Mary Poppins Returns: Blu Ray Review

Mary Poppins Returns: Blu Ray Review

How do you solve a problem like Mary Poppins 2?
With the longest gap between sequels ever recorded in cinema history, it seems like the return of the English nanny that so delighted so many decades ago was always bound to be divisive.

So it is with Mary Poppins Returns, a film that is both respectful of its nostalgia and yet also seems to be bound up by it, unsure of its own path to follow.

Set in the Great slump, London is facing a post-war depression with the inhabitants of Cherry Tree Lane in the firing line of the Depression. Newly widowed Michael (Whishaw, in mournful elegaic mode) and sister Jane (Mortimer, perky, but under-used) face losing the family home due to lack of mortgage payments.

With 5 days to find a shares certificate which will give them fiscal freedom, the Banks children and their own children are more in need now of a visit from Emily Blunt's Mary Poppins....

There's a sense of loss pervading lots of Poppins 2; and there's a lot of juggling needed for the tone of the Depression and balancing it with the edges of an old school Hollywood musical. It doesn't always quite work, in all honesty, and the film's blighted with the fact it's barely blessed with some truly memorable songs in the vein of Spoonful of Sugar, Chim Chim Cher-ee et al.

There's one central song that does soar - even if it has Lin-Manuel Miranda's Jack and his lamplighter brigade firing around on bikes like an outtake of a BMX festival - and that's Trip a Little Light Fantastic With Me. This one mixes both the terrible Cockney accent along with a memorable chorus, to produce an ode that gathers speed and is brilliantly translated to the screen.

Blunt's Poppins is a nicely starched character, with moments of eye-twinkling mixed with some sad mournful looks as she realises how far the children have fallen - and how much the London depression has hit.

In many ways, it's easy to see Mary Poppins Returns as a rejoinder to current political climates (the celebration of London, the demonising of the banks, the Depression) within the UK, but the timelessness of the first is what is, at times, missing from this, even if there is a sweet sense of escapism on offer this time around.

Yet, there is magic within Mary Poppins Returns, as it tries to rekindle an "excess of imagination" in both its subjects and the cinema audiences, who are becoming more enamoured with musicals (La La Land, The Greatest Showman).

"She never explains anything," says Miranda's Lamplighter Jack, a dismissive oneliner which says much about Poppins' appeal and the nonsensical edges of the flights of fantasy within. It's a meta line if ever there was one, and one which applies to Mary Poppins Returns - it may hit a younger audience, but an older audience, brought up in the memories of the first replayed through the years, may find it lacks a killer hook to keep you whistling along afterwards.

How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World:DVD Review

How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World:DVD Review

The animated dragon saga hits its conclusion capper with The Hidden World, a film that's a visually layered but occasionally muted end to the series.

Jay Baruchel's Hiccup is back, this time as the chief of Berk, and still pal to alpha dragon Toothless.

With Hiccup facing marriage to Astrid (Ferrara), the world of Berk is thrown into disarray with the arrival of a new dinosaur hunter Grimmel (Murray Abraham) determined to wipe Toothless' kind from the world.

As the tribe up and leaves from Berk, Hiccup begins to doubt himself, and worries what future lies ahead for them all - and most importantly, for his pal Toothless.

There is no doubting the calibre of the animation of How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World.

Certainly, the sequence where The Hidden World is discovered is visually astounding, shimmering as it does with colour, and subtle hues.

And there are moments between Toothless and his new lady dragon friend that are up there with some of the best animal courtship sequences you've seen on TV animal shows (complete with some truly adept orchestral scores helping the scenes soar).

The visuals are award-worthy, and certainly do much to build on previous installments.

But it has also to be said, there's a lot of distraction in How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World which pulls away from engaging with Hiccup one last time. Tedious back and forth bonehead banter between Tuffnut and Ruffnut grates immensely and derails the emotional heft that's brewing.

When How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World concentrates solely on Hiccup and Toothless though, it soars. From the age old message of learning to love with loss, and realising they have to move on, Jay Baruchel does some of his best work, giving Hiccup the bittersweet sadness he needs to carry it off.

It's a good solid end and capper to the trilogy, and while the emotional edges work best when they stay focussed, the ultimate open end feel to the film allows you to hope against hope that one day, Hiccup and Toothless will reunite on the big screen. 

The Division 2: PS4 Review

The Division 2: PS4 Review

Developed by Massive Entertainment
Published by Ubisoft

Tom Clancy's The Division 2 arrived at a difficult time.

Just days before the Christchurch mosque shootings, which claimed the lives of 50 Muslims and injured scores more, the game's premise seemed like such a good one - fight the terrorists invading Washington DC following a viral pandemic.

But the game's commitment to reality as well as its superlative execution of the third person shooter means most of it feels a little too close to home right now.

That said, the game's a quality cover-based shooter which trades very nicely on what was presented the first time around. It begins with a distress call from Washington and sees you heading there to take out the threats that have emerged in the vacuum since the first game - but that's just the start as various power factions have risen up in place of what was there before. And it's up to you to assemble teams, squads and save the day.

The Division 2 is a tightly knitted shooter that does what it's supposed to well.

Enemy AI seems to have increased since the last time, but with some precision shooting, it's one shot and done for many of them. This makes the game an easy in-point for those not really au fait with shooters, and still presents enough of a challenge to those for whom they are a regular occurrence.

Levelling up safe houses and progressions is easy enough to do once you know what you're doing and while it takes a little time to get into the game's way of doing things, it's easy enough to quickly grasp.

Ultimately, The Division 2 is more fun perhaps with mates shouting in the background at you rather than as a solo experience, but it does represent the pinnacle of what a shooter can and should offer at launch.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice: PS4 Review

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice: PS4 Review

Developed by From Software
Published by Activision

From Software doesn't care for simple games.

It doesn't want to give you an experience that builds as time goes, it wants to challenge you from the start.

So it is with Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, the latest fiendishly addictive and definitely annoying game from the studio.

You play a Wolf, a Shenobi guardian to a lord, who's kidnapped in the opening moments of the game, and who leaves you without a hand. It's a tough uncompromising start in Japan, and from there, From Software doesn't let up at all.

Set in late 16th century Japan, the game leads you on a quest for revenge and challenges you every step of the way. Stealth and skill are needed in combat, not hack'n'slash. In fact, rushing in will get you killed every time, and see you throw your controller across the room.

As the game progresses, some of the From Software's familiar tropes emerge.

Progression is tough, and victory feels worthy and rewarding. Fires from the likes of Dark Souls are replaced by buddhas and the game's skill tree opens up the chance to upgrade the prosthetic hand you've been fitted with to help combat enemies.

And you'll need every help you can get, with combat needing to be about attacking pose, breaking your opponent's stance and killing them when the opportunity arises. It's frustrating admittedly, but it is rewarding when you deal to a mini-boss or an opponent.

The game looks beautiful - falling snow and ash cover areas and give the samurai mystical quality a sort of edge that's visually hard to beat. There's a terrifying beauty to the gameplay too, with combat wonderfully rendered and the soundscape of clashing metal something to behold.

Ultimately, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is a tough proposition - a game that challenges more than any casual gamer would want. But once you settle into its rhythms, learn its methodology and relax into the gameplay, it's horrendously addictive.

Uncompromising and unforgiving, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is well worth investing time in - and probably worth investing in blood pressure medicine too.

Win a copy of Disney's Mary Poppins Returns

Win a copy of Disney's Mary Poppins Returns

To celebrate the release of  Disney's Mary Poppins Returns, you can win a copy!

The One-and-Only Mary Poppins Is Back and Nominated for Four Academy Awards®, Including Best Original Song Disney’s “Mary Poppins Returns” On and on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray™ & DVD April 10

Disney’s “Mary Poppins Returns,” the irresistible, timeless sequel based upon the Mary Poppins Stories by PL Travers, has had audiences dancing in their seats and critics singing its praises, earning Academy Award® nominations for best original song, best original score, best costume design and best production design.

Directed by Academy Award winner Rob Marshall, who helmed screen adaptations of “Chicago,” “Nine” and “Into the Woods,” and starring Emily Blunt, Golden Globe®-nominated for her role as practically-perfect nanny Mary Poppins, and award-winning composer, lyricist and performer Lin-Manuel Miranda as charming lamplighter Jack, the fantastical film arrives into homes on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray™ and DVD April 10  — with a sing-along version and never-before-seen bonus features.

Thanks to Sony Home Entertainment, you can win a copy of Mary Poppins Returns.

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

Good luck!

Doctor Who: Series 11 Blu Ray Review

Doctor Who: Series 11 Blu Ray Review

The first series of Doctor Who under a new showrunner (Broadchurch's Chris Chibnall) and with the first ever female (Broadchurch's Jodie Whittaker) arrives with considerable expectation.

And with a barn-storming opening episode, the series sets out its mission statement for 2018 and the Doctor's new look. But as the series goes on, it's fair to say there are a few cracks which open up, exposing some of the flaws of the episodes and the scripting.

The push back to standalone episodes is a welcome one, and with Whittaker seizing on the opportunity the moment she literally falls to earth, it becomes clear that Chibnall is after something new. With a stunning look for the series as well, the show looks like it's never looked before.

However, inserting three new companions into the TARDIS as well as a new Doctor was always going to be a hard task to master - some have more productive arcs (such as Tosin Cole and Bradley Walsh) but others feel underwritten (step forward, Mandeep Gill).

That said, there's a nice mix of historical and futuristic episodes, something which feels like a nod back to the TARDIS adventures of the very first William Hartnell era and is to be applauded.

While Whittaker at times feels like a mix of both Tom Baker's manic and David Tennant's bounding energy, she does bring a different warmth to the role, and even though her first season may not have been the resounding success we're expecting, it has promise for the future.

A nice solid set of extras round out the release, and some releases come with art cards. It's worth getting the BluRay to really appreciate the look of Doctor Who series 11.

Lean on Pete: DVD Review

Lean on Pete: DVD Review

An entirely heart-breaking film that keeps its feet firmly on the ground, 45 Years director Andrew Haigh's Lean On Pete will destroy you if you have any sense of empathy.

Newcomer Charlie Plummer delivers a delicate and fragile turn as Charley, a kid who's been around the traps thanks to a dad who keeps moving about and thanks to a mom who abandoned them when he was younger.

Settling in Portland in the latest of their travels, Charley's drawn to a local race track, where he strikes up a working relationship / surrogate father relationship with Steve Buscemi's been-round-the-tracks Del and one of Del's horses, Lean On Pete.

Intuitively bonding with Pete as he's the outsider, the sensitive Charley grows closer to the horse, despite Del's insistence he's not a pet, and begins to realise the horse is being over-worked.

With things on the home front facing crisis point and with Lean On Pete's future uncertain, Charley makes a fateful decision, feeling cornered and with only one place to go, setting in motion a chain of events.

Lean On Pete reeks of empathy and delicacy; with a turn from Plummer that's nothing short of sensationally sensitive, Charley is a kid who's fallen and is falling through the cracks. Wisely, Haigh underplays his hand, with the social commentary coming through later on in the piece, but early on, the film shows disparate families growing and societies forced to make decisions out of economic necessity.

But Lean On Pete's strength lies in the way the message is handled, rather than its delivery; it's a tale of outsiders in society all throughout, anchored by a vulnerable lead who heads off on the old American road trip for soul-destroying reasons more than anything else. It's in the subtleties it finds its power, and it's in its delivery of them that Lean On Pete soars.

Buscemi, Chloe Sevigny and Travis Fimmel make for good bedfellows in this, each an American hit by the reality of life, but it's Plummer who's searing and sensational throughout. As Charley, he has to do a great deal of the lifting, but every chance he gets Plummer steals it (literally in parts), ensuring that his character is wracked with guilt and doubt throughout but is never anything other than relatable.

There may be a social commentary on current America here, but Haigh doesn't dwell on it, simply choosing to depict the reality and blessing the film with some stunning vistas and some unfussy and uncomplicated horse racing scenes.

Make no mistake, Lean On Pete will break your heart - it will have you reaching for the closeness of a family unit, and the uncomplicated love; but it will do a little more than that too - having you yearn for happiness for all, while simultaneously embracing the sadness of what life throws your way. 

Second Act: DVD Review

Second Act: DVD Review

Presumably rejected by Hallmark and Lifetime for its utterly insane twist, Second Act is a film that is crippled by its storyline, which comes straight out of 1950s America.

J-Lo is Maria Vargas, a long-suffering assistant supermarket manager in downtown New York. On her birthday, Maria is trying to secure a promotion, having spent 15 years working as the manager's right hand and set in motion some changes that would benefit the business.

But rejected for promotion, and with her relationship with her toyboy baseball coach crumbling over her desire to not have kids, she finds herself offered a job at a major cosmetics company, thanks to her street-talking friend (Remini) faking her CV and getting her an interview.

It gets worse for Vargas when she gets the job and isn't sure how long to continue the lie - setting her on a collision course with the younger elements of the firm, including the firm's founder's daughter Zoe (Hudgens).

To explain why Second Act is such a bizarro trip into 1960s world where women can have anything they want, as long as men sanction it, is to reveal its twist. Which is to rob you of a genuine "Are you kidding me" moment that cinema so rarely offers. Suffice to say, that will not happen here.

But it's enough to say that despite Lopez's earnestness and innate likeability as the everyday woman who wants it all, the film's utter unswerving adherence to something that would have been part of a Twilight Zone episode of I Love Lucy is not to its credit.

Added to this the level of mansplaining going on as well throughout, this tale of so-called women's empowerment is lacking the balls (sorry) it needs to heartily succeed and carry past an insane twist that defies logic and belief.

Lopez does what she can with the material on offer, and maybe the credibility is stretched as far as it can - but giving its lead a power me moment to be crippled by a pratfall seems like something from decades ago, and is as weak as it is inexcusable.

In a fantasy world context, Second Act's continual stereotyping and conforming makes it almost unbelievable to behold, and its central message of You Can Have It All, Ladies seem like something from decades long since buried, and much deliberately maligned in a more woke 2018. It's even more of a crime how it fails to execute its own concept and collapses into a pile of sentimental mush than is barely worthy of a girls-night-out film. 

Thunder Road: Film Review

Thunder Road: Film Review

Cast: Jim Cummings
Director: Jim Cummings

Jim Cummings' extraordinary indie film about a US cop on the brink of breakdown is something to behold.

Expanded out from his 2016 12 minute award-winning short, the film opens with Cummings' Officer Jim Arnaud giving his mother's eulogy. With his face contorting with a mix of grief, unease and emotion after parts of his tribute fall apart, it's an exercise in awkwardness.

But unlike most of the mockumentaries that trade in such unease, Thunder Road bathes much of the proceedings in a level of pathos and humanity that's truly hard to ignore.

As Arnaud deals with the fallout from the funeral, he finds his relationship with his ex and his daughter punctuated by various problems, and various issues on the day-to-day front.

What Thunder Road juggles to marvellous effect is the mix of cringeworthy and the humane - Cummings owns every scene and the realistic writing aches with a reality that's at times, painfully close to the bone.

Drawing deep from the well of despair, Cummings' turn is the kind of performance that makes you wonder exactly where it is going to go next - and fearing for the worse. But what actually emerges is that Thunder Road swings from the sublime to the sad with contextual ease, and takes you along for the ride.
Thunder Road from Jim Cummings on Vimeo.

There's a portrait of trauma that emerges from here, and perhaps that's why Thunder Road should hit such a chord with many. It may be the portrait of a broken man who's trying to be better, one that merges both comedy and tragedy but it is compelling from beginning to end.

Vai: Film Review

Vai: Film Review

Kiel McNaughton and Kerry Warkia's powerhouse film Waru, about abuse, was a movie that blazed a trail on the local scene.

Using eight separate stories and eight directors, the film signified something different for film-making and its critical success allowed other wahine to be inspired for the future.

Their follow up treads a similar path of approach, with nine female directors taking on the story of Vai, in different stages of her life. Set across various Pacific islands, the portmanteau approach once again has highs and lows, with the overall film feeling more like a spiritual piece, than a fully fleshed out feature.

However, what emerges from Vai is a strong eye and connection for stories related to the lands, and within the lands they are set. Excellent camera work from those involved give the film a sense of place, and a sense of timing with shots blending into the land, and with set ups being kept within a close frame than would be offered by the likes of drones and so on.

The non-freewheeling camera approach gives the film an intimacy that's seized on by some of the storytelling and that proves to be greatly beneficial. Certainly the short vignette set within school as Vai's reality of existence comes to the fore, and family matters bubble under is one of the more powerful of the portmanteau.

Ultimately, while Vai has less of the power of Waru, it certainly has more of the spirituality with restrained camera work and direction capturing some traditions for posterity that are wondrous to behold, and which have resonance as they play out.

There may not be a familiar narrative thread running throughout allowing for an easy follow, but there's a familiar theme in Vai of the power of the female, and of the indigenous connection to the land.

It's sparsely stirring stuff when it needs to be, and while overall, Vai may not find a wider audience or stir up as much emotion as Waru did, its commitment to giving a platform for different voices to tell one longer form story in chunks is more than commendable.

Bumblebee: DVD Review

Bumblebee: DVD Review

Essentially an origin story for everyone's favourite Transformer, the clumsy Bumblebee, Kubo and The Two Strings director Travis Knight's relatively stripped back approach to the noise and bombast of the Transformers series actually pays charming dividends.

Set in 1987, with Cybertron fallen, Optimus Prime sends Bumblebee to Earth to set up a base for the Autobots to stop the Decepticons. But when Bumblebee loses his memory, he finds himself in a town near San Francisco and stuck in a VW form. Stumbling across Bumblebee is Charlie (Steinfeld), a on-the-cusp of eighteen outsider, who's struggling after losing her dad.

These two form a friendship, but the Decepticons are soon hot on their tail, intent on wiping out the Autobots for good....

It's easy to be cynical about Bumblebee, a film that really doesn't need to be made.

Starting with the fall of Cybertron, and then grounding Bee on Earth and saddling him with an 80s setting, complete with the tropes of an eighties alien invasion film, it's easy to dismiss Travis Knight's intentions as puerile for a franchise that's largely until now, been clothed in sturm and drang.

Yet, there's something pleasingly earnest and charming about Bumblebee, a film that embraces its innocence and gives it a kind of Spielbergian 80s family vibe throughout, and meshes it with the Herbie overtones.

Sure, there are one too many triggers here and there from the overuse of 80s music, to the shoehorning in of references, but the clearly ET influenced plot works nicely as this earnestly acted, occasionally underwritten and oddly cliched here and there buddy movie progresses along.

Smartly settling on less Transformers and subsequent clutter and feeling like an episode of the 80s TV cartoon delivers a stripped back approach for Bumblebee; one which feels like a pleasant ride in many ways, as it juggles the comedy (largely from Cena's gung ho military jock) to the heartfelt relationship between the two. Equally, the actual transforming action benefits from a crisp clarity of vision and not so much overkill - and there's much to love from the expressive CGI eye work too.

All in all, Bumblebee is a film that benefits from being about a Transformer, not about the Transformers - it's an important distinction, and while it won't win any creativity awards, the decision to make a film in this franchise breathe a little more is a more than welcome change of robot pace.

Joker trailer arrives

Joker trailer arrives

Warner Bros. Pictures’ “Joker” stars Oscar nominee Joaquin Phoenix in the title role, alongside Oscar winner Robert De Niro, and is directed, produced and co-written by Oscar nominee Todd Phillips.

“Joker” centers around the iconic arch nemesis and is an original, standalone story not seen before on the big screen. Phillips’ exploration of Arthur Fleck, a man disregarded by society, is not only a gritty character study, but also a broader cautionary tale.



JOKER also stars Zazie Beetz, Frances Conroy, Marc Maron, Bill Camp, Glenn Fleshler, Shea Whigham, Brett Cullen, Douglas Hodge and Josh Pais.

JOKER releases in New Zealand on October 3, 2019.

Pet Sematary: Film Review

Pet Sematary: Film Review

Cast: Jason Clarke, Amy Seimitz, John Lithgow, Jete Lawrence
Director: Kevin Kolsch, Dennis Widmyer

The 2019 remake of Pet Sematary knows what it wants to do.

But unfortunately, in parts, its weaker characters and wider film squanders some of the chance of doing it so.

Clarke and Seimetz play Louis and Rachel Creed, parents who've relocated to the apparently idyllic countryside for an easier life, and to spend time with their young family.

However, when their cat Church is killed by a passing truck, Louis finds an offer of a burial from neighbour Judd (Lithgow, in venerable and stoic form) too irresistible to refuse....and before they know it, their world's changed in ways they could never have imagined.

Pet Sematary may have big themes such as dealing with death and the wider effects of grief, but it squanders most of the well-done earlier edges in favour of traditional jump scares, brooding and foreboding  and creepy edges.

The final result is that parts of the plot creak with the silliness that's clearly been imbued in them by the original pulpy schlocky page turner from Stephen King. And while parts of the movie deviate from the book, the 2019 version is more a portmanteau of jump scares and creepy scenes, rather than a coherently paced story.

That's not to say when they come, the jump scenes don't work, but towards the back half of the film, the scares border on the silly rather than the horrific and sequences which should be terrifying end up more laughable than anything.

Pet Sematary follows the Stephen King writing MO - it has a great set up, but the final portion falls over under either close scrutiny or the weight of what it's been set up for. It's not that the 2019 version isn't unentertaining enough, it's just that paper-thin characters with largely underexplored themes don't create enough of an engaging finale, and wider themes are used solely as a lazy crutch for scares.

Ultimately, the 2019 Pet Sematary is to be lauded for some initial creepiness, and some unnerving moments that catch you off guard. It's just that in the final wash, the schlock overwhelms the B-movie edges and drowns it in a madness that's hard to shake.

Sorry to Bother You: DVD Review

Sorry to Bother You: DVD Review

Possibly this year's most biting satire, Sorry To Bother You's ramshackle approach to its story wields unlikely dividends for an audience looking for more beneath the surface.

Get Out's Stanfield plays Cassius Green, a down on his luck unemployed man searching for work.

Conning his way into a telemarketing job, sakjfdsfds learns that there's money to be had by putting on a white man's voice and selling. So against the odds, and desperate to get out of living in his garage
with his supportive girlfriend Detroit (Thompson, on fire form), Green takes the advice on board - and it works.

Swiftly rising in the corporate world, Cassius finds his life at odds due to his former telemarketer colleagues protesting conditions. But there's much more going on at the mysterious company than Green realises...

There's a lot to digest in Sorry To Bother You, a savage indictment of the underclasses in America and also building on the work done by last year's Get Out.

Boots Riley's frankly indefinable film offers many joys in many ways, and will reward a second viewing with more finer details to be picked up. Suffice to say that Stanfield anchors it with a great deal of heart and innate likeability as the gonzo approach to the film veers into both creative and lunatic territory with veritable aplomb.

There's something of a Twilight Zone here, and an alternate universe as tsadjdsakdsak's world descends into a place of utter disbelief - be it the reality of what's going on where he works, or the commentary on the dumbing down of TV and the reality TV craze that continues unabated.

But Riley's smart enough to pepper these elements throughout, causing viewers to find much for discussion once the lights have gone and once the unease over what's happened has cleared.

Ultimately, Sorry To Bother You may be 2018's most unconformist and subversive ride, but it's also one of 2018's most compelling too - just don't be surprised if the final feeling is one of sickening nausea as you begin to accept reality's coming as close to anything insane produced within. 

Beautiful Boy: DVD Review

Beautiful Boy: DVD Review

Beautiful Boy's take on crystal meth addiction aims for powerful tale, but presents a somewhat sanitised take on the tale, albeit blessing it with two strong leads.

Based on the memoirs Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction by David Sheff, van Groeningen's drama is aimed more at the middle classes unaware of the problems of rehab and addiction.

Carell, in downbeat dramatic mode, plays Sheff, who discovers his son Nic (Call Me By My Name's Timothee Chalamet) is taking drugs and who tries everything to turn him around. But this once close relationship is frazzled and fraught on the journey, in turn causing Sheff's family to be put through the ringer.

Looping nicely between the past and the present, the then and the now of their central relationship, Carell and Chalamet conjure up something special in many ways. Their bond feels natural and real, even if at times, they feel more like brothers than father and son; scenes such as Nic rocking out to Nirvana while David watches on in the car do much to build the bond and closeness before the addiction ripples through their life and damages it irrevocably.

In truth, there's little here that people who've seen addiction stories before won't know about - and the film's desire to portray the events unfolding is done in such a beige way and an almost hesitant approach to condemn the drugs' use that it mutes the final emotional impacts beyond repair, and makes what should be harrowing lesser than it actually is.

At times, it's maddening because of it.

Van Groeningen litters the screen with some beautiful vistas, some touching scenes which display the erosion of trust between father and son, and the heartbreaking feeling of the family left behind; it's almost honest in its empathy, even if it does fail to stir something deeply within.

There's an intriguing use of white noise at key moments, a sound where it feels like the pumping of the veins are overwhelming what's being heard, and if there's an over-reliance on this at times, it's an effective signalling of intent, a sign of what truly drives an addict and what pushes them over the edge.

But as it trawls through the druggy cliches, and builds towards an obvious conclusion, the inexorable march through blander territory robs you of a feeling of impending tragedy, no matter how great the work done by Chalamet and Carell; these two deliver powerhouse performances which do much to overcome the lesser impact of what should have been a stronger film to behold, a journey to be horrified at and a true-life trauma to have endured. 

Journey's End: DVD Review

Journey's End: DVD Review

Released in New Zealand in time for the 100th anniversary of the Armistice, Saul Dibb's adaptation of RC Sheriff's Journey's End is a harrowing and simple tale of British life in the trenches.

With a stalemate affecting World War I in the spring of 1918, the film's four day period takes in the grim surroundings of Saint-Quentin. As it begins, reality hangs heavily in the air around the trenches; soldiers are wearied by the efforts, fear rules the roost as the inevitable lies ahead and soldiers try to prepare for a push to win the war.

Into this mix comes Asa Butterfield's young Second Lieutenant Raleigh, who uses a family connection to end up on the front line - much to the horror of his friend, Captain Stanhope (Claflin, in a nuanced turn as the company leader).

With word coming from on high that there is to be a big push, the deadline to events on Thursday March 21st, 1918 hang dangerously close at hand, weighing closely on the mind of the borderline alcoholic Stanhope and his Number 2, Lieutenant Osbourne (a wonderfully cast Paul Bettany, who delivers empathy and growing horror with considerable calm and aplomb).

Journey's End is grim in parts.

Through claustrophobic close-ups in the trenches, through to an earthy muddy brown palette, Dibb's adaptation (the fifth of the play since 1928's first with Laurence Olivier) captures the horror of the war, the deteriorating mental strength of those facing catastrophe and death every day, and also the inanity of the conversations masking the truth of what's to come amid the tension.

While the film rarely transcends its play roots throughout visually, the power lies in the restraint and poignancy of the dialogue. Moments of discussion about the most yellow of soups, and the theft of tinned apricots hang next to a truly tear-jerking letter from Osbourne, lamenting the frailty of life, and the undelivered promise of youth caught in the conflict. It's powerful, damning stuff which is more evocative than any war scenes could create.

With a mournful cello OST punctuating the proceedings, Journey's End is a potent mix of humanity and horror, wonderfully acted by a restrained cast, and pulled together by a director aware of what's best needed to sell it.

It is, entirely without a doubt, thanks to one final set piece, a film that leaves you more grateful than you'd realise - and more profoundly moved than a fifth iteration of a piece deserves to

Mortal Engines: DVD Review

Mortal Engines: DVD Review

It may appear a Brexit parable written before the leave Europe campaign gathered steam, but Mortal Engines' pace is there from the get go - even if the subtleties of this revenge-driven tale are not.

Set in a future world after a 60-minute war, and where capitals now roam the world as moving cities hell-bent on devouring each other and resources, Mortal Engines is the tale of scarred orphan heroine Hester Shaw (Hilmar, who makes good fist of her softening from angry teen arc).

Driven by a thirst for revenge against Thaddeus Valentine (Weaving, in a growling, little else role), Shaw finds herself teaming up with Tom Natsworthy (Misfits star Sheehan, pushing for big screen charm) to try and prevent another all-out war.

Meshing steampunk aesthetics, a Terminator vibe, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, and pushing it all through a prism of Mad Max Fury Road, games Bioshock and We Happy Few and young adult, Mortal Engines' commitment is to on screen action, rather than in depth character.

And on that front, Rivers and his visual team deliver in spades. The film starts at a rip-snorting pace, with an oversize steam driven "predator city" trying to snare its smaller victim. The cameras pan up and around, delivering a sense of scale that's second to none, and showing the incredible detail of the visual work done on Mortal Engines.

The world-building is also brilliantly visualised with it being clear that plenty of effort has gone into the details of the predator cities and their inhabitants.

Unfortunately, the same can't quite be said about the human characters who are largely underdeveloped and simply exist to shout "Run" or deliver exposition-heavy background dialogue or some of the usual Young Adult clangers. It's a stop/start/stop/start mentality that doesn't quite pay off for the film, especially if you're trying to be made to care about the characters within.

Hilmar delivers a solid turn, showcasing both the anger and suffering of her troubled past, but equally softening; and Sheehan makes a good bid for big screen stardom, even if some of the charisma of the character is underwritten, and saddled with the companion-asking-a-lot-of-questions trope.

Ultimately, on a narrative front, Mortal Engines doesn't do anything you wouldn't expect; at its heart, its core commitment is to action and nothing deeper, and sadly, it suffers a little because of it, feeling like pieces are being pushed together without the ease of a story to propel it along. It achieves the visual style with ease and offers much of the same chase ethic as Mad Max: Fury Road delivered.

More about spectacle than substance, Mortal Engines is sound and fury from the beginning - with just a hint more depth, it could have been the start of a new franchise rather than just some vicarious visuals.

Five Feet Apart: Film Review

Five Feet Apart: Film Review

Cast: Cole Sprouse, Haley Lu Richardson
Director: Justin Baldoni

At times, struggling to justify itself as anything other than an option to sell a MOR soundtrack, Five Feet Apart's particular brand of sick lit is to be lauded for one simple thing - Haley Lu Richardson.

She plays Stella, an OCD Cystic Fibrosis sufferer, who lives in a hospital ward, and suffers from guilt. Also on the ward is Will (Riverdale's Sprouse) a fellow sufferer who's trialling new drugs to see if he can be cured.

But the two grow an inseparable bond, despite initially niggling each other and despite warnings to stay apart as otherwise it could kill them...

Less Fault In Their Stars, more TV soapy medical drama, Five Feet Apart knows exactly what it wants to do - and to be fair, does it admirably enough.

Every dramatic moment and trope of the genre is ticked off as the aching star-cross lovers' duo form their bond from their initial bickering through to their inevitable clash against the authorities. And every moment is sequenced by a soundtrack aimed at amplifying their aching and intensifying the brooding looks between the duo.

Sprouse is fine; he's required to do little except look out from under his hair as he ploughs the vulenrable-yet-caring road laid out for him. But the film's power lies in Haley Lu Richardson, whose expressiveness and open-approach to an at times expository laden "This is what Cystic Fibrosis is" gives the film a kind of heart that it needs as it dives headlong through its overlong and obviously cliched execution.

Baldoni does little behind the camera to make this an essential young adult entrant into the pantheon of the sick-lit genre, but thankfully Richardson's performance guides you along the narrative bumps and cliched melodramatic stumbles as they happen.

Five Feet Apart will be destined to be loved by some teens, and there is a worry that at times the film does over-simplify the complexities of the illness, but it does an admirable job of raising awareness.

Shazam!: Film Review

Shazam!: Film Review

Cast: Zachary Levi, Mark Strong, Jack Dylan Grazer, Asher Angel
Director: David F Sandberg

The DC Extended Universe goes as light and as goofy as it ever has before with the unveiling of the story of Billy Batson aka Shazam!

Teenage Batson (Angel) has been bouncing from foster home to foster home, trying to find the mother who he lost at a carnival when he was younger. Pushed into one more home in Philadelphia, where five other foster kids live, Batson's resentful and decides he doesn't need anyone but himself.

Befriended by superhero obsessed Freddy (Grazer) from within the clan, Billy finds himself literally transformed when he's given the powers of Shazam by a wizard (Djimon Hounsou) who's searching for a champion.

But Batson's still a kid at heart, and when confronted by Mark Strong's evil Dr Sivana who wants his power, he needs more than just puerile intentions to save the day.

Shazam! is essentially Superman vs Lex Luthor, poured through a prism of Big, Harry Potter and Instant Family.

It's fair to say that the DCEU has gone a bit goofier with this origin story, and Chuck star Levi exudes the qualities needed for the big kid in a superhero suit that will resonate with youngsters, who are likely to run round shouting Shazam for their own needs.

Levi packs in the charm, and the innocence while adhering to the conventions of the origin movie as well. But it's left to DC-obsessed Freddy (Grazer) to present the exposition of the mechanics of being  a superhero as the film plays out.

It's here that Shazam! falls into a few problems.

A choppy pre-titles start is flat, the final act showdown goes on way too long and the stakes feel (perhaps refreshingly) low key throughout, with only Shazam and his family being threatened by Sivana - despite earlier hints that Sivana would unleash the seven deadly sins to ravish the world. And a plot line about Batson finding his mother is not only oddly written, but wobbily executed.

Yet the film stays true to its sweet family vibe throughout, and messages of relying on siblings, family et al are nicely contrasted in our the protagonist and his antagonist.

There's an occasional flippancy about the way the extended universe is treated, and given how other films can be, that's no bad thing - but it does make feeling like Shazam could be a long term standalone proposition hard to swallow.

In many ways, this feels like a one-and-done kind of film, with Shazam simply brought in to provide comic relief for other team ups further down the line.

Ultimately, Shazam is a one size fits all superhero family film that packs a friendly vibe, and has fun doing what it does - whether that's enough to sustain a longtime proposition though remains to be seen - it'll need more than just a magic trick to pull that off.

Suspiria: Blu Ray Review

Suspiria: Blu Ray Review

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.