Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: Film Review

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: Film Review

Cast: Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Carrie Fisher, Anthony Daniels, Billy Dee Williams
Director: JJ Abrams

That the latest Star Wars can't be all things to all fans and non-fans is - and should be - no surprise to any.

But director JJ Abrams has tried his best to neatly tie all the loose ends started with The Force Awakens, reset some decisions from The Last Jedi and provide closure after some 42 years to a saga which started a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.

This time around, Poe (Isaac) and the rest of the Resistance find a new threat - the oldest one around - lurking in a hidden corner. With the possibility of the Final Order arising once and for all, and with an old nemesis pulling the strings, it's one last desperate push for the Rebellion to try and save the day.

But elsewhere, Rey (Ridley, shouldering a lot of the story, and doing so admirably after so much unnecessary criticism was fired her way) has to put the final pieces together to complete her Jedi journey and the mystery of her lineage.

The film starts with a breakneck pace, smashing out plot and exposition at greater than light speed levels before settling into a more relaxed mode. However, the stop/start nature of the start of The Rise Of Skywalker means the choppiness takes a little to get into.

Once it does though, the wave of nostalgia sweeps over, as Abrams brings back the past and swathes it in what you'd want for the grand finale. Evcn if it doesn't stick a landing 42 years in the making.

There are some impressive battle sequences, some patented moments of deliberate fan service and some elements of Abrams' MacGuffins and nonsense babble to service the plot where it's needed.

And while moments like the digital insertion of the late Carrie Fisher as Leia Organa seem awkward and stilted, in truth they're there as a series of generic pieces of dialogue to service a plot and be retrofitted to help with an at times exposition heavy plot.

There are confused moments in the story which ground The Rise of Skywalker in ways which should not have been - but for every one of those (of which there are sadly many) there are equally as many moments of joy, from the return of Billy Dee Williams' Lando to the crescendo of John Williams' iconic score. (Though depressingly Keri Russell is sidelined and Kelly Marie Tran gets a disgraceful short shrift here).

While the Force may not be narratively as strong with this closing chapter as we'd all hoped, it's pointless to waver on the resistance.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker may not offer all the answers, and may worryingly leave a lot for other filmmakers to rhapsodise on (either on the big or small screen), as well as landing somewhere in the middle of expectation and delivery - but it does prove an entertainment force to be reckoned with - like it or not given how apathetic you may be to the ending.

Anna: DVD Review

Anna: DVD Review

A free-wheeling Russian spy story, Anna dances to the Eurobeat of Luc Besson.

Returning to the genre which scored him such big hits as La Femme Nikita and The Professional, Anna stars Sasha Luss as the eponymous Anna, who's recruited into the spy world via the KGB and ends up as a model in Europe to do their bidding.

To say more would be to deprive Anna of the narrative twists that Besson, who wrote and directed this, clearly wants for his audience.

Needless to say, the twists come thick and fast, but under the cover of a framing device that relies on the film stop-starting as it goes back and forth in time to reveal what's going on.

The first few times, the narrative replay is a clever move; but Besson deploys it far too often, giving this less a feeling of Run Lola Run's multiplicity and more a distinct impression that you're not quite clear whether the filmmaker and writer simply wanted to throw as many pieces up in the air and see what fits.

And yet, there's a wackadoodle appeal to Anna, which helps with the occasional sag in the 2 hour run time.

All of Besson's trademarks are there - from pulsing European music beats to taut chase sequences, and one brilliantly employed INXS song and montage, there are enough moments to make you feel the hoary old spy genre has something new to offer.

But these are coupled with an almost Austin Powers style adherence to modelling sequences which veer wildly into parody and some occasionally wooden acting from the lead, who's saddled with some silly dialogue.

Yet, as demonstrated in a wonderfully choreographed restaurant fight, there's a grit and inventiveness to Anna that keeps you watching (even if you've seen elements of it before in Jennifer Lawrence's Red Sparrow).

Finally, mention is needed for Helen Mirren, who under big glasses and hunched poise, cigarette in hand, brings much to the table as Anna's KGB handler. Her no-nonsense approach, coupled with Mirren's gusto for the role, is a welcome touch to Anna.

Ultimately, the film's narrative structure lets it down, and Besson's adherence to his own vision is both a good and bad thing - but in terms of the spy genre, it very occasionally kicks ass and presents a solid case for being.

Win a Jumanji: The Next Level prize pack

Win a Jumanji: The Next Level prize pack

To celebrate the release of Jumanji: The Next Level in cinemas Boxing Day, you can win a prize pack.

Each Jumanji: the Next Level prize pack contains

• Hat
• Backpack
• Double pass to the movie.

About Jumanji: The Next Level

In Jumanji: The Next Level, the gang is back but the game has changed. 

As they return to Jumanji to rescue one of their own, they discover that nothing is as they expect. 

The players will have to brave parts unknown and unexplored, from the arid deserts to the snowy mountains, in order to escape the world’s most dangerous game.

Jumanji The Next Level is in cinemas from December 26.

Win a double pass to see Little Women in cinemas

Win a double pass to see Little Women in cinemas

To celebrate the release of Little Women in cinemas January 2nd, 2020, thanks to Sony Pictures, you can win a double pass.

About Little Women

Writer-director Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird) has crafted a Little Women that draws on both the classic novel and the writings of Louisa May Alcott, and unfolds as the author’s alter ego, Jo March, reflects back and forth on her fictional life.  

In Gerwig’s take, the beloved story of the March sisters – four young women each determined to live life on her own terms --  is both timeless and timely.  

Portraying Jo, Meg, Amy, and Beth March, the film stars Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen, with Timothée Chalamet as their neighbor Laurie, Laura Dern as Marmee, and Meryl Streep as Aunt March.

Little Women is in cinemas January 2 - read a dazzling review of the Little Women movie here.

Spies in Disguise: Film Review

Spies in Disguise: Film Review

Cast: Will Smith, Tom Holland, Rashida Jones, Ben Mendelsohn
Director: Troy Quane, Nick Bruno

If the thought of Will Smith playing a talking pigeon in a spy movie repels you, this is still utterly the film for you.

A veritable cinematic cartoon blast of pacy fun, Spies in Disguise gets 2020 off to a great start in ways you could never imagine.

Smith is Lance Sterling, a smooth go-it-alone spy, who's framed for a theft of a drone. Holland plays Walter, a socially inept tech genius who finds himself in the middle of the conspiracy when Sterling decides he has no one to trust...

So far, so Odd Couple, and so not really re-inventing the wheel - yet Spies in Disguise respects the spy genre and the mismatched buddy trope with absolute aplomb.

Packing in spy stunts and heart before the Bond-riffing titles even begin, it's clear that Spies in Disguise knows and respects its target market, as well as the history of what's gone before for the respective genres.

What emerges is a whipsmart film that's aimed at the kids but keeps the adults (and the young at heart) firmly in its grip too - puns riff of Fifty Shades of Grey in one moment, another involving Glitter and Kittens is rolled out to great effect.

Based on animated short, Pigeon: Impossible, Spies in Disguise's strength is that it keeps the pace up, knows the dynamic is where the fun lies, and knows its animation isn't groundbreaking but showcases it to dazzling effect.

Sure there are messages about accepting being weird, and teamwork over loner behaviour, but Spies in Disguise is smart enough not to ram them down throats and concentrate on the goofy edges above all else. But it also knows that the smart thing to do is not dwell on one element above all else, and as a result, the coherency is compelling.

Spies in Disguise deserves to be a hit - fresh, funny and frantic, it's animation at its most basic - there to entertain from beginning to end.

The Kitchen: DVD Review

The Kitchen: DVD Review

Melissa McCarthy digs deep once again from the well of seriousness which served her so well and nabbed her an Academy Award nomination.

McCarthy stars as Kathy, the wife of an Irish mobster in Hells Kitchen in New York in the 70s. When Kathy's husband, along with his two co-conspirators, are jailed, Kathy, along with her friends Ruby and Claire (Haddish and Handmaid's Tale's Moss respectively) decide enough's enough and look to take over business.

But their desire to do the right thing and also make some money on the side puts them in the eyeline of the police and the Mafia.

The Kitchen's approach to drama is piecemeal at best.

Whereas Widows had dramatic heft, emotional bite and weight, The Kitchen flounders in comparison.

Sadly, by dipping in and dipping out of the characters, and even with a restrained McCarthy trying to build on Can You Ever Forgive Me, The Kitchen doesn't hit any of the straps it wants to.

Opening with James Brown's It's A Man's World over shots of NYC, as well as mobsters, it's clear that this is a male perspective and those in charge are determined to smash it. But underwriting, as well as scenes that fly by quicker than they should, those involved really don't know how to construct a drama that has tension and suspense.

Shouting stereotypes and with dialogue that's ham-fisted as the characters' so-called intentions, this attempt at gender-flipping falls massively short.

Humorous moments that are supposed to be dark and gallows are delivered with such heavy-handedness they fall flatter than they should or deserve to. There's a lack of nerve, and even moments of violence, brief as they are in their brutality, fail to deliver the punch they could have.

IT's almost as if The Kitchen were too afraid to go as dark as it could, to deeply enrich its characters and to blur the moral lines that the best gangster films do - because of that, it ends up feeling inconsequential, a waste of the talents within and a flight of empowerment that's grounded before it even begins.

Little Women: Film Review

Little Women: Film Review

Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Florence Pugh, Emma Watson, Eliza Scanlan, Laura Dern, Chris Cooper, Timothee Chalamet, Meryl Streep
Director: Greta Gerwig

The latest adaptation of Little Women is a delightful and emotionally devastating, engaging affair that sees director Greta Gerwig reteaming with her Lady Bird star to create a contemporary take on a timeless novel.

Ronan is Jo March in this tale which loops back and forth to weave a linear tale of the March sisters and their lives that many will be familiar with (it is, after all, the eighth outing for the 1868 novel).

But this story, set as it is in the aftermath of the American Civil War in the 1860s in New England, feels more contemporary than any other revival put on screen.

Largely due to the trifecta of Greta Gerwig's scripting and staging, Saoirse Ronan's wonderfully understated and weighty performance, and Florence Pugh's multi-dimensional turn.

However, where Little Women excels is in its pace, and its zipping about in storyline; it's not that anything here feels rushed, or skated over, more that it delivers with a generosity of spirit to make it one of the year's best.

It ducks between the delightful courtship of Laurie (Chalamet) and Jo with aplomb, turns Pugh's Amy's petulance into something truly moving and generally gifts everyone with a moment or two to shine. Its only error is in its denouement, a sequence that feels unearned and a little too emotionally flat. (And in honesty, it could stand to lose 20 minutes of its run time).

It's hard to single out any of the players, but both Ronan and Pugh deserve some form of accolade for their work within; both send very familiar characters on very familiar arcs but deliver in fresh and enticing ways for a story that's nigh on 160 years old - something which is no mean feat.

"People want to be amused and not preached at," an editor decries early on, as Jo presents her latest book in the aftermath of the civil war. The duality of the meaning's not lost, given some could view this as feminist cinema - but Little Women has no time for such inane trivialities as this.

A breath of cinematic fresh air to cleanse the cynical pallet, Gerwig's Little Women deserves to be shouted about from the heights; it's alluring, enticing, thrilling, emotional and unconventionally unstuffy - in short, it's a delight you can't afford not to see.