Rambo: Last Blood: DVD Review

Rambo: Last Blood: DVD Review

Appallingly xenophobic and grubby, Rambo: Last Blood is an action film that doesn't need - or deserve - to exist.

Stallone lumbers on as John Rambo, 10 years after he was last seen, a Vietnam vet who doesn't want to kill and who now lives on a horse ranch in Arizona. Looking after his daughter's daughter Gabriella, Rambo is thrust into a quest for revenge when Gabriella goes to Mexico, is kidnapped by a cartel and traded as a sex slave.

And all when she's about to leave for a bright prosperous future in college...

Needless to say revenge follows.

Rambo: Last Blood paints a dangerous picture of Mexico in these current climes.

It villainises everyone who's seen south of the border thanks to one note characterisation and stereotyping to the max. Everyone is a horrendous caricature, aimed at fuelling the fire that is the tension between America and Mexico that has been exacerbated by the current US President Donald Trump. Rapists, criminals, corrupt police - they're all here for the potential political rallies, and there's even a scene of the wire wall between the two countries being ridden rough shod over.

The majority of the problem of Rambo: Last Blood is the lack of characterisation around Rambo - the film exists solely to deal out various forms of despatching the bad guys in the final act. And while the tunnel-set finale works reasonably brutally and well, there's little to no joy seeing the bad guys go down as they are so one-note and exist only to be killed off.

Stallone exudes something earlier on as a calm and peaceful Rambo, who is rocked by PTSD and haunted by those he couldn't save. But as the odds stack up, thanks to a rote sense of direction Adrian Grunberg brings to the table, there's little sense of Stallone's Rambo overcoming the odds, more that it will happen and that's it. Even the two women who star in the film (Vega and Montreal) are given little to do except be victims - neither get chance to exact their revenge; only the men can do it.

Lacking hardly any redeeming features, Rambo: Last Blood is a film nobody wanted to see for this four decade old hero. A final montage of cuts from Rambo films from the decades prior only serves to show what a mess the film has made of the legacy and why some things should be left alone. 

Sorry We Missed You: Film Review

Sorry We Missed You: Film Review

Ken Loach's latest piece of socially shocking miserabilism in the UK is a savage indictment of how the everyday family is being beaten down by those abusing the system.

And yet, in among the blood-boiling moments of Sorry We Missed You, Loach displays elements of everyday love and compassion along with humour that helps you along the 100 minutes of what plays out.

Kris Hitchen plays Rikki, the head of a family who is scrabbling day to day to make ends meet. Taking the chance to become a franchisee of a delivery company, Rikki finds himself part of a contract that serves the masters better than it does the servants.

Coupled with the fact his wife Abby (Debbie Honeywood) is working 14 hours a day as a carer, the pair is left hardly any time for their two children.

Stretched as thinly as it will go, something is likely to snap in Rikki and Abby's lives...

Clothed in savage condemnation of the zero hours' slavery, Loach's film promotes a growing sense of depression, as well as a sense of latent activism in the audience.

But it's the realism here, and the intimate relatability that gives Loach his power in this film - a growing sense of desperation from both Hitchen and Honeywood creates an aching, gnawing sense of disillusionment as events threaten to swallow them up.

There's nothing here that's played for easy drama, merely a growing sense of a maelstrom about to encompass the everyday family. And because of that it's even more horrifying to behold.

There's an anger in Sorry We Missed You, but Loach is restrained enough a director to realise that simply playing out events will get the required results in the audience. It's horrifically affective and affecting - ultimately, Sorry We Missed You is one social drama not ignore - both on screen and off it. 

Win a double pass to see Bombshell

Win a double pass to see Bombshell

To celebrate the release of Bombshell, in cinemas January 16, thanks to StudioCanal New Zealand, you can win a double pass.

About Bombshell

Based on the real scandal, BOMBSHELL is a revealing look inside the most powerful and controversial media empire of all time; and the explosive story of the women who brought down the infamous man who created it. 

Starring Academy Award® winner Charlize Theron, Academy Award® winner Nicole Kidman, and Academy Award® nominee Margot Robbie.

Bombshell is in cinemas January 16
All you have to do is email your details and the word BOMBSHELL!

Email now to  darrensworldofentertainment@gmail.com 
Or CLICK HERE NOW  

Win a family pass to see Shaun the Sheep: Farmageddon

Win a family pass to see Shaun the Sheep: Farmageddon

To celebrate the release of Shaun the Sheep: Farmageddon in cinemas January 9, 2020, thanks to Studio Canal New Zealand, you can win a family pass.

About Shaun the Sheep: Farmageddon

Strange lights over the quiet town of Mossingham herald the arrival of a mystery visitor from far across the galaxy…

For Shaun the Sheep’s second feature-length movie, the follow-up to 2015’s smash hit SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE, A SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE: FARMAGEDDON takes the world’s favourite woolly hero and plunges him into an hilarious intergalactic adventure he will need to use all of his cheekiness and heart to work his way out of.

When a visitor from beyond the stars – an impish and adorable alien called LU-LA – crash-lands near Mossy Bottom Farm, Shaun soon sees an opportunity for alien-powered fun and adventure, and sets off on a mission to shepherd LU-LA back to her home.

All you have to do is email your details and the word FARMAGEDDON!

Email now to  darrensworldofentertainment@gmail.com 
Or CLICK HERE NOW  

Cats: Movie Review

Cats: Movie Review

Director: Tom Hooper

It's hard to exactly pinpoint why Tom Hooper's take on the eternally popular musical by Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber fails to connect with anyone watching.

Is it the fact the film launches straight into the Jellicle world expecting you to either know or appreciate what's going on, dives into a series of scene-setting musical numbers that are just confused and confusing or is it that the CGI nature of what plays out is so distracting as to take you out of the moment and smash you over the head with it?

In truth, it's probably all of these things - and more so, it's also the case that the narrative is so flimsy on the screen, it's lacking a necessary coherence.

When a cat called Victoria (Hayward) is dumped on the streets, she joins the Jellicle world of cats who ready themselves for the Jellicle ball, where one of their number will be chosen as the Jellicle choice and who ascend to a greater life. However, the evil Macavity (Elba) is determined he will be the chosen one....

There's a nagging feeling that Cats is destined for guilty pleasure territory, and for similar treatment afforded Showgirls.

But the oddly staged, weird sets and mix of some impressive musical moments don't hang together, feels slight, and appears simply to be about the cameos - there's no logic or coherence to what transpires, and with the uncanny valley CGI, self moving ears and occasionally erect tails, there's too much to confuse the brain.

Jennifer Hudson's Memories sequence is stunning, the emotional connect the film needs, swathed as it is in sadness - and distracting as it is in her being covered in snot and what appears to be offcuts from other cats' furs. Ray Winstone's Cockney heavy is also comical - but mainly because of who the audience knows him to be.

That's the folly of Cats though - it never quite reaches the grand folly of what it could be, nor does it try to change it for a more impressive cinematic experience. Granted, it may appeal to the fans of the musical desperate to see the likes of Taylor Swift put in a cameo and a sultry jazzy song.

But for fans of furries wanting to see their idols in tabby attire, the film has nothing for it except its aesthetics. It's insane, challenging (not in a good way) and generally quite hard to process - what does emerge from the finality of Cats is the fact that it's not destined for the pantheon of great cinema musicals - if there's any kind of justice.

This is what the Cats dragged in - and much like a feline licking its own hindquarters, it's too self-obsessed to think about anyone in the audience. It's purr-fect alright - a purr-fect disaster of a Christmas treat that's more a trick than anything else.

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.