At Darren's World of Entertainment - a movie, DVD and game review blog.
The latest movie and DVD reviews - plus game reviews as well. And cool stuff thrown in when I see it.
Cast: Daniel Kaluuya, Jodie Turner Smith Director: Melina Matsoukas
Queen and Slim desperately wants to be a classic, a "black Bonnie and Clyde" as they even refer to themselves but in truth the rambling drama feels more like a missed opportunity than a gritty timely social commentary.Kaluuya and Smith are strong enough as the two leads and the film early on has a kind of intimacy that a good relationship drama requires as we first meet the pair on a first date.
Soon after that, their date takes a disastrous turn when they're pulled over by a police car....
However, the film's leaps of logic and suspensions of disbelief prove almost fatal after the initial horror of the police assault takes place.
Shot in an almost verite style the unfolding drama grips as the duo are caught in an all too familiar scenario, and one that would provide a rich source for drama.
Yet once they set out on the run, the detours prove to be more of a distraction and threads of the two being the touch paper for a societal revolution jar more than cohesively gel.
Though the divisions between the community over whether to support or condemn are a worthwhile thread, they’re always secondary to the proceedings with the film's style being the sole raison d’être as it plays out amid moody shots, music-video stylings and intriguing camera angles.
There’s an easy charm and charisma to Kaluuya's character as he negotiates his way through the maelstrom; equally Smith goes from spiky to soft and back again with speed and the emotional whiplash is giddying, but finally satisfying. Ultimately though Queen & Slim is more about style than great substance; sure, there's some commentary going on under the hood, but this is far from the classic it could be - despite the work of the talented cast, thanks to a messy approach and a need to fine tune the script.
Todd Haynes' safe and formulaic legal chiller Dark Waters is a solidly told tale, albeit one that never quite finds a way to rise into the upper echelons of drama, despite the presence of Mark Ruffalo.
Ruffalo is Robert Bilott, a newly-minted partner of a US legal firm that defends industrial companies.
When a farmer (Camp, in one of the more lively and complex roles of the film) shows up on his doorstep wanting to fight those who he believes have poisoned his land and his cows, Bilott finds himself torn between duty and a light familial connection to what's going on.
But as Bilott begins to investigate the malfeasance of local industrial giant Dupont (with Alias' Victor Gerber as their figurehead), he discovers the case has much more horrific wider consequences.
Dark Water is a solidly told film, anchored by the mutedly dogged performance of Ruffalo and supported by the growing outrage of Camp.
Yet, in telling it in a non-showy way, and scattering it across the timeline (A narrative necessity given how long Bilott's case has been going against Dupont), the film occasionally stutters to raise some real drama. It prefers a more quiet outrage that boils under as the reality of Dupont's shenanigans are gradually exposed.
There are moments that chill, and revelations that abhor, but Haynes' delivery of them is more restrained than perhaps it could be, as the effects on communities and even the world comes to light.
There are also times when the exposition floods some of the legal proceedings and montages of lawyering - and certainly Hathaway feels wasted after early promises threaten to expose the sexism within the boys' club industry.
Yet for all its dialled down touches, Dark Water does present a compelling story - albeit one that is good, rather than great.
Upgrade's Leigh Whannell turns his hyper-kinetic hand to another update of The Invisible Man story.
This time around, The Handmaid's Tale's Moss plays Cecilia, who's trapped in an abusive relationship with beau Adrian. Finally making the jump to escape, Cece believes her world is changed, and due to his apparent suicide, she's free. However, she soon comes to believe that Adrian's not dead and is out to get her.
But can she convince those around her this is actually the case?
Essentially a film about gaslighting, and one woman's fight back against it, Leigh Whannell's The Invisible Man is atmospheric intrigue from the get-go.
Haunting and a grippingly bleak expose of the legacy of abuse, Whannell's script makes the most out of a harried Moss, who gives her all and revels in her misery when there's no one else onscreen. (Or is there?) Her Cecilia has enough seeds of doubt sewn to make you question whether she's right, or what exactly is going on - though admittedly, the title is The Invisible Man and not The Invisible Woman.
But it's the director who's primarily the star of the film.
Employing techniques he used to visual excellence on Upgrade, Whannell brings his use of syncing the camera to the film's most chilling moments. Whether it's a sequence in a kitchen, or a brutal encounter within a hospital, Whannell channels a kind of kinetic brilliance that marks this revamp of The Invisible Man out when it comes to the action.
Long wide shots of empty unsettling spaces, a la early Paranormal Activity, promote a kind of queasiness as the film practically invites you to scan the screen, searching for the titular character and putting you in the mindset of unease thrust upon Cecelia.
Granted, the film's really about a woman's crusade against endless negativity and systematic and systemic ignorance, but it never loses sight of the fact that at its heart, it's about a primal horror and terror.
It's just that this terror is more psychological and excellently conveyed by Moss' character.
Ultimately, it's so engrossing and unnerving, that it may allow you to skirt over some of the script's hokier edges, occasional predictable moments and odd lapses of logic which occur among some of the more obvious jump scares.
At its heart though, The Invisible Man offers terrifying thrills among its subtle fearscape (its use of sound is superlative as well) - as much of a rollercoaster as a psychological breakdown, against all odds, The Invisible Man remains one to be seen.
Frenetically edited and frantically paced, Jason Lei Howden's Guns Akimbo is the triumph of style over substance. But it's nothing without the 110% commitment of its lead, Daniel Radcliffe, who proves terrifically game and fantastically physical in his pursuit of the story.
Radcliffe is Miles, a low-level coder who lives in Shrapnel City. Recently dumped and bored with his work, Miles stumbles onto the live fight site Skizm and delivers some high-level trolling of those dwelling within.
However, those in charge of Skizm aren't impressed and decide to make Miles the star of their next death match, bolting guns to his hands and pitting him against the current champion, psychotic killer Nix (Samara Weaving, in a sneery punkish role).
But Miles isn't ready to die yet...
Guns Akimbo is relatively shallow, a series of fight sequences set to heavy metal renditions of 80s pop music tunes. Quickly edited, with swirling cameras that seem to suffer from ADHD, the film rarely stops for a moment to breathe, delivering some impressive kill sequences, and some gun fu that's to be admired and enjoyed in a Friday night popcorn entertainment way.
There is some commentary of life in the social world versus the real world, but to be frank, it's not smartly delivered, nor is it radically challenging.
Meshing the juvenile with the video game shooter mentality works well for the film, elements of Crank and Death Match blended together, but it does struggle to deliver anything more than this as it breezes through its 90 minutes run time
Where Guns triumphs though is in its two leads - Radcliffe's overly committed to Miles' disastrous situation and delivers a performance that is comedic and impressive, his everyman schlub loser caught in the crossfires of his own doing. Samara Weaving is equally enjoyable as Nix, a drugged up psycho who's addicted to the kills, she gets to deliver the lion's share of the film's best lines.
In truth, the villains are a little vanilla, and some of the peripheral characters are merely there for exposition rather than to flesh things out, but Guns Akimbo mostly delivers a blast of neon-soaked bubblegum fun. Sure, it riffs on its own video game mentality (dispatch a load of bad guys, take on the final big boss), but there's a reasonably disposable ethos to Guns Akimbo that sees you through the repetitive nature
To celebrate the release of Bloodshot, thanks to Sony Home Entertainment, you can win a copy.
About Bloodshot Based on the bestselling comic book, Vin Diesel stars as Ray Garrison, a soldier recently killed in action and brought back to life as the superhero Bloodshot by the RST corporation. With an army of nanotechnology in his veins, he’s an unstoppable force –stronger than ever and able to heal instantly. But in controlling his body, the company has sway over his mind and memories, too. Now, Ray doesn’t know what’s real and what’s not – but he’s on a mission to find out. All you have to do is email your details and the word BLOODSHOT! Email now to darrensworldofentertainment@gmail.com Or CLICK HERE NOW
With its perils of surveillance of the innocent story, you'd expect Seberg to be a seething commentary on the contemporary ills Americans face.
But in truth, Seberg's simplicity is what cripples its tale of the downfall of Jean Seberg (Stewart, in a largely vacant shell of drama until the final third of the film kicks in).
Stewart is Seberg, an American actress who garnered fame through her part in Jean Luc Godard's Breathless in 1960. When Seberg is seen supporting the Black Panther movement via way of Anthony Mackie's Hakim Jamal, the FBI is ordered to wiretrap and surveil her as part of the FBI COINTELPRO programme.
As the surveillance steps up, Seberg's grip on life starts to falter, and an FBI Agent (O'Connell) begins to question whether his bosses are doing the right thing...
The drama is present in Seberg, and the stage is set for an explosive showdown that lays bare the perils of defamation, the cost of the stalking and the clash of ideologies within. Yet, by laying out broad brush strokes and having a lead who doesn't feel she inhabits the role, the fault lies squarely in the script of Seberg, which is too light and fluffy to really deliver the bite it needs.
Vaughan's pro-FBI man is merely a monster, and O'Connell's wavering is presented too simply. The conflict is nowhere explored nearly as much as it could and should be in Seberg. Presenting Seberg as Joan of Arc early on aims to show her martydom but the film does little other than to portray her as a victim throughout, which is intentional, but unearned thanks to the weak script.
In the final third, as the consequences ramp up, Stewart delivers something close to searing, but it's really too little too late as the muted feel hits the film and cripples it.
Seberg is nowhere near as searing as it should be, and its chance to condemn, lay blame and berate those who gifted Seberg with her unwanted paranoia is squandered, when it should have been seized and milked to maximum dramatic effect.
Wracked with but not wrecked by spoilers dropping before release, and with the weight of expectation squarely on its story, The Last Of Us Part II is a fulfilling exercise in atmosphere, as well as the tropes of the survivor genre much seen in the likes of the Walking Dead.
Naughty Dog has so ferociously guarded this release to heighten the enjoyment of fans that it's repeatedly asked for spoilers to be held close to the chest, and for story details to be kept confined as well.
It makes a review difficult in some ways, but not impossible - loosely, the game centres around Joel and Ellie once again and their life in the post-Infected world years after we last saw them. Once again, a mission rears its head and it's back into the world of The Last Of Us we go.
In many ways, The Last Of Us is very familiar to anyone who's spent a modicum of time within the survival genre, be it comics, games or TV series.
There's once again the message of doing what it takes to survive and the cost of which doing so wreaks upon you - Battle ye not with monsters, lest ye become a monster as Nietzsche said. And much of that ethos is etched throughout The Last Of Us Part II.
As factions arise, groups rise and fall and the game progresses, the dourness settles like a heavy choking mist over proceedings. It's all a world away from the strumming guitar lessons at the start and the innocent snowball fight that sets up the prologue of the game; but it's a welcome touch of levity before the light is dimmed irrevocably and almost irretrievably.
Naughty Dog's included some new touches to their game to ensure this doesn't feel like a retread of the 2013 original.
There are more vicious encounters, a few newer creatures that present a fair few problems in a resource-free world, and things like dogs and Bloaters (a kind of infected) which can track you. The game sticks largely to its MO, and delivers superbly, if with familiarity throughout.
Corridors where your torchlight is the only illumination before that jump scare? Check.
Gorgeous cut scenes and world building that explain every ounce of the craft and demand from the higher ups that's gone in to the visualisation of the performance? Check.
A sense of creeping desperation as the game proceeds and you know you're running out of weapons and bits necessary to survive? Check.
Scenes where you're on horseback and ploughing through snow with flakes settling on your clothes a la opening of Red Dead Redemption 2? Also, Check.
If this seems like it's cocking a snook at Naughty Dog for repeating itself, it's truly not; it's a recognition that these were the highlights of the original game, and the sequel takes the same beats and amplifies them where necessary. It's even taken some of the same mechanics and gameplay beats, edges and sequences as Uncharted 4 and twisted them into their own.
It's the narrative that provides the thrust this time around - less a game about survival, more about what it means to survive and what the cost is, The Last of Us Part II's elegaic edge has a maudlin quality that's in keeping with its stealth kills and vicious encounters. Each death felt like a small piece of my soul was being sacrificed and began to wear heavy on my mind as the story progressed.
Encounters are more brutal, and more frenzied - the viciousness is omni-present, and the softer edges of the story (such as they are) complement it well and needed when they come. Flawed individuals make up the story, and serve as a reminder of humanity - or the crippling lack thereof - in this post-apocalyptic world.
New enemies emerge, and new ways to defeat them are needed; throw into that mix as well a feeling that the environment can throw anything at you without warning, and it's no wonder the over-riding feeling of The Last Of Us Part II is one of unease and almost crippling fear among the stealth and stalking.
There are some new skills to learn throughout, but the basics of the first game are in tact, and make diving back into the world easy enough. And touches like subtitles and guided audio cues will give all players the chance to be part of Joel and Ellie's world, rather than seasoned Last of Us gamers. It's things like this which add to the craft of The Last Of Us Part II and speak volumes to how gamers should be treated.
There are occasionally one too many flashbacks, something frustratingly akin to the Lost effect, where the player is drawn out of the game at the tensest of moments, leading to a feeling of delayed gratification. But each flashback, as it comes, serves to deepen the character engagement and then subsequently lose the player in a few hours of diverted gameplay.
A few glitches have also hit the game in its pre-launch status; a couple of times, characters have blended with walls, and even gone below the game itself, forcing a restart, but these minor bugs will hopefully be ironed out at launch.
Graphically, The Last Of Us Part II looks incredible - overgrown areas sing with both reality and flourishing touches. Walk past the snow on a tree and it'll fall off onto the ground, walk through water and the ripples carry on - every inch of Naughty Dog's craft is evident in every corner of the screen (even if the game's more a guided open world, than an actual open one).
However, it has to be said, The Last Of Us Part II is not the game you'd expect, and that's no bad thing at all.
It may lack the novelty of the first game in some parts, but in others, it's deepened and enriched the experience, and developers have aimed to provide more of a conflicted gamepath than a straight rescue mission of the first.
It tears up a rulebook, changes the rules for storytelling and consistently shakes the core of what makes a triple A title on the platform. And you'll hate it in parts, forced to relive moments that consistently cause you pain - but at the same time, you'll deeply admire Naughty Dog's determination to try something different with the story-telling narrative.
The Last of Us Part II is a game of consequences where the web of revenge envelops all from the centre out, and where the strands surround players who appear on the peripherary. To that end, while the story's still Ellie's, the world feels deeper, more real and more terrifying. The violence appals more this time around, shrouding a lot of the world in ugliness.
It may be one of the PlayStation exclusives to hit the PS4 platform before the arrival of the PS5, but The Last Of Us Part II is a challenging, enticing, sickening and engaging follow up to spend plenty of time in in the darkness of the winter months. The Last Of Us Part II releases exclusively on PlayStation on June 19 This reviewer was given a pre-release copy of the game from the publishers and PlayStation NZ.
