2016

The Nice Guys

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Director Shane Black was the writer of the first two Lethal Weapon movies and he has put together another buddy cop movie which hits all the right notes. Ryan Gosling is Holland March a private investigator who’s wife died when their child was young leaving him to bring up their now thirteen year old daughter Holly (Angourie Rice). He is hired to find a adult movie star Misty Mountains who is supposed to be dead but his client is adamant is still alive and this leads him in the direction of Amelia Kutner (Margaret Qualley) who co-starred with Misty in a recent movie but Amelia has her own man on the case to protect herself, in the form of Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe) who is more enforcer then investigator and while initially warning Holland off the trail, realises there is something more sinister going on, is smart enough to know he needs help and decides to team up with Holland to get to the bottom of things.

March is an alcoholic and not a very good investigator but he has a strange knack of stumbling across clues when needed most and this leads to some of the funniest moments of the movie where Gosling shows off a great talent for comedy and gives us a great rendition of a Wilhelm scream from time to time. Crowe beefed out for the role and the burly look suits him and his dead pan comedy compliments Goslings exuberance brilliantly so it feels like both actors enjoyed the filming of the movie and it comes across great on the screen with some real chemistry showing. This is all enhanced by Rices performance as the real brains of the operation and this triangular relationship that develops is the real heart of the movie and makes us care about these three characters who, despite the title, are not really particularly nice people. Yes they want to get to the bottom of the investigation, but only because they are being paid and if they can take another slice of the pie along the way, well then they won’t hesitate to do so.

As good as Gosling and Crowe are a special mention must be given to Rice, as for such a young actress to be able to hold her own in scenes with two a-list actors is a testament to her talent so it will be very interesting to see her development from here.

The rest of the cast is very much supporting and a bit of a side show, even Kim Basinger as Amelia’s mother, Judith Kutner didn’t really make much of an impression and the one other character who has some good scenes was the assassin John Boy (Matt Bomer) but he only appears in the movie for a short while so it would have been nice to see him utilised a bit more.

It’s a dark comedy that swings between slap stick moments to clever dialogue for the laughs and although some of the time it misses the mark, thanks to the great chemistry, a good script and the setting of 1977 Los Angeles it works very well and gives us one of the better movies of this year so far that I recommend you check out.

DJ Speaks: 7 Out Of 10

The Darkness

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Starting with a family trip to the Grand Canyon we are introduced to the Taylor family. While exploring with his sister Stephanie (Lucy Fry) their autistic son Michael (David Mazouz) falls through the ground into a cave and discovers some mysterious stones and here starts the problems with this movie. Nobody comes to see where the autistic child is gone or even seems to realise he has gone missing and that’s just not normal.

We then cut to the families home life and Peter (Kevin Bacon) and his wife Bronny (Radha Mitchell) are shown to be struggling to keep things together. Peter has previously had an affair and Bronny is struggling as a former alcoholic also Stephanie is Bulimic so this is not a happy home and the family is already on the edge.

Then the typical horror movie clichés begin. Noises in the attic, moving chandeliers, shadows on the wall, constantly barking dog next door, the son speaking with a new invisible friend. The only sense of originality is the black hand marks that are appearing around the house that Michael gets blamed on. Despite all of this there is no real sense of dread as it’s all background noise to the main story of the family breakdown. The first sign that there may be something more serious amiss is when Michael seemingly sets fire to the wall in his room but of course this is only another step to the introduction of the native American spirits that are linked to the stones that Michael took from the cave.

It takes so long for the family to realise something is amiss that the movie is already nearly over by that stage and they feel so incompetent leaving the autistic kid constantly unsupervised that I’ve never hoped that a family gets possessed in a movie more than this.

Director Greg McLean burst onto the scene with the classic Wolf Creek but has flattered to deceive since and this movie feels like a rip off of so many others that to have actors of the quality of Bacon & Mitchell on board would suggest that somewhere along the line the script or even the movie itself was changed from the initial vision. It’s a ninety minute movie that feels twice as long, where nothing really happens, there are no real jump scares and there is no real sense of terror, it’s that bad. The only credit I can give is to Mazouz who’s efforts to play an autistic character is deserving of a mention in a movie where his character would have probably been better off if he had been taken away by the spirits in the first place.

DJ Speaks Rating: 3.5 Out Of 10

The Angry Birds Movie

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Bird Island is a happy place inhabited by flightless birds with the exception of Red (Jason Sudeikis) who has bouts of bad temper which lead him to being sent to anger management classes. One day a boat arrives at the island with a group of pigs from nearby Piggy Island who claim they are friendly explorers. The birds welcome them with open arms but the pigs slowly start to take over the island. Seemingly, the only one who is able to notice what the pigs are doing is Red and it is up to him, along with his two friends Bomb (Danny McBride) and Chuck (Josh Gad) to try and stop the pigs.

First things first, this is a kids movie, it’s not aimed at adults so the plays on the pop culture references, toilet humour and barely veiled sex references are a bit amiss here as they will go over kids heads but in saying that the movie will keep your kids entertained for the ninety plus minutes it runs but there were a few moments for me where it all just felt like constant noise and manic animation so I must be showing my ago.

First time directors Clay Kaytis and Fergal Reilly have previously worked as animators on movies such as Frozen, Tangled, The Smurfs and Hotel Transylvania so in terms of the animation is spot on and it’s by far the strong point of the film. The bird characters all have their own strengths and skills and get the opportunity to have their moment in the sun.

There’s some great voice acting thanks to the quality of the actors involved but advertising Sean Penn is a bit of a cheat (you’ll see what I mean) so it’s still a cash grab movie aimed at your children. In that sense it pulls it off, there’s just not a lot of depth in the story but that won’t stop it making huge amounts of money and leading to the inevitable sequel which is sure to follow.

DJ Speaks Rating: 4.5 Out Of 10

X-Men: Apocalypse

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Beginning with a scene in ancient Egypt we see En Sabah Nur/Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac) using celestial technology to increase his powers to ensure he and his four mutant aides continue to rule however a twist of fate results in him being buried during the ceremony. We then cut to 1983 where CIA agent Moira MacTaggert (Rose Byrne) is tracing the legend of Nur and sees his re-awakening where he begins his search for his new assistants, also known as the Four Horsemen and recruits Angel (Ben Hardy), Psylocke (Olivia Munn), Storm (Alexandra Shipp) and Magneto (Michael Fassbender).

In the meantime Professor Xavier (James McAvoy) is recruiting more students in his school for mutants with assistance from Raven (Jennifer Lawrence), Beast (Nicholas Hoult) and Havok (Lucas Till) which introduces us to Jean Gray (Sophie Turner), Nightcrawler (Kodi Smit-McPhee) and Cyclops (Tye Sheridan). Apocalypse taps into Xaviers mind when he is using the Cerebro machine and so begins a battle for the fate of the planet as Apocalypse wants to destroy the world and build it again where he will rule as master and it is up to the new generation of X-Men to stop him.

There’s a lot of good stuff in the movie, the new x-men characters are brought in well with some decent back stories and I haven’t even mentioned Quicksilver (Evan Peters) yet who, if you thought his scene stealing moment in Days of Future Past was good then you’ll love his main moment in this movie as it is probably the best single scene in any of the X-men films so far and he seems perfect for a standalone movie. Magneto is given some superb development and it’s a great insight into the inner turmoil of the character and Beast finally get a little more fighting to do and shows that he’s not just the brainiac of the bunch.

Unfortunately, with such a large cast, some characters don’t get their due, and chief among the casualties are Psylocke and Angel who didn’t have the impact I expected. There’s been a lot of criticism towards Jennifer Lawrences acting but I think it’s as much a case of her character not being enough of a challenge as much as poor acting as Mystique is not a major player in this film. Also, Apocalypse looked and sounded great, he also showed some great moments of his power yet he felt over reliant on his horsemen and although his goal was clear it was a very long winded way of trying to achieve it.

It was nice to focus more on the mutant vs mutant battles rather than the human vs mutant tales of the first two films however given the extent of the seriousness of the situation i.e. the end of the world with huge loss of life, there was very little time given to showing anything from the human side and even McTaggert, who played such a bit role in the first to films, felt like she was added in to give Xavier a bit more depth and tie the story in with the extended universe rather than adding anything to the movie.

I liked First Class and was a big fan of Days of Future past so I was hopeful that Apocalypse would keep the standard of the X-men franchise high and for the most part it did however, despite some excellent action sequences, clever humour throughout and a good story line it just never quite reaches the same heights as the second movie but it is definitely well worth a watch for any fans of the franchise.

DJ Speaks Rating: 6 Out Of 10

Everybody Wants Some

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A spiritual sequel to director Richard Linklaters 1993 comedy Dazed And Confused. Everybody Wants Some is set in 1980 and follows a group of college baseball players in the three days leading up to the start of term and while on paper this movie shouldn’t have worked as it’s essentially a two hour look at a group of sports jocks lads partying their way through a series of events trying to act more macho than each other, yet the film keeps you interested and invested so you feel like you’re part of the group.

The main character is Jake (Blake Jenner) who not only has to gain acceptance as a freshman but given that he is also a pitcher he has to work twice as hard to gain the trust of his new teammates but given that he is a sports jock he is not short on confidence and takes to the task with gusto and while the group has a good mix of characters who all have their moments, strengths and weaknesses, no one person is bigger or more important than the other as it’s all about the team.

For these guys it’s not about making the big leagues after college, it’s about making the most of being given a chance to experience college life while playing baseball and it’s a win-win situation for them. They roam from party to party with a swagger of guys who don’t have a care in the world and no matter what situation they find themselves in, chasing girls is just an extension of the sport they play and it’s all about getting the win.

It’s a little chauvinistic in places but given the setting I’m sure that was how things went down in that era so nostalgic is probably the best word that can describe the movie. The music is great, the setting feels right with each scene moving the film along without detracting from anything else going on around it and although it may sound weird it a very enjoyable movie where not a lot actually happens yet you still end up with a smile on your face.

Dazed and Confused featured early performances from Ben Affleck, Milla Jovovich, Matthem McConaughey, Renee Zellweger and Cole Hauser amongst others and given the similarities between the two movies it will be interesting to see if the same will be said of this group of actors.

DJ Speaks Rating: 6 Out Of 10

Me Before You

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Based on the book of the same name by Jojo Moyes, who also scripted the movie, Me Before You is the story of Louisa Clark (Emilia Clarke) a cheerful person who always sees the bright side of life and people despite her situation which is far from perfect. She manages to land a job as a carer for Will Traynor (Sam Claflin)  young man who was left paralyzed in an accident a few years earlier who is cynical and cold towards life and while he tests Louisas optimism to it’s limits she eventually begins to get under his skin and as their relationship blooms they begin to realise that there may be more to things than just a carer/patient situation.

Clarke takes the quirkiness all the way to the maximum and while there were times I was very much reminded of the Bridget Jones character in her performance there is a believability about her as the innocent and slightly naïve character that you can’t help liking and Claflin does a great job as the understandably bitter man who lived life to its fullest until he was struck down and has put up a emotional wall around himself that Clarke constantly does her best to break down.

There’s some very good chemistry between the two actors and they are assisted by a decent support cast that is, at times, left a little underused (with one or two moments of exception) but the story is about all the two leads so it’s not a big deal. I haven’t read the book and I didn’t know how things pans out so credit goes to the strength of the story that there was enough humour in the tale despite the seriousness of the situation, and the film even brings in a few moments where serious moral decisions are thrown into the mix while keeping you guessing which way the ending is going right until the final moments.

I noticed a lot of the female members of the audience were tearing up so this could be a perfect choice for your next romantic night with your partner who at this stage is probably sick of you talking about Star Wars and Superheroes.

DJ Speaks Rating: 5.5 Out of 10

Dirty Grandpa

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Jason Kelly (Zac Efron) is a straight laced corporate attorney who is planning a marriage to his controlling fiancee Meredith Goldstein (Julianne Hough), while he is attending his grandmother’s funeral he re-acquaints himself with his Grandfather Dick Kelly (Robert DeNiro) whom he used to be very close to as a child but he has had no contact with for a number of years. In order to try and re-establish some form of bond DeNiro asks Efron to drive him on his upcoming trip from Georgia to Florida and despite the pressure from Hough he reluctantly accepts.

Dirty Grandpa starts right from this point in an endless cycle of crudity and close to the bone jokes covering the usual sex and drug references but pushing the boundaries as far as Nazi references and child molestation. Yet strangely it does so without ever really offending or overstepping the mark (unless you’re very prude) and I found myself laughing at some of the gags although perhaps that was in a, so bad it’s humerous, way. Maybe it’s because it’s DeNiro putting in another off center role that he seems to be doing more often than makes it funnier than it should be. Or, maybe it was the influence of director Dan Mazer who co–wrote both Borat and Bruno with Sacha Baron Cohen so perhaps the crassness shouldn’t be a surprise.

As with many other movies in this genre the film is inconsistent, borderline ridiculous and in many ways pointless yet there was a good chemistry between Efron and DeNiro, the comedy, even if it wasn’t great, was well timed and gave some credibility to the bonding moments that the two characters have.

The supporting cast all do what they need to with Aubrey Plaza’s turn as the oversexed Lenore standing out from the rest but it’s still a by the numbers raunchy comedy that flatters to deceive and when the jokes do arrive there are too many misses over the number of hits to raise it above mediocrity yet looking at the box office figures it made a lot of money so don’t be surprised if a sequel appears in the next year or two.

DJ Speaks: 4.5 out Of 10

Pandemic

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Another first person POV style movie set in the near future where a virus has eliminated most of the population of the USA and struck so fast that the government had next to no time to react and society has virtually collapsed. While quite topical with the current spread of Zika raising awareness for the ease of how diseases can spread. Doctor Lauren Chase (Rachel Nichols) is one of the last remaining CDC members in the country so she is called to Los Angeles to work on a potential cure. She is tasked by chief physician Doctor Greer (Paul Guilfoyle) with rescuing a medical unit which is stranded in the city. Along for the ride are security member Gunner (Mekhi Phifer), navigator Denise (Missi Pyle) and driver Wheeler (Alfie Allen).

What then transpires is a gore filled romp through downtown Los Angeles seen through the helmet cameras of the crew members which, while leading to some good action shots, does nothing memorable as they hit trap after trap and are attacked by wave after wave of ‘people’ (there is no mention of the word zombie) at various stages of the disease against the back story of the potential that Dr.Chases’ daughter may still be alive and the fact that she is focused on her rescue as much as the mission at hand. The one bright spot in the movie involves a plot twist for the main character which at least brings some semblance of humanity and motivation to the film that it is severely lacking otherwise.

In the end it’s a B-Grade, straight to TV, science fiction movie that has been done before and does nothing to allow the actors any scope to try and elevate this beyond mediocrity.

DJ Speaks Rating: 4 Out Of 10

Captain America: Civil War

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A sequel to both Avengers Assemble and The Winters Soldier, Civil War is hero against hero in an action packed story which involves Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross (William Hurt) championing the setting up of the Sokovia Accords, an agreement which is being put in place after yet another mission undertaken by Captain America and his team, while successful, ended up with major collateral damage and some loss of life, which places the Avengers under the control of the United Nations. This is met with mixed reactions with Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr) being the main supporter and Captain America (Chris Evans) the main opposition thus bringing into play the tension between the two which escalates into the aforementioned civil war.

Thrown into the mix is the wild card of Bucky Barnes/The Winter Solider (Sebastian Stan), Captain Americas old friend turned assassin who is the main suspect in a recent terrorist attack. Captain believes this is a set up and tries to clear his friends name while Iron Man wants him brought to justice. There is also a mysterious man named Helmut Zemo (Daniel Bruhl) operating in the background who is searching for key information tied to Bucky’s past through the use of old Hydra technology.

So the scene is set for the current batch of superheroes who’ve we have met in the previous movies Falcon (Anthony Mackie), Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), Vision (Paul Bettany), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and War Machine (Don Cheadle), to decide where their loyalties sit and step up to the mark even if it means going against friends and former allies.

While Thor And The Hulk are missing from this movie we do get the addition of Ant Man (Paul Rudd), T’challa/Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) and Spiderman (Tom Holland) to boost the number and while the plot line of this movie is weaker than the superb story told in The Winter Soldier where this film more than makes up for it is in portraying the inner turmoil, self-doubt and humanisation of all characters.

When there are so many players in a movie it often dilutes the impact they have but, while the main piece is the Captain Vs Iron Man fight, everybody is given enough screen time to justify their actions without ever detracting from the action and both Scarlet Witch and Black Panther both had enough development that a standalone movie about either is an intriguing prospect. The introduction of Spiderman had its controversies given that it’s the third actor to play the web slinger but Tom Holland, in the small amount of screen time he had, done enough to show me that they may have picked a winner this time. Teenage looks and full on nerd demeanor it was closest we have seen to the comic book version of Peter Parker yet.

It is not a perfect movie by any counts but the Russo Brothers have done a great job in bringing a huge part of the Marvel universe to the big screen and making the characters engaging without ever portraying a sense of good vs bad as you can empathise with both sides in the fight. Watching the heroes battle was never dull and even the moments in between the action are full of plot and character development which makes the two and a half hours both compelling as a standalone and intriguing as part of the development of the series and I don’t do spoilers but I will state that the second act airport scene is the best moment I have seen in any superhero movie as yet. If this is the new standard in the genre then both X-Men Apocalypse and Suicide Squad should be very interesting viewing.

DJ Speaks Rating: 7 Out Of 10

Friend Request

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Alycia Debnam-Carey stars as Laura, a popular psychology student with lots of friend on social media who takes pity an introvert, strange, loner girl in her class, Marina (Liesl Ahlers) who is almost her polar opposite and accepts her friend request on Facebook. Marina takes this friendship acceptance to the extreme and becomes very stalkerish which leads to an encounter where Laura lies to Marina about her plans for her birthday, but this rather stupid lie, since she then posts photos all over Facebook, leads to Marina confronting Laura and becoming even more scarily clingy so Laura decides to unfriend her. That night Marina commits suicide and posts it online for all to see. It is then that things take a turn for the either weirder as Laura begins to gets messages and becomes re-friended by somebody acting as Marina.

Very similar to another movie I recently watched and reviewed ‘Unfriended’, Friend Request is a tick box of horror clichés with dream sequences, disbelieving policeman, friends being killed, jump scares and silly plot threads appearing by the numbers and while there were one of two decent jump scares they didn’t do enough to hide the weak script which tried to, unsuccessfully, link the whole tale into witchcraft rituals followed by a the section where Laura tries to work out the history behind Marina which transfers the movie into a rip off of The Ring and from then on the whole thing has a very Japanese horror vibe.

Ahlers does a decent job as the disturbed girl but the rest of the friends were another bunch of by the number horror fodder, Lauras friend and Freddie Prinze, Jr. lookalike Kobe (Connor Paolo) came across as just as weird as Marina yet that raised no eyebrows at all and there is a small twist towards the end which, while I can understand the characters actions, made little sense in context with the rest of the movie.

Overall it’s a by the number modern horror with all the suspense sucked out of the movie by the poor plot and overuse of attempted jump scares. Perhaps if it has been sold as some form of satirical twist on the dangers of social media and used the friendship in a Single White Female type of tale there may have been something good to work with but as it appears, even for fans of the genre, it’s not something I can recommend.

DJ Speaks Rating: 4 Out Of 10