Month: July 2019

Starring: Donald Glover (Solo: A Star Wars Story), Seth Rogen (Long Shot), Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave), Alfre Woodard (Luke Cage), Billy Eichner (Difficult People), John Kani (Black Panther), John Oliver (Community), Beyoncé Knowles-Carter (Dreamgirls), James Earl Jones (Coming to America)

Director: Jon Favreau (Iron Man)

Writer: Jeff Nathanson (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull)

Runtime: 1 hour 58 minutes

Release Date: 19^th July (US, UK)

A lot of people like to make the hyperbolic statement that Disney’s live-action remakes are literally shot-for-shot, and so far that has not been the case at all. Some like Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast have stuck very close to the script whilst also making (for better or worse) slight alterations, but there are just as many like Cinderella and Dumbo that have taken the original film and expanded them into something new; not that examples of the latter have always been necessarily better.

However, Jon Favreau’s reimagining of The Jungle Book balanced that line perfectly, crafting a beautiful and unique film that many would argue was an improvement on the original. Jumping from that success to remaking one of Disney’s most iconic films in a similar fashion makes sense in many ways but is also absolutely insane. Whilst The Lion King isn’t an absolutely perfect film (no film is), to many it is a childhood classic with few meaningful issues to be addressed, and it doesn’t exactly lend itself to a traditional live-action adaptation. Beyond adding more fuel to the Disney machine, what purpose does this remake serve? Having now seen the final product, I can say the film never delivers a satisfying alternate answer.

If you’ve seen The Lion King before, there is pretty much nothing in the 2019 version that will surprise you. More so than any previous Disney live-action adaptation, this is a film that beat-for-beat follows its progenitor, right down to using much of the same dialogue. Though the film now runs half an hour longer, not much has been added of significance; the only noticeable additions are some extended nature sequences and a lot of ad-libbed gags. The story itself is still well told and briskly paced, and the themes about reconciling your past with your future and learning the responsibilities of leadership are as timeless as ever, but the film makes little effort to make you forget about what you already know and see the story in a new light. If anything, the film only draws attention to your memories of the 1994 classic, only making it easier to draw comparisons and rarely does the remake come out the victor in those. For members of the audience unfamiliar with the original, most of these issues won’t be applicable and those viewers will likely have a far more enjoyable experience, but for the initiated watching this film is like having constant déjà vu for two straight hours.

From a casting perspective, Disney has admittedly done a fantastic job of recasting all of these iconic characters. It is especially welcome that (unlike the original) this feature set in Africa has a predominantly black cast and, though on paper the story is much the same, there is certainly an effort amongst many of the actors to give these characters a different dimension. Donald Glover makes for a charming and relatable Simba, giving the character a slightly more jaded millennial edge, whilst his childhood counterpart JD McCrary is spirited and childlike in all the right ways. Though hardly a scratch on Jeremy Irons’ fabulous performance, Chiwetel Ejiofor has a more menacing take on Scar that reframes the character as less incompetent and more imperious; much like with Jafar in this year’s Aladdin, the removal of the queercoding aspects of the character does make the character less problematic but also robs him much of his charm.

Beyoncé Knowles-Carter feels a bit underused as Nala, as does Alfre Woodard as Sarabi, but they do well with the material given to them, whilst John Kani gets far less to do as Rafiki as his counterpart did in the original. Much of the film’s best moments come from its comedic characters, as its clear the actors have been let loose to improvise and have fun with the material. Keegan-Michael Key and Eric André are quite fun as a pair of bickering hyenas, and John Oliver is an absolutely genius piece of casting as Zazu, but the film is easily stolen from the moment they appear by Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen as Timon and Pumbaa. Whilst their performances do owe a lot of debt to their originators Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella, the bickering pair do make the characters their own and are responsible for every unique and memorable moment this film has to offer.

Much has been made about the unique way this new Lion King was made and whether to classify the film as live action, animated, or something new entirely. From a technical perspective, the film is basically flawless. The quality of the animation and visual effects is so precise and lifelike that it’s hard to believe not a single live-action element was used. Much of the production is shot in a manner to evoke a nature documentary, and for certain sequences that framing absolutely adds to the film’s verisimilitude. However, as much as the new technology impresses at first glance, not only does its splendour wear off quickly but it also hampers the film’s storytelling.

Yes, giving the film a grounded, photo-real aesthetic does look gorgeous at first, but doing so immediately means sacrificing everything visually appealing about the film’s musical sequences. Yes, the fact that all the characters are animated exactly like their real animal counterparts is an impressive feat, but those restrictions mean no range in their facial expressions to humanise them. There’s no denying what the filmmakers have done here is an impressive feat for modern filmmaking technology, but if anything retelling this story in such a naturalistic way only goes to highlight why the original was told in the animation style it was.

Of all the soundtracks of the Disney Renaissance, The Lion King easily has the most iconic; there’s not a song on that playlist that hasn’t become a classic. For the most part, the new film’s reinterpretations are solid if not exactly remarkable. “Circle of Life” is practically indistinguishable from its previous incarnation, whilst “I Just Can’t Wait To Be King” is given some freshness mainly thanks to Oliver’s new interjections and greater infusion of African harmonics. “Hakuna Matata” is as funny as ever and again Eichner and Rogen’s performances lend it a lot of charm, whilst Glover and Beyoncé have a surprising amount of musical chemistry in “Can You Feel the Love Tonight”.

The only classic song to be drastically reworked is “Be Prepared”, which has totally lost its bombast and become more of a more subdued sing-talk interlude; it’s obvious it was a last-minute addition after there was some backlash it was going to be cut. There are two new songs, but neither are actually numbers weaved into the narrative. Beyoncé’s “Spirit” simply plays in the background during one quick sequence, whilst Elton John’s “Never Too Late” plays over the credits. Both are perfectly fine examples of songs by their respective artists, and I do somewhat prefer this approach to shoving a new song in just to bait a Best Original Song nomination at the Oscars, but neither are a patch on the originals.

2019’s The Lion King is basically just a feature-length tech demo that tells its story competently but without any of the magic traditional animation allows. Compared to many of the other Disney remakes, this one has almost too much reverence for the original, resulting in a film that’s inoffensive but absolutely unnecessary. When compared to the original, there’s nothing this film does that is distinctly better than its predecessor, and because of that I can only recommend this to absolutely diehard Lion King fans. Otherwise, if you want that nostalgia kick or are thinking of introducing your kids to this story, just go watch the original instead. It’s a timeless film, whilst this will doubtlessly age as all CGI eventually does. I mean…have you actually tried watching Avatar again lately?

FINAL VERDICT: 5.5/10

Starring: Viveik Kalra (Next of Kin), Kulvinder Ghir (Bend It Like Beckham), Aaron Phagura, Dean-Charles Chapman (Game of Thrones), Nell Williams (London Town), Rob Brydon (Swimming with Men), Hayley Atwell (Captain America: The First Avenger)

Director: Gurinder Chadha (Angus, Thongs & Perfect Snogging)

Writers: Sarfraz Manzoor, Paul Mayeda Burges (Bride & Prejudice) and Gurinder Chadha

Runtime: 1 hour 57 minutes

Release Date: 9^th August (UK), 14^th August (US)

It seems the summer of 2019 is becoming a hot bed for movies where a single musician or band’s discography serves as a focal point for the narrative. We’ve already seen Rocketman and Yesterday give us cinematic extravaganzas to the tunes of Elton John and The Beatles, but instead of a flashy Hollywood number for Bruce Springsteen’s turn we instead get the indie Brit flick Blinded by the Light. Something of a spiritual successor to director Gurinder Chadha’s breakout hit Bend It Like Beckham, it too focuses on a teenager from a South Asian background living in England and finding themselves through a western pastime their parents disapprove of. However, even with those comparisons, Blinded by the Light does just as much to differentiate itself from Chadha’s previous work and the recent crop of musician-based films, and it’s those differences that make it stand out and proud.

Based on the memoir by co-screenwriter Sarfraz Manzoor, Blinded by the Light paints a vivid portrait of a Thatcher-era Britain rife with unemployment, far right nationalism and xenophobia; a stark reminder that the country has been where it is now before. Much of the base plot should be familiar to anyone who has seen a coming-of-age story, but the particular way it expresses itself feels refreshing and true-to-life. Protagonist Javed’s journey from repressed Muslim boy to rebellious Springsteen stan doesn’t immediately solve all of his problems, and it acknowledges that his newfound passion doesn’t make him better than anyone else. After so many stories where these kinds of characters are portrayed as prodigies in a backwards community who have all their problems solved by a mantra, it’s relieving to see one where it recognises this kind of obsession cannot completely dominate one’s life, and should ring true to anyone who found a musician/author/filmmaker/artist that spoke so closely to them in their youth. This honest portrayal of fandom not only helps ease the film over its more formulaic plot elements, it emboldens the film’s ultimate message about how music can transcend all barriers and can inspire anyone to do anything.

For his leading debut, Viveik Kalra is perfectly suited to the timid and ingenuous Javed. He’s occasionally too naïve for his own good and Kalra is still clearly a relatively rookie actor (his performance isn’t helped by some occasionally clunky on-the-nose dialogue) but his sincerity and boldness propels his performance greatly. Aaron Phagura is also endearing as Javed’s fellow Springsteen fan Roops, and Nell Williams feels astutely cast as his civil rights activist love interest Eliza, whilst Dean-Charles Chapman (near-unrecognisable from his days as Tommen on Game of Thrones) is equally solid as childhood mate Matt. Rob Brydon adds some charming comedic relief as Matt’s father, and Hayley Atwell as Javid’s teacher adds that required dose of Dead Poets’ Society-like inspiration and encouragement. Even some of the smaller supporting roles, like David Heyman as Javid’s neighbour Mr. Evans and Marcus Brigstocke as Eliza’s conservative father, add a lot of welcome flavour. However, the film’s MVP is absolutely Kulvinder Ghir as Javid’s demanding father Malik. Though he fulfils many of the stereotypes of the traditionalist South Asian patriarch, there’s a depth and pain to his performance that humanises him, and the film never wisely paints him as an outright villain.

Just as much as the film captures the atmosphere of 80s Britain, it also captures it visually. There are plenty of films and TV shows set in the 1980s these days, but so many of them feel like an exaggeration of the period, whilst Blinded by the Light grounds the iconic fashion statements and music trends as close to reality as it can. There’s an authenticity to every detail of the design, and for every Flock of Seagulls hairdo and leg warmer on display there’s a Margaret Thatcher poster and some Islamaphobic graffiti that brings it all back to reality. There are plenty of other great 80s tunes on the film’s soundtrack, but obviously there is a heavy focus on Bruce Springsteen. Featuring many of his period-appropriate hits, the film accentuates The Boss’ words through its visual storytelling by letting them speak for themselves, highlighting how his lyrics speak to Javed’s life without being cloying. I can see not only fans of Springsteen getting a kick out of hearing his songs in a new light, but also younger viewers being turned on to his music through it; it certainly has had me playing “Born to Run” on repeat since watching it.

Blinded by the Light is a joyous summer romp that celebrates creativity, freedom, and learning to define one’s own destiny. Its reflection upon Thatcher’s Britain feels raw and more relevant than ever, and uses Springsteen’s words to deftly dispute the conservative mindset of the era. It perhaps has some wind taken out of its sails by how familiar many of its narrative turns are, especially to Chadha’s previous work, but everything new it has to say absolutely needs to be heard. If you need a break from either the glut of Hollywood blockbusters and/or the degrading political climate, this is exactly the feel-good flick you need in your life right now.

FINAL VERDICT: 8/10

Starring: Florence Pugh (Lady Macbeth), Jack Reynor (Sing Street), William Jackson Harper (The Good Place), Vilhelm Blomgren, Will Poulter (Detroit)

Writer/Director: Ari Aster (Hereditary)

Runtime: 2 hours 27 minutes

Release Date: 3^rd July (US, UK)

Horror is one of the easier genres to learn as a first-time filmmaker, but it’s also arguably the hardest to master. There’s a reason the genre has become so homogenous over the years, with hundreds released every year but only a select few standing the test of time. It takes a unique perspective and a vivid imagination to stand out amongst the pack, and writer/director Ari Aster is among the latest to be lauded as a horror auteur thanks to his debut feature Hereditary.

Now I’m going to say something that I think might get me mauled in most critic circles: I didn’t particularly like Hereditary. I think it’s a very well made film with some fantastic visuals and performances, but in terms of story and character it was derivative and underdeveloped; at its core, it’s just another possession movie. For a first-time director, these kinds of faults can be forgiven, and it’s hard to deny from a stylistic point-of-view that Aster hasn’t established himself a trademark aesthetic. For his ambitious follow-up Midsommar, one would hope that the director would mature and grow to rely less on tropes and references. Sadly, I fear all of the praise Aster received for Hereditary may have blinded him to his faults, as Midsommar proceeds to make every mistake its predecessor made on an even grander scale.

If you’ve seen any horror movie involving a vacation and/or a cult, the plot of Midsommar is not going to surprise you in the slightest. From the moment our protagonists arrive at the eerily pleasant commune, every plot beat is practically laid out for you, and it becomes less a game of figuring out what will happen and more when; given the film’s intentionally slow pacing, the answer is usually “as late as possible”. There’s certainly an intention in the way the film signals towards twists and makes blatant references to other movies, but not in a fashion that feels particularly profound or unique. The entire story essentially feels like one giant drawn-out joke, but you figured out the punchline hours ago and it’s not even very funny. There are admittedly a few strong out-of-nowhere disturbing moments, but they are few and far between when most of them are telegraphed from a mile away. Judging by the abundant number of abandoned plot threads and irrelevant lore thrown in, the entire production simply feels like the filmmakers had way too many ideas and didn’t know what to do with most of them.

Hereditary’s main saving grace was its awards-worthy leading performance by Toni Collette, and here rising star Florence Pugh delivers a similarly haunting portrayal of an anxiety-ridden woman on the brink of sanity even before she arrives in this perpetually sunlit nightmare. As Dani, Pugh does a fantastic job of mining every raw emotion out of her character, so it’s a shame that there’s actually very little on the page for her to work with. Outside of her aforementioned mental state and faltering relationship with boyfriend Christian (Reynor), there’s not much to Dani as a character and she has very little agency in the story; everything just sort of happens to her.

Jack Reynor does a fine job playing the boyfriend who knows it’s too awkward to break up right now, but his story outside his relationship with Pugh feels unnecessary and slapdash; it doesn’t even get properly resolved or amount to anything. Rounding out the main cast are Christian’s friends, who are all arch character types only made somewhat distinctive by the actors playing them. William Jackson Harper’s Josh is basically just a less neurotic version of Harper’s character on The Good Place, Vilhelm Blomgren is little more than a vessel for exposition dumps and obvious foreshadowing, whilst Will Poulter’s sex-obsessed Mark is so unlikable and so obviously dead meat that he feels like he walked out of an Eli Roth movie.

As much as Midsommar doesn’t satisfy on a story level, it is admittedly a gorgeous-looking movie. Much of that credit lies at the feet of cinematographer Pawel Pogorzelski, who paints every frame with a beautifully ornate palette; any shot from this movie would be the best shot in any other movie. The detail that’s gone into the production design is equally astounding, even if some of its attempts to combine creepy with quaint come off as too obvious. With that said, there are a lot of visual ideas blatantly copied from other movies; obscure ones, yes, but obvious to any hardcore cinephile out there. The editing, though torturously drawn-out at times, always knows exactly when to cut for maximum effect, with its effectiveness in the scene transitions being especially solid. The film’s score by The Haxan Cloak is also at the right level of disturbing, combining Swedish folk music with eerie strings to create the ideal creep factor.

Some are going to claim I simply didn’t get Midsommar. My retort: I did get it. I just didn’t like it. With both this and Hereditary, what Ari Aster is aspiring to is obvious and somewhat admirable. He’s essentially seeking to revitalise the aesthetics of arthouse horror films of the 1970s (specifically films like Suspiria, The Wicker Man and Don’t Look Now) but with a modern self-awareness. However, the results are so unfocused as to be rendered neither particularly scary nor clever, and what’s left is an experience that flits between being tedious and being unintentionally hilarious. To craft a film this elaborate and aesthetically stunning and yet feel so hollow, Aster has to be either a massive troll or incredibly conceited, and I’m not sure which I’d prefer to be the truth. All in all, Midsommar is less akin to the classic Wicker Man and more like the Nicolas Cage remake, and not just because both of them feature a bear costume.

FINAL VERDICT: 4/10

Starring: Tom Holland (The Impossible), Samuel L. Jackson (Captain Marvel), Zendaya (The Greatest Showman), Cobie Smulders (Jack Reacher: Never Go Back), Jon Favreau (Chef), J.B. Smoove (Uncle Drew), Jacob Batalon (Blood Fest), Martin Starr (Adventureland), Marisa Tomei (My Cousin Vinny), Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler) 

Director: Jon Watts (Cop Car)

Writers: Chris McKenna & Erik Sommers (Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle)

Runtime: 2 hours 9 minutes

Release Date: 2^nd July (US, UK)

It was only a few months ago that the Marvel Cinematic Universe seemingly ended but, like the comics that inspired them, the story keeps on going and going and going. As the first one out of the gate in this new realm, Spider-Man: Far From Home has a lot of weight on its shoulders. Not only does it have to serve as a follow-up to both Spider-Man: Homecoming and Avengers: Endgame, but it also needs to reassure audiences that this universe isn’t going anywhere just yet. Any other franchise would look at expectations like that and decide to leave on a high, but Far From Home dares to leap off that cliff edge to not only survive, but fly high.

Picking up not long after the events of Endgame (and tidily dealing with the consequences of that film without dwelling on it too much), Far From Home takes Peter Parker out of his comfort zone swinging around New York and off on a pan-European trip, all whilst still juggling his high school dramas with saving the world. Much like Homecoming, the film has a heavy meta narrative about Spidey’s place in the MCU, particularly where he stands as a hero post-Infinity Saga, and it’s all handled very deftly. Most pleasingly, Far From Home takes some welcome notes from the Sam Raimi playbook and ups the heart factor massively, giving it that necessary distinctive quality that Homecoming lacked; this is a Spider-Man movie that takes place in the MCU, not an MCU movie that happens to star Spider-Man, and that’s the way it should be.

The story moves at an energetic pace, retaining that John Hughes quality to deliver one of the funniest entries in the MCU, whilst also delivering some of the best action sequences ever in a Spidey flick. Though the film only vaguely gestures towards the future of the greater franchise, it does intelligently play with established lore to fuel its story, paying off moments you never even knew were left dangling. All in all, this is more of a victory lap for the MCU rather than a preview of things to come, but it’s a well-earned and brilliantly executed success.

Now in his fifth performance as the webbed wall crawler, Tom Holland has had more opportunity to explore Peter Parker now than any other feature film actor, and here he’s better than ever. This is easily the most relatable Spidey has been since Raimi’s Spider-Man 2, and Holland absolutely nails Peter’s insecurities and anxieties about being a hero whilst also being a charming leading man and a gifted comedian. Whilst there is a disappointing lack of screen time for Tony Revolori’s Flash and Marisa Tomei’s Aunt May this time around, plenty of other returning characters get their deserved chances in the spotlight. Chiefly, Zendaya’s MJ gets a lot more to do this time around than just stand in the back of scenes and make quips, and she is absolutely hilarious and endearing in every moment she has. Jacob Batalon is as goofy and adorkable as ever as Peter’s best friend Ned, and his subplot with Angourie Rice’s Betty adds a cute little undercurrent to the grander story.

Martin Starr and J.B. Smoove make for great comedic relief as the trip’s bumbling chaperones, Jon Favreau adds a much-appreciated sentimental quality in his return as Happy Hogan, and though Samuel L. Jackson and Cobie Smulders are relatively underused as Nick Fury and Maria Hill, the payoff to their roles is absolutely worth it. However, there is not denying that Jake Gyllenhaal’s outstanding performance as Quentin Beck/Mysterio absolutely steals this movie. I wish I could gush about why he’s so great, because there is a lot to say and praise, but I won’t because the marketing has rightly kept his role tight-lipped. Instead, I’ll just say this: if you love Mysterio from the comics, you will not be disappointed.

Homecoming was director Jon Watts’ first big-budget feature and his inexperience showed in places, but here he seems far more comfortable orchestrating on this scale. Far From Home is a visually spectacular piece of entertainment, only rivalled by Into the Spider-Verse in terms of delivering a page-accurate translation of a Spidey comic book. The action sequences take full advantage of the hero’s abilities and physicality more than any previous live-action interpretation, and the globetrotting nature of the story gives a greater sense of variety after so many films stuck with the same New York backdrop. The Mysterio sequences are especially jaw dropping, taking some cues from Doctor Strange to deliver some mind-bending imagery that feels ripped straight from the comic pages. Michael Giacchino returns again to score and deliver yet another rousing series of Spidey anthems, whilst Watts’ soundtrack choices are yet again an inspired collection of rock and pop classics both obvious and obscure.

Spider-Man: Far From Home is maybe not the best Spider-Man movie, but it is perhaps the most Spider-Man movie. It’s not as quintessential as Spider-Man 2 or as imaginative as Into the Spider-Verse, but it makes a strong case for itself as the most fun Spidey adventure yet. It does everything that made Homecoming great and fixes its few remaining flaws, and is easily the best second entry in an MCU sub-franchise since Captain America: The Winter Soldier. There are so many more places for Spider-Man to go in this universe, and this film absolutely promises that the story isn’t stopping any time soon.

FINAL VERDICT: 9/10