Boy Kills World (2023)

Boy Kills World (2023)

7/10

Starring          

Bill Skarsgård

Jessica Rothe

Michelle Dockery

Brett Gelman

Isaiah Mustafa

 

Directed by Moritz Mohr

 

Boy Kills World is a funny action-comedy film about a boy who is going against the city leaders where he lives. Boy (the main character, who is referred to throughout the movie as Boy) is deaf and mute in this dystopian city. The city is ruled by the Van Der Koy family, and Boy's mother was a rebel in the city. His little sister Mina was also a rebel, and she was to him like his hero. The head of the Van Der Koy family is Hilda, who once a year selects twelve people in the city to participate in something called the culling, where they are killed on live tv. Boy, Mina and his mother were selected at one time. Boy watched his mother and sister killed, but somehow, he survived but was left deaf and mute. He was saved by a Shaman. The Shaman then starts to train Boy in martial arts, giving him hallucinogenic to strengthen his mind and to make him forget his life before this, all this was so that he can be strong enough to enact revenge for his dead mother and sister.

The thing about this movie is not the above intro, but the way it is carried out. The comedy comes up in all the unexpected places, and the character boy communicates with us the viewers, by the voice in his head talking through the movie as it carries on. Mina his sister he hallucinates, as he goes about his life, she is beside him, talking to him and making him complicated.

The acting as you will expect from Bill Skarsgård, who plays Boy is top notch. But concerning the movie surroundings and the idea of the dystopian future, well the movie did not waste too much time working on that. I do not know what the budget of this movie was, but I can tell you much of it did not go into scenery. The movie’s backdrop is very similar to the world we live now, which I think plays into Boy’s engagement with his surroundings when he fights and runs. The whole fight and running, one man against an army reminds you so much of the action movies of the 90s. Where the bad guys are bad shots and the main character is a good one, he never misses, but everyone else does.

The movie’s big talking point is when the movie steers away from everything we know is happening concerning Boy. Who he really is and how he became who he is. The movie has a big twist, which I must be honest did not see coming from the start. The movie plants the same kind of seed you will expect from a revenge film and, like every revenge film there is always some twist, well this one got me unawares, and for that reason alone, I ended up loving the movie the more.

Despicable Me 4 (2024)

Despicable Me 4 (2024)

5/10

 

Starring the voices of

Steve Carell

Kristen Wiig

Pierre Coffin

Joey King

Miranda Cosgrove

Sofía Vergara

Steve Coogan

 

Directed by Chris Renaud

 

It felt so much like I was watching a rip-off of Disney/Pixar’s The Incredibles (2004). The story was not as good as the first two Despicable Me animations from 2010 and 2013. It felt so much like the third, a movie that needed not to be made, but was done anyway.

This is the fourth animated movie of the Despicable Me story following Gru, and it is a sequel to the third Despicable Me 3 (2017). It is although the sixth movie in the Despicable Me franchise, following the prequel Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022).

The problem with this animation was how much time was wasted in the second act (this is when Gru needed to be taken into protective custody and when his new hiding place was discovered). The first act too was not given the needed root. The antagonist Maxime never got the time to develop. In fact, none of the new characters introduced were given any form of development. I believe with good writing you can make the best of one hour thirty minutes, but this movie rushed everything and focused more on the second act, not to mention it had too many characters.

The plot is this, Gru working undercover with the AVL (anti-villain league) went to his high school reunion to capture a villain named Maxime. Maxime has a feud with Gru, one which you will need to watch the movie to know. Maxime has developed a syndrome which he used on himself to make him strong, and he intends to take over the world. Gru, with the aid of agents of the AVL, was able to capture Maxime.

Maxime broke out of prison and swore to get revenge on Gru. The AVL, wanting to protect Gru and his family, placed them into protective custody. They were moved to a safe location, given new names and new jobs.

Maxime on the other hand has plans to find Gru and kidnap his baby, and raise the child as his own, to enact his revenge on Gru for capturing him for the AVL.

Gru and his family are finding it hard to fit into their new life and role. To make it worse for Gru, someone in this new town of his, knows who he is and is taking advantage of this knowledge to make Gru help them pull a heist.

If you want to take the children out to see an animated movie, then you can take them to see this one, but as an adult and a fan of the franchise, I think this animation was not well thought through.

 

The Bachelor (1999)

The Bachelor (1999)

 

3/10

Starring

Chris O’Donnell

Renée Zellweger

Hal Holbrook

James Cromwell

 

Directed by Gary Sinyor

 

You get to see a guy willing to do anything, to get the inheritance that his grandfather left for him. Inheritance was left on the condition that he gets married and stayed married for a decade to have the 100 million dollars of his grandfather’s estate. Nothing speaks cliché like this movie done in the 90s, and how is this meant to be a romantic movie?

The man who is meant to inherit this movie is willing to marry anyone to keep this money, except commit to the one person he truly loves, Annie (Renée Zellweger). Again, it goes over my head how this movie is meant to be romantic. We get to see cameos of various female actresses, comedian and musician all getting the call to be the bride of Jimmie (Chris O’Donnell) and all turning him down.

No wonder this movie has a horrible Rotten Tomatoes rating, the writing is terrible, the idea is unrealistic and there is no way someone can be that stupid.

The movie as I have shared above is about Jimmie and his love Annie. Jimmie craves the bachelor life and never wants to get married or settle. His resolve became more pronounced when all his friends got married and he was left alone and single. He decided to make a change on this and propose to Annie, in the most romantic place in their town. The whole setup was great, but his proposal was horrible, which led to Annie saying no and beginning to reconsider their relationship. Then his grandfather dies and leaves Jimmie with all his estate, which he will lose if he fails to meet the conditions stated above.

So, Jimmie is in a raise against time to find a bride. Because part of the condition is a time limit before he loses everything. But the woman he loves wants nothing to do with him, and he does not want to lose his business and his inheritance, so he tries to see who else in his past will be willing to marry him.

The ending is worse still, where we see him running on the street being chased by hundreds of women, all in wedding dresses willing to marry him for his money. But as romantic movies go, you know the writers find a way to spin all this for good, when Annie gives one of the most ridiculous speeches to claim her man.

I saw this movie back in the 90s, and always wondered why I never saw it again, or why I could not remember much about it. I decided to give it another watch, and now I can see why movies like this are best left as a memory. Me, trying to rediscover why my brain has blocked out a lot of this movie, has ruined my morning.

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (2024)

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (2024)

 

5/10

Starring

Eddie Murphy

Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Taylour Paige

Judge Reinhold

John Ashton

Kevin Bacon

Directed by Mark Molloy

 

contains spoilers

It was nice seeing the character Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy) again, to see what he has been up to, since it has been thirty years since the last film in the franchise. This fourth Beverly Cop film, well, it is boring at times, but I can tell you it is better than the sequel Beverly Hills Cop two and three, and that is not saying much.

It is on Netflix, and I had to take a break to finish watching it, because I did not want to sleep off before seeing it through.

I think the main problem of the film for me is that the story seemed to be underdeveloped and lacked some realism. I had issues with when Foley found out that Grant (Kevin Bacon) was the film’s main antagonist. He found this out when he went to an exclusive club and saw Grant with the people who he met in Billy’s flat and attacked him. Now, I do not expect him to do something at that moment, but knowing that, and everyone else being brought up to speed with that information, did not at any point affect the film’s plot. He was not taken off the case or must answer for using such characters in a matter that had to do with the police. His reason also was flimsy, but in the Beverly Hills cop world, it passed.

The action in the film was welcoming, but they were too far apart, and we had to deal with too much talk. The trying to create a bond back that was broken between Foley and his daughter reminded me so much of Die Hard 4.

As you know if you have seen the older Beverly Hills cop movies, Axel always finds a way to get himself back to Beverly Hills to cause havoc. This time it was because his daughter’s life was being threatened. She took on a case and was threatened to drop the case. So, Axel jumped on a plane to Beverly Hills to help. The problem is, he and his daughter are estranged, and he was informed of the threat to her life, by his friend Billy, who asked him to come assist. Billy put her life in danger by asking her to represent a criminal who has been framed for murder.

Axel gets to Beverly Hills, and then we discover that Billy has been missing for some days. He meets up with his daughter and tries to rekindle their relationship, as they dig into this case to see how deep it goes, and to try and find Billy as it seems he knows more about this case than anyone else.

For me, the film lacked the needed spice to make it a film I will want to see again, but what I can tell you is, it stands better than the two previous sequels before it.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024)

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024)

 

6/10

 

Starring

Anya Taylor-Joy

Chris Hemsworth

Tom Burke

Alyla Browne

 

Directed by George Miller

 

There comes a point where you know a franchise has had its days in the sun and George Miller has milked this franchise. Mad Max has had its days in the sun, and I did not find this film as engaging as Mad Max: Fury Road. The film was draining, and the story danced around the fire for so long, that at times I stood up and stretched so that I could be awake to see it through to the end. The film had some no need for these scenes, and it was at times boring. The acting was good though from the leads, but the effects were poor in some scenes. Then the makeup done on Chris Hemsworth was not a good job. I could tell he had a fake nose.

The film is not bad as far as the action scene goes, the effects could have been better like what we saw in Mad Max: Fury Road.

My question remains, why do we have to sit for so long before the plot links the warlords to a point when they will decide to put an end to Dementus?

This film is a prequel to Mad Max: Fury Road, we get to see how Furiosa got to be in the Citadel with Immortan Joe, and why she hated the idea of him and all that he stands for.

It starts with Furiosa as a child when she was captured by Dementus’ men from where she was staying, a place green and nothing like the surrounding wasteland. Her mother came after her to save her (killing everyone, but one who was responsible for the capture of her child). The last one died thanks to Furiosa. Furiosa mother too was later captured by Dementus men. Furiosa watched her mother being killed in front of her, because they both refuse to tell Dementus where they came from, to protect their home from being raided and the people killed.

Dementus was an insane warlord who heads a gang called Biker Horde. He adopts the unwilling Furiosa hoping she will later reveal where she came from, but she remains quiet.

Later, Dementus decides to attack another settlement, the Citadel. This attack did not go well in his favour, he then captures a town which supplies the Citadel with gas, making Immortan Joe and him come to the table for peace talks. Here is where Furiosa was handed over to the Citadel.

How she lost her hand, how she escaped and became torn in the flesh for Dementus to get her revenge, well the film is over two hours long for you to watch and find out.

Inside Out 2 (2024)

Inside Out 2 (2024)

9/10

Starring

Amy Poehler

Maya Hawke

Kensington Tallman

Liza Lapira

Tony Hale

 

Directed by Kelsey Mann

 

Inside Out 2 is a nine-year gap release from the first animation, Inside Out (2015).

You get the feeling that Disney needed to hit a bad point, which they are in right now, before deciding to go back to basics. This animation is why we love Disney’s animations, and it was done by their Pixar studio team. It focused on storytelling and detailed world building rather than the Disney’s new animations before this, which had a problem of being plagued with trying to pass a message to appeal to some minority group. All those film in the end had bad stories and their characters were non-memorable. Their old ways of setting the playing field by building a new world while setting boundaries then breaking the character to pieces and putting everything back together again, is the formula they went back to in this animation. This animation for me is a turning point and I do hope future Disney animations follow suit of sticking to a good story and building memorable characters.

Inside Out 2 takes us back to the unity formed from the first animation of the various characters in Riley’s head. In the first animation, all of Riley emotions are individual characters controlling her actions from a control board in her head. We get to know from the first animation that each emotion has a place in her sense of self. Well, that was all thrown out the window the moment puberty hit. This animation hit home with how I remember puberty was for me. The way Riley acted was so on point, when she wanted to fit in. The anxiety of growing up and wanting nothing to do with your old self and wanting to be like the cool kids. The problem of walking away too quickly from all the things that made you who you are, and wanting to be someone else, an idea of what you have deemed as cool.

So, the moment puberty hit when Riley became thirteen new emotions (Anxiety, Envy, Ennui and Embarrassment) are released to the control centre of Riley’s head, and they shoved the old emotions (Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust) out. Anxiety took control and tried to steer Riley right because of the fear of what is to come. This new behaviour caused Riley to ditch her old friends to which she went to the hockey camp with, to try and fit in with her new friends. She starts to pretend to like what they like, and lie about who she really is, so that she can fit in. Anxiety pushed Riley hard, making her do things that she normally would not do, and make Riley push her body beyond the limit to which it can take.

We see the old emotions trapped in the streams of consciousness, trying to get Riley’s sense of self from the back of her mind and bring it to the control centre. While Sadness is sent to the centre to try to save Riley, by recalling the old emotions so that Riley does not lose it all in the end.

This animation is doing well in the box-office, and I hope Disney learns from this and continue to give us classics.

Hit Man (2023)

Hit Man (2023)

 

6/10

Starring

Glen Powell

Adria Arjona

Austin Amelio

Retta

 

Directed by Richard Linklater

 

I have to be honest, this film has some nice twists I did not see coming. How the lead Gary (Glen Powell) got involved with one of his cases, and how the involvement led to an actual murder, is worth seeing. Then, how all these got twisted so much that you just wonder how the hell do these two think this is a healthy relationship is above me. The whole film is not bursting with so much financial budget, everything is kept as minimal as possible. The actors on the other hand stepped up to cover up this lapse.

The film is based off a book of the same name by Skip Hollandsworth. The story is about a professor who works with the police to help catch criminals who want to hire a hitman. The film builds on the fact that, there isn’t really anyone about ready to kill someone for money. What he does with the police is catch people who think they are hiring a hitman.

Gary is working with a team, when the undercover police officer hitman was suspended for his behaviour outside of work. From here, you start to have some nice respect for the screenplay crafted by both Glen Powell and Richard Linklater. When Gary was asked to fill in for the suspended officer, his acting nervous and trying to be a tough guy, can be felt by you, the viewer. He, a civilian, being asked to fill in for another office, I do not think is possible, as the ramification based on lawsuits will outweigh the conviction of a crime should anything go wrong. But this is a film, so anything goes.

In his face job undercover, he started nervous, then after a while he got into the role and was able to get the other person to pay for a hit to be done. Which was enough evidence to arrest the man.

Gary decided to make sure that, whatever he does, he will do it very well. He decided to dress up in his new temporary role. Trying to be the character that the person who just booked for a hitman wants. This made him get the gig permanently, as his rate of catching the bad guys was high.

Then he met someone who he was supposed to help incriminate, and their meeting placed him at ease, and he instead helped them from getting arrested and pointed them in the direction of getting a good life.

From here on, the film dived head first into deep romantic fantasy and refused to even come up for air until the very end.

Nice film to watch on Netflix, all you need to do is to suspend the idea of possibilities and enjoy the fantasy.

The Holdovers (2023)

The Holdovers (2023)

 8/10

 

Starring

Paul Giamatti

Da'Vine Joy Randolph

Dominic Sessa

 

Directed by Alexander Payne

 

No pandering can be found in the plot, just a little slice of life glazed with the needed comedic tonic so that it goes down well when you sit through the amazing masterpiece of this comedic drama, The Holdovers. I enjoyed how the acting in this movie is so well done by the actors, that it draws you into their lives, and you wish you could reach into the screen and hug them.

The story is well written to make you feel you got the plot figured out as the movie develops, then it takes a turn. A helicopter arrives, and we are left with the three leads. The plot pulls you into the story of three different people, but then balances the plot to make sure you get enough fun and drama from their stories and their struggles. It did not wave Hollywood magic wand in the end where everyone gets the ending, we all wish. It ends and lets you decide how you think it is going to play out for each of the characters.

This movie’s key power is not just the story, but the acting is also magnificent, and Paul Giamatti is having the best time of his life being an actor, doing all the movies he wants and how he wants.

Set in the 70s, the movie is about the life of three people woven together in a private boarding school. Giamatti’s character Paul was a strict teacher and not liked by the students or teachers in the school. During the Christmas break, he was left to care for five students whose parents could not accommodate them during the holidays. With him to care for these students was Mary, the cafeteria manager, and a bereaved mother, whom Paul was fond of.

The three characters whose lives were wound up together were Paul, Mary, and Tully. Tully was told to stay back in school, because his mother wanted to go on honeymoon with her second husband.

Together the three found a way to bond over their differences, their different challenges, and unfortunate situations as they spent the Christmas and New Year break together.

The movie got five nominations in the 96^th Academy Awards, and it was listed in the top ten movies of the year 2023 by the American Film Institute. You will enjoy this movie very much, and it will not give you the sense that you can guess how it will end from the way it starts. At the very end, after all the bonding, you can put two and two together what the characters will now do and what not, but the joy in the ride to getting to this point is worth the journey of seeing this movie.

The Fall Guy (2024)

The Fall Guy (2024)

 

7/10

Starring

Ryan Gosling

Emily Blunt

Aaron Taylor-Johnson

Hannah Waddingham

 

Directed by David Leitch

 

It has been a while since I saw a movie that had nothing to do with anything political or anything pop-culture or trying to stay woke. This movie is just pure action/comedy with the exact dose of romance to make sure the movie is not an all-out macho show. If you are looking for something to make sense of, or to find a single ounce of realism in this movie, then I am sorry you are sitting in the wrong cinema sit. This movie was made for enjoyment and enjoyment only. From nowhere the main character can fight, he can withstand some injury and the effect of drugs to make sure the plans of the “bad guys” fall apart.

The movie boasts of amazing explosions, stunts, scenery and acting that will make you feel like you are back in the 90s watching the action movies of those days.

The movie plot is about Colt (Ryan Gosling) who is a stuntman and has made a name for himself behind the scenes as a good stunt actor, working behind Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), a very rich and famous actor. The movie he is currently working on with his camerawoman girlfriend (Jody played by Emily Blunt) had an accident which led to Colt getting severely injured.

He fell into a dark hole and abandoned the stunt world and Jody, for eighteen months.

While now working as a valet, he gets a call that Jody has gotten a big break, and she is directing her first film and has asked for him to be in it. He hadn’t spoken to Jody since the accident eighteen months ago, and the idea that she wanted to work with him made him take the job.

He gets to set and discovers that Jody is not aware that he is on set, neither did she ask for him, the Producer Gail (Hannah Waddingham), who called him, had lied to him to get him to come to the movie production set. She lets him know that the lead actor Tom has gone missing and without him, Jody will not be able to finish the film. She convinces Colt that he has known and worked with Tom for a long time, so he has a better chance of finding Tom than anyone. Also, it is in the best interest of Jody to keep this under wraps so that the studio does not know and shutdown the movie production.

Colt agreed to help, so that Jody does not lose her big break. Helping to find Tom drags Colt into a big dark hole which ended up getting him involved in a murder he did not know about and has him on the run.

Amazing movie, and it is sad that the movie did not stay long in the theatres for many to go and see, but it is now available to stream.

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024)

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024)

 

7/10

Starring

Henry Cavill

Eiza González

Alan Ritchson

Alex Pettyfer

Hero Fiennes Tiffin

Babs Olusanmokun

Henry Golding

Cary Elwes

 

Directed by Guy Ritchie

 

I for one, I am happy and fortunate to not have lived through the second world war. The tragedy and unbelievable things that happened during the war are things that make up many of the movies and film character heroes we see on the screen today.

Even though war and fighting still go on today with even more unspeakable things being done, it is still a fortune that I have not directly witnessed those also (only from TV and the internet), and sad that such things still go on.

This film tells the tale of Gus March-Phillipps and his team, who were sent on a mission which part in helping Europe defeat Hitler. It is based off Churchill's Secret Warriors: The Explosive True Story of the Special Forces Desperadoes of WWII.

The way Guy Ritchie crafted this film is what makes me love it. There is an intensity which comes from the team trying to achieve something that seems impossible, and the fear of what will happen to anyone of them. I made it a key to distance myself from the story, so I can be entertained by not knowing what could happen, or which character is real and which were made up and it was worth it in the end. The film’s well-crafted dialogue made it easy to follow what was going on. Visually entertaining is also how they used the scenes, to tell many other stories and character development, as the dialogues went along.

The plot is about how the British intelligence were able to get the Americans to join them during World War II. The German U-boat was keeping the Americans from being able to get to Europe, so the British came up with a plan to sink the U-boats so that the Americans can sail to their aid. The U-boats are being supplied their resources from a region which is neutral to the war, so the British cannot go there and bomb the whole region. To stop the U-boats from operating normally, they decided to send a team to go and blow up the U-boat supply ship, thereby rendering the U-boat useless. The team was led by Gus March-Phillipps, and since they were going to perform this act on a neutral soil, they cannot be linked with the British government, they are on their own. We get to see them come up with plans and see some of these plans fail and having to come up with alternate plans to be able to achieve their task. The political game also in play during this, is also shown, and we see that many things, even the success of the war hung on this team getting their job done.

With a moderate budget it is odd that this film is not racking in millions in the box office, I know the film will end up on the streaming services soon, and I encourage you to go watch it, it is worth seeing.

It is easy for me to say, that Winston Churchill must have been very busy during this war, because there were many other things he had to oversee from the many movies and books we have seen or read about the war. Also, the Germans from all the movies and books we have seen about World War II, must have been technologically advanced and well grounded to win this war, if not for the many actions (including this one) around the world to stop them.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024)

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024)

6/10

Starring

Paul Rudd

Carrie Coon

Finn Wolfhard

Mckenna Grace

Kumail Nanjiani

 

Directed by Gil Kenan

 

It felt like this movie was rushed out, even though the last Ghostbuster movie was three years ago. Then it was a thrill to see a CGI of the late Harold Ramis (Egon Spengler). The film did a wonderful job when it came to comedy and science. The all round guckingness of the cast members and the coming together of the crew to save the day, with the addition of the family of the Spenglers was a nice job. Still, it felt like we just got over the first one and here is another.

As you would expect, the acting was cool, it was a wonderful job the cast did in the movie, but this new addition introduced more characters into the mix, and at times it felt crowded. There were too many people involved in stopping this bad guy that it just did not feel right.

The movie digressed a lot from the matter at hand and the matter at hand was a creature called Garraka from thousands of years ago, who was trapped in an orb and kept there to save the world from his anger. Now this creature is no ordinary ghost, the proton packs do not work on this creature, so trying to stop it will require certain skills from the descendant of the people who caught him thousands of years ago.

The movie starts with these new four (Gary, Callie Spengler with her two children Trevor and Phoebe) going about busting ghosts. If you are a fan of the Ghostbusters, you know in doing this, they are also making a mess of the city of New York, and everyone is not happy about it, especially the mayor.

Turns out, Phoebe Spengler was too young to be running around busting ghosts and needed to be benched, which did not go well with her. She was forced to make friends with a ghost in her loneliness.

On another note, the ghost tank in the firehouse is getting full, and they need to transfer the ghosts from there to a new, bigger tank. With all these happening, the orb in which Garraka was trapped was sold to Ray Stanz, who then took it to the company which Winston runs for them to extract the paranormal being in it. But when they tried, it caused so much chaos in the new lab, and almost caused the person working on it to lose a hand to frostbite.

But Garraka wanted out, and he is able to communicate with other ghosts from within the orb to help him get out, promising them anything they wanted.

As you will expect he got out, and we watch the team, now united with the old team and with the new set of casts, try to stop Garraka and put him back into the orb.

I can say, the movie was not bad, but it still felt like it was too soon, and we have had enough of Ghostbusting for a while.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024)

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024)

 

5/10

Starring

Rebecca Hall

Brian Tyree Henry

Dan Stevens

Kaylee Hottle

 

Directed by Adam Wingard

 

There must have been two reasons for this film to be like this:

1)      Many people must have clamoured for a film with monsters fighting from start to finish.

2)      The rights to the franchises were going to end and Universal had to make a film to keep it.

This was not a good film. The film is so loose that you can actually watch this film with no sound, and you will still understand what was happening and not get lost. The reason for this is, monster fights were from the start to end, and since we already know that Godzilla and Kong are the good guys, anyone else fighting against them, will be the bad guys. So, with no sound, you could actually figure out what was going on. The was no point for sound anyway, no point for dialogue, because all that was basically being said was, Godzilla is gearing up for something, consuming radiation left right and center for something. Since the film cuts to Kong and then back to Godzilla, you can see what the something is, and know what Godzilla is gearing up to fight.

Set three years after the events of Godzilla vs Kong, Kong is seen going about Hollow Earth, discovering more of its domain. We see him come across large creatures like him, and he seems to dominate them all. He meets another ape like creature like him, smaller and from that meet, it became a fight as more ape like creatures like him, his size this time, emerge from the mist and try to kill him. He wins and the little one, which is now like his hostage, takes him to their lair. In the lair we see many more ape like creatures like Kong and the leader, an evil ape also tries to kill Kong. But when he was losing, he summoned a creature like Godzilla which he has control over against the creature's will. With the creature, he was able to cause Kong to drop the battle and run. We soon discover that the people living in Hollow Earth, have a prophecy about this evil ape. He wants to break into our own world and, using the creature he has control of, bring about the ice age.

It was these actions Godzilla was sensing that made him start to absorb all forms of radiation in preparation for the fight that is to come.

The film does have few and far in-between breathing space where the humans talk about waking another creature, which in fact is a Godzilla ally to balance the fight, but all that still can be figured from sight with no sound.

If you just want to see Monster fights with the only aim being to save humanity, then this is for you.

Monkey Man (2024)

Monkey Man (2024)

 

7/10

Starring

Dev Patel

 

Directed by Dev Patel

 

This is Dev Patel directorial debut, and he also co-wrote this film. This action thriller is your typical 80s revenge film plot, with some modern additional creativity of adding more than the intent for revenge, but a deep-rooted reason for it. The idea that one man can work his way with some luck and well-placed friends on the low end of the income ladder, can be far-fetched, but I like the way the film tries to make it possible, if you do not think too hard on it.

The film has a political tone, with some very graphic violent scenes, which may not go down well with the Indian community it is set in. The film shows how Third World countries are being degraded by corruption, discrimination, and poverty. How people under the guise of spiritual backing and leadership mindset take advantage of the system to gain power. It also shows how the corrupted officials, who are meant to keep things in check, further aid these people to become more influential and powerful.

I like how the film teases you with what seems like violence that will make you think, is this what people are saying is too violent? Then around thirty-seven minutes into the film, you will see some violence that will make you go, ohhh!!!

The film is about Kid/Bobby/Monkey Man (Dev Patel), who watched his mother and the people of his village massacred. He never forgot the face of the man who caused him to have such a difficult life without the love of his mother, and wants revenge. The film starts with Kid in a Monkey Man mask, getting beat up in an underground fighting ring. We soon learn that this was a rigged fight, which he does for money. The moment he had enough money, he began his plan for revenge. This plan included, getting a job with a woman who supplies girls and drugs for the high and mighty in the political sphere. Then after getting the job, grow in the ranks to become one of the servers in the VIP lounge. When he is in the VIP lounge, the first opportunity he gets, kill the man responsible for his mother’s death. Halfway into the film, he did all this, except killing the man did not go as planned and he failed. We are halfway into the film, and he is now on the run. The rest of the film is how he gets his life back on track and, as this is a revenge film, get back on focus to fulfil his lifelong desire for revenge.

The film had a very difficult time coming to light, because of the fear that it will not be well received by the Indian community. It is thanks to Jordan Peele and Universal Pictures, that we get the opportunity to see a film that was completed back in 2021. When Netflix acquired it back then, they changed their mind because of the fear of backlash. In the end, seeing the film has been a thrill. It is fun to see a film now, which even though has the 80s revenge idea, was done with some class and cultural root.

It may (or will) not end up being one of those blockbuster movies for everyone to go see, but I can assure you that, if you go watch this film, you will very well enjoy it.

The Beekeeper (2024)

The Beekeeper (2024)

3/10

 Starring

Jason Statham

Emmy Raver-Lampman

Josh Hutcherson

Bobby Naderi

 

Directed by David Ayer

 

The Beekeeper is a Statham style action film for his fans. But do not be fooled by the ratings. This film is so bad it is borderline irritating. The dialogues are just what you get when you let chickens peck away on a keyboard. The overuse of the words, bees, beehives, and beekeeper is amazing, it was almost impossible for there to be a scene where dialogues are involved and one or more of these words are not said loudly. If you are a Statham fan and love this ridiculous action film style he does, then this film is for you, if you are like me and want to see a good film, then this is a miss.

The film plot is not manageable, and the execution is laughable. I understand that he must be a top-notch unstoppable guy, but there is a point when it started to look ridiculous. It got to a point where his replacement was sent to deal with him, and the fact that the person sent as his replacement was so useless in handling him was laughable. Everyone is a joke, which made the film annoying, he will work into a place where people got guns, and they are shooting (missing) and he will work up to them or sneak up and kill them.

Anyway, the film is about a character named Adam Clay (Statham) who as the film puts him is a beekeeper. Beekeepers are great killers the U.S. government created to handle things that are beyond the matters they can handle normally or covertly. Adam is retired, and he lives the rest of his life alone tending to bees. The idea that the character and his replacement are actually beekeepers is laughable.

Well, one of Adam’s friends and neighbour killed herself after she got scammed to wire money to scammers. So, Adam decided to track down the people who were responsible and kill them. I will blame the lady, who not only wired away her money, but money from a charity she chaired, if she did not kill herself she probably would have been sent to jail.

Sharing more of the plot will ruin the film for anyone who actually wants to see it, but I can tell you the film is not worth the time for anyone who just wants to have a good time seeing a film.

In the end, the film sets itself up for a second part, with many more insane things for Statham’s character to do. With the kind of money it made from the release, I believe a second part will not be far away from production.