The Happytime Murders: DVD Review

The Happytime Murders: DVD Review

On paper, The Happytime Murders should kill it.

A foul fuzzy felted mix of raunchy gags, meshed with the adult arm of the Henson Muppet Company, and a take on the buddy cop genre, it should in theory have worked.

But Brian Henson's attempt at muppet mayhem falls short in terms of its gag ratio, with perhaps the best of them used in the trailer, leaving the film lacking in prime content.

Set in a world where muppets and humans co-exist, but with lashings of discrimination against puppet-kind, Barretta is Phil Philips, a muppet former-detective-turned-PI, (who looks similar to David Boreanaz's Angel when he was turned into a puppet in Joss Whedon's show) who's called in to investigate a series of murders involving the puppets of a once popular TV show The Happytime Gang.

Forced to team up with his former partner Connie Edwards (McCarthy, who generates some reasonable chemistry with the forlorn Philips), the duo set out to solve the case...

The Happytime Murders meshes both buddy cop movie tropes with gumshoe shenanigans - but to middling effect in large sections.

Unsure of whether to fully embrace the foulness seen in the likes of South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut, Avenue Q and Meet The Feebles, what actually emerges in The Happytime Murders is a tame and tepid, occasionally funny slice of homage that lacks the requisite humour.

That's not to say there aren't the giggles - presumably more if you've indulged / not seen the red band trailer, but The Happytime Murders falls short on several fronts.

McCarthy and Barretta actually gel well, and the dynamic, while overly familiar, hits the notes it should, with McCarthy dialling it down in parts. Better still are the moments where Rudolph and 
McCarthy riff off each other, bringing genuine comedy chemistry to the fore - and simultaneously reminding you what's really missing here. And it's galling as it slowly beats the fuzzy felted stuffing out of you.

Less Meet The Feebles, more just Feeble, with side order of squandered potential, The Happytime Murders is a killer for all the wrong reasons. 

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms: Film Review

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms: Film Review

Cast: Mackenzie Foy, Keira Knightley, Helen Mirren, Morgan Freeman, Matthew McFadyen, Jayden Fowora-Knight
Director: Lasse Hallstrom, Joe Johnston

Possibly the best-looking film of the year, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms' fairytale approach is the one thing strongly in its favour.

Foy plays Clara, whose life is staccato following the death of her mother; with her father trying to ensure Christmas still happens, even though nobody is interested, Clara's given a gift from her departed mother - a locked egg that says everything she seeks is within.

During attending an annual festive ball, Clara finds herself pulled into the magical world that's facing danger from Mother Ginger (Mirren). Recruited by Sugar Plum (Knightley in Marilyn Monroe squeaky voice territory) to help, Clara finds her loyalties torn as she tries to save the realms from falling into war.

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms's production aesthetic is second-to-none, and is Oscar-worthy in extremis.

Every sequence oozes with sumptuous details, with figures from fantasy tales standing out and with each scene dripping with colour and attention to detail. It's almost overwhelming, but does go some way to setting the fantasy tone needed for the film, whose plot sadly falls flat and feels uninspired and underwhelming at best.

The message is easy to decipher from early on, and even though Foy tries, she can't quite summon enough of the depth needed to sell the lighter story to an audience. Knightley's flouncy Sugar Plum is a joy to behold, although Mirren's baddie Mother Ginger feels underwritten and inconsequential.

Ultimately, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms feels more shallow than a tale as old as time should.

Its fantastical visual images may capture the audience of a younger generation, but in truth, they may get restless later on with the film as it ploughs a furrow between whimsy and empowerment message.

It may have some elements of visual pleasure, but The Nutcracker and the Four Realms is more a confectionary headrush than a nourishing lasting pleasure.

The Equalizer 2: DVD Review

The Equalizer 2: DVD Review

Denzel's back with a sequel to the surprisingly effective at times, but under-the-radar The Equalizer about a vigilante roaming the streets, showering justice on those who need it.

This time, Denzel's Robert McCall is on the case after a crime becomes a little too personal - how far will he go to exact justice when his past comes calling?

The sequel to the 2014 film sees Washington carrying on his zen-like turn as McCall - but whereas the first granted him a victim who was a child, this second sees his familial edges pushed by the crime he's investigating and also a budding mentorship of Ashton Sanders' Miles, a resident teen in his building on the edge of making a wrong decision.

Like the first film, the sequel feels like a self-contained episode of the 1980s series it was spun off from, with brutal action sequences that are not elongated or extended, merely sharp and to the point.

Denzel channels again his measured approach to McCall as he puts out an intensely brooding version of his Man On Fire routine, with each take down he enacts being characterised by a gloomy stare as he visualises how it'll all go down and an over-reliance on choreographed slow-mo shots. Fuqua's really followed the template of the first in parts, and it shows, with the action impressive, but certainly not feeling fresh. Washington has the necessary charisma to carry it throughout, but occasionally his dead-eyed stare is perhaps reflected in the audience watching this play out.

Once again, there's little call for Washington to be anything other than emotionless and completely invincible throughout; and unfortunately, this time round the lack of subtlety is jarring, with inserted exposition or overly used hints of what's ahead repeatedly being jammed down the viewers' throats. It helps little that the plot feels rote in some ways, and McCall never feels anything like a from-the-projects superhero, and there's rarely any chance he's on the backfoot.

But that said, there are a couple of brutally impressive and tautly executed set pieces, unswervingly put in motion by Fuqua.

From a great inside-a-taxi fight as McCall's Lyft driver is menaced by a goon to a final set piece inside a hurricane (that again taps some of the trappings of the warehouse confined conclusion of the first), the action works well when it flies.

The problem with the at times grim and dour The Equalizer 2 is that its plot feels uninteresting and unengaging, a conspiracy that feels tenuous more than intriguing and which doesn't really push much on even when the connection is personal.

The Equalizer 2's commitment to brutality and the pushing of the older man as a superhero makes it feel different, but Fuqua's almost templated retreading of the first in this sequel-not-sequel makes the case for a return outing (3Qualizer anyone?) difficult to justify.

While the TV Series followed an inevitable pattern, it's to be hoped any further outings may see this vigilante pushed to the edge a bit more, and the stakes made to feel a little more uncertain.

Otherwise, bizarrely, The Equalizer risks becoming the geriatric version of a superhero franchise.

Win a double pass to see ROBIN HOOD

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Widows: Film Review

Widows: Film Review

Cast: Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki, Robert Duvall, Colin Farrell, Liam Neeson, Daniel Kaluuya, Cynthia Erivo
Director: Steve McQueen

Ripped from a Lynda LaPlante UK TV series from the mid-80s, the contemporary US update of Widows is startling in its recreation of the power of money, the corruption of wealth, and the power of women to rise above what's been dealt to them.

A searing Viola Davis plays Veronica, the wife of known career criminal Harry Rawlins (Neeson, mixing tenderness and harshness in flashbacks) who finds herself widowed after a heist goes wrong.

Visited by the local crime boss and informed that Harry had stolen $2 million from him, Veronica's given a month to return the cash - or pay the consequences.

So, in order to escape the hand she's been unwillingly and unwittingly dealt, Veronica goes to the also-widowed women of Harry's associates Linda and Alice (Rodriguez and Debicki respectively) to enlist them into the job.

Widows is the antithesis to Ocean's 8 - and so much the better for it, trading darkness and depth for Oceans' sleight of hand and smoke-and-mirrors routine.

Director Steve McQueen, who brought such pain and pathos to the likes of Hunger and 12 Years A Slave, gives himself more of a contemporary pat setting with Chicago's seedy underbelly, politicking and dirty money and deceit forming the backbone of a sickeningly compelling movie.

It begins with a heist gone wrong, before weaving complex threads of destroyed relationships, power, and of desperate lives trying to reset and survive.

Set against the politicking of Colin Farrell's incumbent alderman wanting to stay in power, along with the exposure of all that entails, and how deep the corruption goes, Widows could collapse under the weight of its darker themes.

But along with McQueen's flashy director touches, and anchored by a gripping central turn from Davis, the pieces of this at-times slow-moving chess board trundle inexorably and inevitably to their tragic ends.

Yet, it's also empowering (and a breakthrough role) for Debicki's Alice, a beaten wife whose life has seen her repeatedly slapped around by different generations; and for Davis, whose commanding presence on screen brings nuance and uncertainty to the woman who was happy to enjoy the benefits of her husband's ill-gotten gains but negotiates murky waters when it comes to availing herself of any guilt.

It helps that McQueen's underpinned his film (from Gone Girl's Gillian Flynn's script) with none of the usual tropes of a heist and grounded it in a humanity that gives it an emotional core to cling to - certainly, in its actual heist sequence, it's nothing short of electrifying, urgent and riveting, a set piece par excellence that's swift, brutal and suspenseful.

Essentially Davis and Debicki's time to shine, Widows is a powerfully pared back film and engrossing drama that hides layers behind its themes of societal corruption, political heft, and anger at a system.

It's being touted for awards, and quite frankly, much like some of the power of Denzel Washington's Fences, Widows is a film that you can't fire enough superlatives at.

Hitman 2: PS4 Review

Hitman 2: PS4 Review

Developed by IO Interactive
Platform: PS4

Agent 47 is back.

And this time, he's out to kill.

Much like last time, and the time before that. Well, maybe not like last time.

The previous game carved up 47's shenanigans into episodes, giving you time to feel the thrill of the planning and the execution of the kill as well - plus the wait between missions made you realise how well planned all of it was.

This latest, in truth, feels a little episodic, given you can choose where you carry on after the first mission. It's strange to report that as the whole game's been released at once.

Loosely, the game follows on from the last, with Agent 47 hunting out the Shadow Client and his shadowy group, setting him on a collision course with his past.

Beginning on the sandy shores of Hawke's Bay, the globe trotting carries on again, with 47's missions taking him to the shores of Mumbai, Colombia and other parts of Europe.
Hitman 2 works in some ways, and fails in others.

But largely, it's as fun as you want to make it. Again, it's not a game for patience and if you've got no desire to work out plans, set traps and reap the rewards, it's probably best you head off somewhere else. However, watching targets scatter, moving closer to your execution of them can provide a vicarious thrill.

The New Zealand opener in Hawke's Bay is piecemeal; its location could be anywhere, but it's a nice moody opener to set the conspiracy tone going, and the beach front locale means you really do have to plan stuff out to escape. But again, going full tilt can mean the level can be cleared with a minimum of fuss.

That's the thing with Hitman 2; it's as complicated as you want to make it.

Smart people will spend time planning, and others (like me) will just go in, all guns blazing, and missing out on the nods to the Agent 47 series and the score that comes from executing something smart and clever.

Graphically, the game's fine. Its locations are what sets it apart, with lots of detail going into the scene-setting; and a little less in terms of the facial distinctions. And in some ways, the gameplay feels scattered; particularly some of the static nature of the sequences does make it feel like there could be more to do.

In terms of the final product, Hitman 2 does exactly what it says on the tin; there are multiplayer propositions too, and the return of the elusive targets to take in. But in terms of standing out from the crowd in a very busy season, Hitman 2 takes its shot, but doesn't quite hit a bullseye for anyone other than the fans of Agent 47's ongoing story.

Ant-Man and The Wasp: DVD Review

Ant-Man and The Wasp: DVD Review

That Ant-Man and The Wasp manages to be a self-contained caper, much like the first outing three years ago, is both a credit and an albatross to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

It's understandable that following the "heavier" material tackled in Avengers: Infinity War, Marvel would want to put something out which was a little more knockabout and which only very loosely fed in to the ongoing threads.

Ant-Man and The Wasp: Film Review

However, the danger is that Ant-Man (and, by extension, The Wasp) is becoming the outlier of the franchise, a film series where the stakes never quite feel high enough, and the levity is almost derailing.

As a self-contained piece, the return of Paul Rudd's comedic chops as Scott Lang is semi-welcome, but there's a feeling early on the film is trying a little too hard to flex said muscles.

In the latest, Lang is still under house arrest following his escapades in Civil War - and consequently, Hank Pym (Douglas, in a beefed up supporting role) and his daughter Hope (Lilly, easily this film's MVP) are on the run from the authorities.

But when Lang experiences visions of the Quantum Realm and somehow connects with Pym's long-lost wife Janet (Pfeiffer, in an ethereal role), the two's worlds collide once again. With Hope desperate to see her mother, and Pym keen to reunite with his wife, they team up to try and break on through to the other side.

However, their plans are thrown into jeopardy when a new threat (with echoes of the Winter Soldier) emerges...

It's interesting that Ant-Man and The Wasp demotes its titular hero to almost a supporting role in his own film, with Rudd definitively sidelined by Lilly's new heroine taking the lead.

And it's a most welcome touch in this cautionary tale of the Father / Daughter relationships, that even ties in with elements of the "Freak of the Week" early vibe of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Lilly leads most of the action scenes with such undeniable chutzpah that not even the overuse of deliberate pop-culture references to the 90s can derail. (Ant-Man and The Wasp perversely holds off from mentioning any time line to avoid the Infinity War question throughout).

It's a move Marvel have been too slow making, and Lilly seizes every opportunity to shine, imbuing her Hope with the fragility that's needed and the inspirational leading heroine that's been sorely lacking in the MCU for way too long.

Equally, the film's commitment to beefing up Douglas' role and giving Pym stakes is welcome, even if it comes at the cost of Rudd's own involvement in proceedings. IT's rare for older actors to be given such beefy roles, and Douglas (and to a lesser extent, Pfeiffer) grab them with gusto.

If Ant-Man and The Wasp is guilty of anything, it's that its central self-contained plot is entangled in sci-fi bunkum (one character even remarks that they're just throwing Quantum in front of everything) and feels slighter than anything proffered up before.

Sure, Ant-Man and The Wasp is solid enough, popcorn fare, gleefully executed by all and with crisp action sequences, but its charm only goes skin deep to feeling you're invested in the stakes. (And, whisper it, parts of it feel like a repetition of the origin story of the first in terms of antagonists, some action sequences.) It's slight, knockabout cinema, that shrinks its hero to a supporting role, but does wonders for female representation in a franchise that's been woefully short of taking the lead.

Marvel need to handle Scott Lang carefully in future, because otherwise, they risk turning Ant-Man into the minute character of its namesake - and that genuinely would be a crying shame.