dennehy, Mare Winningham
Director: Michael Mayer

Based on the play by Anton Chekhov, director Michael Mayer's take on The Seagull is a light, breezy film that benefits greatly from its core cast.

Bening, Stoll and Ronan all breathe exceptional life into their respective roles.

Bening is Irina, an actress whose insecurities stretch to admonishing her son Constantin and mocking his attempts at play-writing. Called in to visit her ailing brother, a tale unfolds of how Constantin met Saoirse Ronan's Nina, an appalling wannabe actress who became his muse.

However, Irina has brought with her the famous writer Boris Trigoran (Stoll, a stoic presence) whose appearance at the family home causes rifts and consternation as all tremble in the shadow of his reputation.

As the rifts deepen, everyone's insecurities increase exponentially...

As mentioned, The Seagull benefits from a career best from Bening, whose scoffing and mocking of those around her surfaces amid her own insecurities. Bening more than delivers, adding touches of nuance when required and bringing the pain to the fore as it's needed.

Equally Stoll and Ronan add much to the ensemble as the combination of comedy and drama unfolds; additional support from a growingly unhinged Elisabeth Moss as an infatuated woman lends the necessary scorn to the piece.

However, some of the hints of destruction are not seen on the screen, and with the flashbacks played out only to a point, The Seagull doesn't quite deliver the emotional heft that's necessary in times. An attempted suicide falls flat, a discussion of one character left bereft feels stripped of the heft - granted, it's a different approach but given the denouement relies on the emotion of the past as the script comes full circle from the flashbacks, it feels a little like The Seagull cheats - even if it does follow Chekov's play.

Fortunately, biting dialogue and stellar performances detract from the downsides, and The Seagull takes flight when it needs to, but fails to soar into the skies when it should.