John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum
So this is the difficult third child of the John Wick series. Or so you would think. It’s not the difficult third child at all, it is the much loved child. This film is quite possibly better than number two. There is more action, there’s more people after Keanu, and there’s more ‘ooooh that’s got to hurt’ moments. It’s so stylish it hurts, but at the same time, there’s always the emotional pull waiting to surface, and it does in a brutal way.
So there’s a Brucie bonus, it also stars Halle Berry. She kicks arse, and she has dogs that help her do this. Halle also has the scene that made me laugh out loud, I won’t tell you what she did to Keanu but it was hilarious. This is not a woman to be messed with. She has sass! She took on John Wick and she absolutely handed him his finely toned arse! And then she literally kicked some more, (belonging to other nasty men).
2019 is the year of Keanu. He is turning up all over the place, he is at your cinema with John Wick and Toy Story and in your Netflix and in your consciousness with the anniversary of The Matrix and Speed. He has never been better. Keanu will always be there….and this year he reigns! Long live King Keanu!
I don’t know what expectations I had for Rocketman, but I loved this! Aside from the music, it was brilliantly mental. Dexter Fletcher is a genius, I would’ve loved to have seen the storyboards for the film and also for the looks on the producers faces as they saw what he had in mind. Elton must be as happy as anyone as he comes off as a misguided soul who just wants to be loved.
Taryn Egerton has played a blinder here. This is the role that he had been waiting for. And the crazy thing is, is that most of this is true. This is Elton John’s life. All of it… the shopping, the temper tantrums, the opulence. This is what a film should be, something completely out of this world!
It’s a good title for a film and a good line from a legendary song. Another one is ‘I was cheated by you…’
Hopes were high for this one. Mamma Mia is one of my favourite musicals, with a killer combination of an ABBA soundtrack and the blue skies of a Greek island. Time for them to do more of the same?
But they didn’t, they missed the secret ingredient, no not Meryl
Streep, but the fun and the silliness of it all. There were a few flashing moments of that, but not enough.
This film has a serious message at its heart, dealing with the death of a loved one, and it’s affecting almost all of the characters. The young Donna who brought the fun, wasn’t in the film enough with her three encounters.
The ‘Here We Go Again’ part of the title of the film is misleading. I wouldn’t go again. The film is too serious for what I was hoping would be a bit of fluff.
Special mention for the goddess that is Cher. As soon as she turned up, with the mountainous wig of while hair, everything was so much better, and silliness took its rightful place. Even better was the rekindled romance with Andy Garcia and a rendition of ‘Fernando’. This was my favourite part of the film but I had to wait for over an hour for wackiness to take hold.
No doubt, lots of people will love this and there will be sing a long showings with dressing up. I might even go…..and I will go dressed as Cher.
So the meetings for the latest Mission impossible film must’ve gone something like this: the director rubbing his hands together with glee, as he sees his star, Tom Cruise is willing to do anything to make these films work. The casting director is rubbing her hands together with glee, as she knows she won’t have to hire any stuntmen, or at least keep it minimal. Our star, Tom Cruise, is also rubbing his hands together with glee, as he is thinking about the latest fun things that he has learned lately. And how can he get his love of motorcycles, helicopters and rock climbing into this one. This is a joyful bunch. And this is not the usual sort of quandary that a filmmaker has. This time, he has Tom Cruise.
It was all going really well, and then Tom just had a simple running and jumping sequence. Then it all went horribly wrong, as Tom broke his ankle when jumping from building to building. But the marketing team decided that wouldn’t it be great if they use the actual footage of Tom breaking his ankle, in the film. Thus the legend of Tom Cruise went from star to all round top bloke.
This is what we are left with Mission Impossible: Fallout. We have a star who is keen to show his love of all things extreme, just to top the last film. And we have an audience, waiting to spot the moment Tom breaks his ankle. The tension is unbearable as the audience are already gripped, watching Tom throw himself from a motorbike, and the inevitable car chases and Henry Cavill’s moustache. BTW Is it a CGI for this film or a stunt moustache?
Yes, I’m easily distracted.
Nothing distracts from Tom, this is his film and he’s endured a lot along the way. But he has had a lot of fun too and this is what I was left with by the time the end titles rolled.
Skyscraper was a love letter to the action films of yore: Die Hard and The Towering Inferno, but with a difference. Our hero, Dwayne Johnson, aka The Rock is an earnest hero. There’s no smirk and there’s no tough guy about him, he wears his heart on his sleeve and is open about his vulnerabilities. He is a family man who loves his wife and kids and let’s the bad guys know it.
Aside from this, the other heart of the film is a mahoosive tower block that seems impenetrable except that it has a tiny tiny fire on the ninety something floor, and threatens the rest of the building. And DJ’s family are up there. How will he save them? Especially as the police think that he’s in on the plot? That’s right, he will nick a crane and then jump onto the side of the building, because that’s exactly what a sane person will do….. basically if you like throwing your popcorn because there are thrills and all sorts of spills, and jumpy moments, this is for you.
I love DJ, he’s the man that can do no wrong at the moment ( just don’t mention Baywatch- but I found it quite pleasing to watch- those muscles have a life of their own!!). He’s outdone himself this time and uses his eyebrows to convey more emotion than Bruce Willis did with his dirty vest and a yippee-kay-yay! Two thumbs up to the man.
This is a proper grown-up film, it doesn’t tell you what to think and it has so many shades of grey that Mr Grey would be jealous himself. There is no goody, there is no baddie, there are only people. Whether they do right or wrong, is another thing.
This is what they would call ‘a gritty film’. This has all the snot, all the blood and everything in between, that comes from when you are playing wargames. I say games, with bunny ears, as there is nothing funny as to what is going on in this film.
The story goes that Josh Brolin does the nasty stuff that the President wants doing, and then his friend Benecio del Toro joins in and has disagreements with his mate Josh, along the way. A spoilt brat gets caught up in this too. I really can’t say anymore except it involves a wall. Donald Trump’s favourite film of the year, no doubt.
One further point is that this is the summer of Josh Brolin. After two comic book movies on the bounce, he probably thought he should do something more real. That, or the studios got together and decided to capitalise on his success/ notoriety on being the baddie in the two biggest films of the year. Nice to see him without make up or CGI.
Jurassic World: the Fallen Kingdom is a crazy ride of a film. You can just imagine the rollercoasters that they would make with the same name of the film at Disney World or Universal.
There were screams, there were guns, there were dinosaurs screaming and there was also Chris Pratt doing his manly stance, as the dino whisperer. As if anyone could ever control dinosaurs. Tut tut.
So the story goes this time, that someone wants to rescue the dinosaurs just so he can sell them on as super weapons! The raptor, known as Blue, is being used for her intelligent DNA to create a super intelligent dinosaur who can then be a Russian soldier, or some such mcguffin. Who would have thunk it? Blue, wasn’t standing for any of this, and tapped her claw quite menacingly on the floor, the same way my mum does, when she knows there is bullshit afoot.
Best part of the film from me was when Bryce Dallas Howard falling asleep with her hand down Chris Pratt’s shirt. I know that’s what I would’ve done too, if I was given half a chance. Of course, the romance was there, Chris was twinkling his eyes at her all the time, but when the kiss came, it was a bit anticlimactic and very predictable. But at least she did it for the girls. Mmmm, Chris Pratt’s sweaty pecs…..
More importantly, these films have a moral compass in that you always get what you deserve. That applies to all aspects of life. But did we deserve to have this film made? Yes, because it stops Marvel from taking over the cinema… oh but Chris Pratt is part of that too….
So what can I tell you?
All of the social media posts have the #thanosdemandsyoursilence. Thanos is scary guy so I’m keeping quiet and hoping that I don’t give the plot away in my sleep. My boyfriend would have no problem in telling everyone what happened.
But it was truly amazing and no, I didn’t bother trying to count how many superheroes were included. I didn’t even notice my numb bum from sitting still for over two hours. And yes I did join in with the Wakanda salute.
Right, that’s it. No more from me.
This film is magical and wonderful and fantastical. Along with the beauty though, comes the ugly of real life. Nope nothing is perfect, even in the real life of film.
Please leave all logic and rationality at the door, it’s not wanted or needed. Just sit in the cinema and enjoy the richness of this film.
This film is based on true events, that’s something to bear in mind as you watch a film about a lot of unpleasant people. I don’t think there is one character who comes off well in this film. It’s supposed to be Tonya’s version of the truth but when her mantra is ‘it’s not my fault’ you should take all of this with a pinch of salt, especially at the end of the film when she wants you to sympathise with her as she loses everything, without taking responsibility for anything that happened. But at least it brings up the idea of an unreliable narrator and her version of the truth.
Truth: Nancy Kerrigan was attacked and had her leg broken – how much Tonya had to do with it, we will never know but according to the film, not a lot, if you take her interview in the film at face value.
So all of that stuff aside, this is a very entertaining film with lots of laughs, especially from Tonya’s monster, I mean, mother. So funny as she says and does everything that you want to do to snobs and she doesn’t apologise for it. The interview with the bird on her shoulder is a truth, you can find it on you tube. That just makes it all the more funny.
Everyone will tell you about the amazing performances yadda yadda yadda, but I want to tell you about the idiot who is apparently behind the ‘incident’, the bodyguard, a man so deluded as he lives in his mothers basement, you had to laugh when he tried to big himself up as an international security consultant. Clearly, he was not.
Also a special mention to the man who committed the ‘incident’ and then couldn’t find a way out of the building so he head butted the window. A little gem, right there.
In fact this whole film is a gem. Worth the praise it’s getting.
5favouritethings 