Dingbatt:

 

Wait 3 months.

 

April actually

Dingbatt:

 

The King’s Man (2021) Disney+ (3 out of 10)

 

A prequel, or origin story for the 2 Kingsman films set in the present, this film takes place before and during the First World War. Where the previous films were fast paced and entertaining, this one was turgid and slow. It is full of talented actors and only dipped slightly into the required diversity pool. There were nods to the other films and it did attach its plot line to some historical facts but on the whole the story didn’t carry well.
It only resembled the previous films in the final 25 minutes. By that time family members, who had watched and enjoyed those earlier ones, had long given up and gone to do other things. The whole thing was 2hr12. About half an hour too long.

 

If you expect to be entertained by this because you enjoyed the previous films you may be disappointed, I was.

 

But if you do endure, there is a mid credits scene.

 

Watched this last night.

I agree, slow and lacking in humour.

The wife reckons that if they had called it a different movie we probably would have quite enjoyed it, but due to it being a kingsman movie expectations were not even close to being met.

So yeah - don't expect a kingsman movie, expect a fairly serious spyish movie with a couple of ridiculous moments and your probably on point.

The first one was decent everything subsequent was crass over the top and basically pretty stupid. I can't see myself watching it if it's continued in the same vein as 2 onward. 

i'd say 1 & 2 were in a similar vein this was quite different. Yes 1 was much better than 2, but they were obviously the same franchise and trying to capture the same magic.

This one, very slow paced and serious, no where near as funny and over the top.

It made the over the top elements seem kinda stupid when they did eventually and briefly show up.

The Adam Project - Netflix - 6.5/10

Ryan Reynolds leads this sci-fi adventure for older kids from the director of Free Guy about a man who travels back in time to get help from his 12-year old self. Together, they encounter their late father.

Mmmmmmm - entertaining for the family. The only real standout is the actor who plays the young Adam, Walker Scobell. He will be one to watch. You can not really train those facial expressions or body language. He is a natural. Mark Ruffalo was paying the mortgage in this movie and Ryan Reynolds was his usual self, if maybe slightly more serious.

FineWine:

 

The Adam Project - Netflix - 6.5/10

 

Ryan Reynolds leads this sci-fi adventure for older kids from the director of Free Guy about a man who travels back in time to get help from his 12-year old self. Together, they encounter their late father.

 

Mmmmmmm - entertaining for the family. The only real standout is the actor who plays the young Adam, Walker Scobell. He will be one to watch. You can not really train those facial expressions or body language. He is a natural. Mark Ruffalo was paying the mortgage in this movie and Ryan Reynolds was his usual self, if maybe slightly more serious.

 

Yeah the rating is about right - maybe a half notch higher for a younger audience. Brings back memories of the 90's/2000 family adventure type movies (Race to Witch Mountain etc...) except the kid was actually very good in this and not annoying like they usually are. 

Thought the spin on time travel explanation (fixed time etc...) was a good different to the multiverse trope everyone is using these days.

Ryan Reynolds, while still having a smart mouth, was more reserved and the serious one of the pairing (the excellent young Adam being the smarter mouth). I liked this.

Studio 666 by the Foo Fighters.

So a Horror movie about a band in a haunted mansion - and the band is the Foo Fighters.

Watched it thinking it would have some cool music - and nope - no music to speak of at all.

First 3/4 really enjoyed it, ridiculous over the top horror comedy with some fairly serious practical effects gore moments.

Over stayed it's welcome a little bit, but over all enjoyed it. 7/10

The Batman.

A decent movie, in typical gloomy, rainy and moody Gotham style.

Colin Farrell was completely unrecognisable and to be honest, was very good. 

The characters were good, the action was good and the pacing was on-point for a Batman movie that was taking itself quite seriously. 

I liked the new interpretation of The Riddler. A lot like The Joker, in that he was simply mad as a march hare, but in a psychopathic way, not a capering, hilariously deranged way. 

Would I call it the best superhero movie ever? No. 

Can I see this Batman fitting into the DCEU with Suicide Squad, Superman and Wonder Woman? No.

Would I watch it again? Probably. 

Did I like it more than The Joker? Yes. A lot more. 

I'd say it's more like the Nolan Batman franchise than anything else. Destined to be stand-alone, whether in a series or a singular title. 

I also saw batman recently. 

I'd concur with Handsomedan - who omitted to mention it is quite long. It has to be, to fit in all the moody darkness.

It has some great cat and batbikes and of course a cool looking batmobile. There was one small thing that grated, as usually does with me, and that was the batmobile sounds.

One minute there's a turbine spinning up and flames coming out the back, nek minute, there's the sound of throbbing pistons in an exhaust. 

Make your mind up !

logo:

 

FineWine:

 

The Adam Project - Netflix - 6.5/10

 

...

 

Mmmmmmm - entertaining for the family...

 

 

Yeah the rating is about right - maybe a half notch higher for a younger audience. Brings back memories of the 90's/2000 family adventure type movies (Race to Witch Mountain etc...) except the kid was actually very good in this and not annoying like they usually are....

 

We watched The Adam Project with our 10-year-old, who loved it; I also enjoyed it a lot, though thought the first half was stronger than the second. 

I think I approach movies differently if watching alone/with adults compared to with my kids - there's something in the experience of enjoying a movie as a family that can make a movie greater than the sum of its parts, or if watching without the sprogs.

Oh, and the sound's pretty decent too; might be time to move the couch further away from the sub!

Watched Batman 2022 at Reading yesterday PM. Was only me and 2 others in the whole Titan XC Cinema. Felt bad for them, good for me and my nervousness about being in a confined space with others.

I really enjoyed it. Easily the darkest of the Batman movies. Not sure about Pattison as Batman but it got better and less jarring as time went on.

Overall, I probably prefer the earlier movies which weren't as dark and a bit more fun, but this definitely has it's place.

Most of the acting was good, to great, but some jarring moments.

It was long but it didn't feel protracted. Not sure what they could have cut to make it shorter that wouldn't have impacted the story.

It's the sort of movie I really enjoyed overall, but couldn't imagine watching again any time soon and wouldn't buy for my personal collection etc.

8/10

CokemonZ:

 

Studio 666 by the Foo Fighters.

 

So a Horror movie about a band in a haunted mansion - and the band is the Foo Fighters.

 

Watched it thinking it would have some cool music - and nope - no music to speak of at all.

 

First 3/4 really enjoyed it, ridiculous over the top horror comedy with some fairly serious practical effects gore moments.

 

Over stayed it's welcome a little bit, but over all enjoyed it. 7/10

 

Agree - watched it last night.

Went a bit longer than it should have but still some laugh out loud moments and some great cameos.

Spiderman No way home say 7 out of 0

Liked it over all, loved seeing the three spider men giving each other pep talks and comparing differences.

Did seem to drag in places and certain bad guys went down too easily while others that shouldn't have been an issue seemed over powered.

Lots of dumb decisions by the main characters.

The Batman (Focal Point Cinemas) - 7.5/10

I got along to see this on Saturday.  A few people have already shared their thoughts, so apologies for doubling on some things.

First off, it is long.  Like others have said, it's not ponderous, and I can't think where I would cut things, but prepare for the long haul with this one.

Secondly, it is intriguing.  Much has been made of the "world's greatest detective" angle, and that's largely true.  Compared with other films in the franchise, they have made an effort to show Batman solving problems with his mind rather than punching them.  But on reflection I think it's a little overblown.  There's a scene relatively early on where, faced with a riddle, Bruce makes a logical leap that I couldn't see justified based on what we were shown.  It felt like a plot-driven jump rather than being wowed by his intellectual prowess.  Overall, he follows the clues and works more like a detective than others (looking at Batfleck here), but I think it's similar to the approach shown with Christian Bale's Batman.

Speaking of the actors, I was really worried about Robert Pattinson as Batman.  I was no fan of Ben Affleck as Batman, but the sparkly goth vampire from Twilight didn't inspire me.  The trailers reinforced this concern.  So here's an admission - I was wrong, partly.  R Patz as Batman works.  He manages to bring a physicality which feels right for the character, without looking like a wrestler like Ben Affleck did.  His batsuit is on point, and feels useful without being unnecessarily showy.  Little touches like his combat boots, feel practical rather than for show.  The violence of the character is forceful, with a hint of rage but generally not uncontrolled.  He pulls his punches, and shows that he understands the purpose behind his methods.

However, I thought he was completely wrong as Bruce Wayne.  It's not a revelation to note that the role is actually two parts, and it's rare to find an actor who can bridge both.  My personal favourite actor in the role is Christian Bale, but I will admit that he got Bruce Wayne better than he did Batman, which felt a little scrawny to me, and fight scenes weren't entirely believable (especially in the Dark Knight Rises).  R Patz is the opposite.  His Batman is good, but his moody, broody, emo with an affected fringe just doesn't resonate as a wealthy billionaire like Bruce Wayne.  I get that he's only 2 years into his crusade, and he's still grieving over the death of his parents, but I just couldn't buy him as a billionaire.

The duality of the character is one of the most fascinating things about him, but that isn't really captured here (whilst Christopher Nolan captured it perfectly in his trilogy).  Lots of people have written how Batman is the real personality, whilst Bruce Wayne is the mask.  But Robert Pattinson doesn't seem to get that, and his Bruce Wayne feels all wrong.  Fortunately, he only appears in about 20% of the film.

The next major character is Gotham City.  It's as moody and broody as the billionaire, with a perpetual rain that drenches the film and makes it feel like it's one incident away from imploding.  Gotham is as integral to the story as Batman, and I think they got it pretty right here, given the story they were telling.  It is literally dark, though, and some scenes are hard to see.  But, for my screening at least, not as bad as Game of Thrones season 8.

The rest of the main cast are excellent - Paul Dano as Riddler, Colin Farrell as Penguin/Oswald Cobblepot, Jeffrey Wright as Gordon, Zoe Kravitz as Selina Kyle, John Turturro as Falconi.  There aren't really any weak spots in the cast.  But the Riddler was really well rendered.  I saw a few reviews that comapred Dano's performance to Heath Ledger's as Joker.  That might be going a bit too far, but there are similarities in the approach.  I'm currently watching the 1966 show with my 7 year old daughter, so I'm revisiting the classic, "camp" villains.  When the Tim Burton movies came out, Jack Nicholson's Joker was heralded as a sea-change for the character, but over time I've come to see that as an update of the TV villain, and still had campy overtones.  Even more so, with Jim Carrey's Riddler.  But then the Dark Knight came out and Heath Ledger showed us a different kind of Joker, one that was about chaos and disruption, and he wasn't campy at all - he was genuinely scary.  Paul Dano's Riddler does the same kind of thing, but I think the impact isn't quite as big as with Ledger's Joker.  The thing that I found scary was the ideology behind the actions, and that hit much closer to home in light of events in the last few years in particular.

Would I watch it again?  Maybe, but it's a long film so it's a big commitment.  There's almost no moments of levity in the film, which makes it exhausting with it's grim-dark tones.  But I would be interested to see where they go with a sequel.

ENCANTO (2021) Disney Plus 8/10.

As this was a 2022 Oscar Winner in the Best Animated Feature category, I thought that I'd have a look. I had previously seen LUCA 8/10 and RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON 6/10 which were also nominated in the same category.

I would have to say that ENCANTO probably just beat LUCA by a nose. Stunning visuals,  with wonderfully rich colours, some catchy songs and an interesting storyline; make this film another animated hit for the Mouse House.