2017 Douglas Smith, Lucien Laviscount, Cressida Bonas
January's horror offering The Bye Bye Man has been getting a lot of flak lately, but luckily i'm here to tell it's honestly not all that bad....sort of.
The film centres around 3 friends who rent an off campus house for their college year and accidentally discover a curse linked to the titular character.
After a violent and pretty jolting opening sequence I went into the film with expectations above average. The scene involved a suburban neighbourhood in the 80's under siege by a man with shotgun apparently trying to 'stop him'. This set the bar quite high and made me instantly curious too learn more about just what exactly was he trying to stop.
After being buried for decades the curse is let looses once again by the trio when one of them sees the name written on a piece of furniture. The seeing and thinking of this name is meant to make the curse grow stronger and bring The Bye Bye Man closer to you.
Now The Bye Bye Man never visits his victims alone, he has his faithful hell hound with him at all times. Unfortunately this creature is made up of some of the worst CGI iv seen in years, seriously 1980's Ghostbusters looks masterful compared to this!
Another problem was that there seemed to be no clear 'rules' as to when he might appear, curses always have rules! The sound of a coin dropping, scratching on walls and loss of time all fell into the same category and felt like they just happened for the sake of whatever scene they appeared in. If the director stuck to one sign and hammered it home, this would have been much more effective. These moments did supply some good creepy scenes though, a few red herrings thrown in here and there but nothing totally original. I think that was the main gripe with this film, there were good things on offer here but most had been done better by similar films or the scares were executed at the wrong times.
The best and most interesting thing about this film was the way in which it's characters were tied to the curse. The Bye Bye Man preyed on their weaknesses and insecurities. Watching the systematic breakdown of their confidence was as chilling as it was entertaining. Illusions would fool the characters, making the trio turn on each other, become jealous and sometimes even violent. This created a great sense of paranoia and a solid 'who done it' feel to things.
Unfortunately for all these twists, turns and second guessing The Bye Bye Man failed to deliver on the main point of a horror film, the scares. His character was more behind the scenes than trailers and marketing implied, this left the focus one the main cast. It was because of this that when he did appear I felt more intrigued as to what he would finally do having caught up to someone rather than feeling scared.
The Verdict
The Bye Bye man certainly wasn't the train wreck most people said it was, treading familiar ground with some tweaks here and there it certainly wasn't original. Strong characters and a few memorable moments couldn't quite outweigh poor CGI and a sometimes overwritten villain.
2.5/5
Showing posts with label Film. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Film. Show all posts
Friday, 20 January 2017
Monday, 15 August 2016
Review: The Boy
2016 Lauren Cohan, Rupert Evans, Jim Norton, Diana Hardcastle
American nanny Greta travels to England to care for an elderly couple's son. She gets quite the shock when supposed son Brahms turns out to be a life sized doll with a strict set of rules to follow. Greta dismisses this as nonsense at first until strange and unexplainable events lead her to believe that the doll may hold terrible secrets...
The Boy delivers many a creepy moment from start to finish, slowly but surely ratcheting up the tension and suspense. Brahms is a truly memorable character, he has the ability to be completely terrifying and almost threatening without even moving. As an audience you are constantly on edge trying to catch a glimpse of something, a blink or a simple nod of the head, anything to validate your fear of this doll. The film has a handful of jump scares but where it succeeds most is in the way it conveys it's sombre tone. The film may very openly advertise itself as a horror film but amongst the scares there are elements of tragedy, loss and the way we try and cope with grief. Director William Brent Bell has taken great care to make this a thought provoking watch as well as a spooky experience.
The setting of the film plays greatly to it's strength, the old England manor house is vast and although Greta could wander it's lengthy halls at her will, there was still a sense of her being a prisoner there. Being set in such a clique haunted house scenario does lead to some predictable 'jump scare moments', the slamming door, creaking stairs and shadowy figure are something horror fans have seen one hundred times or more.
Once you think you have Bramhs all figured out the film has a few more surprises in store. This final act caught me completely off guard and was such a treat, the slow and suspenseful tone is switched for a breakneck fight for survival. The plot is not sacrificed even here though, all the missing pieces are revealed and it is up to the audience to put all those pieces together.
The Verdict
Clique as it may be in parts, I found myself pleasantly surprised and really revelled in the dark and suspenseful tone. Acting was solid across the board and Bramhs is an excellent and memorable horror character.
The Boy may not win any awards for originality, but what it does offer is a tense, unpredictable and well crafted mystery with an excellent pay off.
3/5
American nanny Greta travels to England to care for an elderly couple's son. She gets quite the shock when supposed son Brahms turns out to be a life sized doll with a strict set of rules to follow. Greta dismisses this as nonsense at first until strange and unexplainable events lead her to believe that the doll may hold terrible secrets...
The Boy delivers many a creepy moment from start to finish, slowly but surely ratcheting up the tension and suspense. Brahms is a truly memorable character, he has the ability to be completely terrifying and almost threatening without even moving. As an audience you are constantly on edge trying to catch a glimpse of something, a blink or a simple nod of the head, anything to validate your fear of this doll. The film has a handful of jump scares but where it succeeds most is in the way it conveys it's sombre tone. The film may very openly advertise itself as a horror film but amongst the scares there are elements of tragedy, loss and the way we try and cope with grief. Director William Brent Bell has taken great care to make this a thought provoking watch as well as a spooky experience.
The setting of the film plays greatly to it's strength, the old England manor house is vast and although Greta could wander it's lengthy halls at her will, there was still a sense of her being a prisoner there. Being set in such a clique haunted house scenario does lead to some predictable 'jump scare moments', the slamming door, creaking stairs and shadowy figure are something horror fans have seen one hundred times or more.
Once you think you have Bramhs all figured out the film has a few more surprises in store. This final act caught me completely off guard and was such a treat, the slow and suspenseful tone is switched for a breakneck fight for survival. The plot is not sacrificed even here though, all the missing pieces are revealed and it is up to the audience to put all those pieces together.
The Verdict
Clique as it may be in parts, I found myself pleasantly surprised and really revelled in the dark and suspenseful tone. Acting was solid across the board and Bramhs is an excellent and memorable horror character.
The Boy may not win any awards for originality, but what it does offer is a tense, unpredictable and well crafted mystery with an excellent pay off.
3/5
Tuesday, 8 March 2016
Review: Sicario
2014 Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin, Benicio Del Toro
Emily Blunt plays Kate Mercer, an ambitious FBI agent who is recruited by a secretive task force to aid in the escalating war against drugs at the border area between the U.S. and Mexico.
It is on this task force she meets the mysterious mercenary known only as Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro) and tries to get gain more intel on him whilst trying to serve her country.
Right from the outset we are introduced to Kate and forced to walk her shoes as she discovers with the help of her team more than a dozen dead hostages stuffed inside the walls of a mexican drug den. Kate is seen vomiting later outside the den which instantly humanises her and makes you feel closer to her as a character.
This could be said about alot of the characters in Sicario, you felt the sense of trust, mistrust and even danger when they were on screen. A great decision by the director was one to let the audience discover things at the same pace as Kate, there weren't many cut away shots or back story and this made for a gripping watch.
The action in Sicario was a perfect blend of tense and hard hitting. There is a scene early on in the film where Kate and her newly acquired team are escorting a felon through Mexican border traffic and are suddenly caught in a gridlock. With every vehicle around them a potential threat this was a brilliantly crafted scene that saw nail biting tension slowly and painfully give way to violence, easily one of the best action scenes in recent memory.
I loved the stripped back feel to alot of the action sequences, the violence wasn't glorified but rather a means to an end for the characters. The director wanted to show us real situations, with real danger and real consequences.
I can definitely recommend this film if you like great character driven drama with a slow build and an excellent payoff. This one had me thinking for days after the credits rolled.
The Verdict Sicario was criminally overlooked by audiences when it was released because it wasn't what they were expecting. Many expected a hard hitting action film with multiple explosions, this is a shame because what we have here is a beautifully crafted, tense and very personal character driven crime drama.
4/5
Emily Blunt plays Kate Mercer, an ambitious FBI agent who is recruited by a secretive task force to aid in the escalating war against drugs at the border area between the U.S. and Mexico.
It is on this task force she meets the mysterious mercenary known only as Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro) and tries to get gain more intel on him whilst trying to serve her country.
Right from the outset we are introduced to Kate and forced to walk her shoes as she discovers with the help of her team more than a dozen dead hostages stuffed inside the walls of a mexican drug den. Kate is seen vomiting later outside the den which instantly humanises her and makes you feel closer to her as a character.
This could be said about alot of the characters in Sicario, you felt the sense of trust, mistrust and even danger when they were on screen. A great decision by the director was one to let the audience discover things at the same pace as Kate, there weren't many cut away shots or back story and this made for a gripping watch.
The action in Sicario was a perfect blend of tense and hard hitting. There is a scene early on in the film where Kate and her newly acquired team are escorting a felon through Mexican border traffic and are suddenly caught in a gridlock. With every vehicle around them a potential threat this was a brilliantly crafted scene that saw nail biting tension slowly and painfully give way to violence, easily one of the best action scenes in recent memory.
I loved the stripped back feel to alot of the action sequences, the violence wasn't glorified but rather a means to an end for the characters. The director wanted to show us real situations, with real danger and real consequences.
I can definitely recommend this film if you like great character driven drama with a slow build and an excellent payoff. This one had me thinking for days after the credits rolled.
The Verdict Sicario was criminally overlooked by audiences when it was released because it wasn't what they were expecting. Many expected a hard hitting action film with multiple explosions, this is a shame because what we have here is a beautifully crafted, tense and very personal character driven crime drama.
4/5
Sunday, 10 January 2016
Review: The Revenant
2016, Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Will Poulter
January has always proved difficult for any film released but if there was one film that people were convinced would break this cycle, it was The Revenant.
Inspired by true events (apparently?) Leonardo DiCaprio plays an 18th century frontiersman Hugh Glass who is left for dead by his companions after a horrifying bear attack and a unimaginable betrayal at the hand of his confidant John Fitzgerald.
The film opens with a stunning action sequence as Indians attack the frontier base in an attempt to steal their pelts. This scene was masterfully shot and at times looked as if it was done in one take. I don't believe that it was but the camera work and clever editing made it so believable and didn't break immersion for a second. This scene really set the tone for the rest of the film and I instantly wanted more.
The acting is top notch across the board, DiCaprio shines in this film and his portrayal of a grief stricken survivor was as believable as it was heartbreaking. He constantly delivered a deeply unsettling performance and clearly had to endure a lot throughout filming. You felt every punch, scrape and fall as his situation went from bad to worse, an exhausting but thrilling watch! Tom Hardy was a good but slightly monotone villain, his performance came across as erratic and his character could deceive those around but also break out into unspeakable acts of violence and cruelty. The sign of a good villain is when you root for them to get their just desserts at the end, Tom Hardy's acting provoked this feeling very early on in the film. The supporting cast were solid all round with a great performance from Will Poulter, glad to see this young British star getting more roles in major films he is one to watch.
The real stars of The Revenant however were the cameramen, they deserve to be paid just as much as the actors for pulling some of the insane and dangerous shots this film has to offer! So many times I found myself asking 'how did they do that one?' these moments became so frequent I no longer cared and just sat back and revelled in what in what was nothing less than visual poetry.
All the acting and camera tricks aside there are problems with The Revenant, some of them rather obvious. The main problem is with the plot, it has a huge low point in it's middle act and just doesn't seem to progress forward in what seems like minutes on end. The pacing of the first third and final act are fine but it really does stumble as it links these together, at least 30 minutes maybe more could have been cut without losing major plot points. Another thing that may put people of is the inconsistent tone, the film has very artistic shot and mixes in dreamlike sequences as the plot pushes forward. These are very distracting and at times felt totally unnecessary, they didn't match up at all with the violent and gritty ending. The ending is another problem, almost 2 and half hours we build up towards the final battle only for it to be riddled with cliques and a cop out 'make up your own mind' final scene.
The Verdict
The Revenant is a visual and technical triumph and will undoubtedly be talked about for years to come. It has a strong cast and some memorable action sequences. It is held back from greatness however due to it overly long runtime, inconsistent tone/ideas and limp-wristed finale. Is 2016 finally Leo's year? That remains to be seen...
3/5
January has always proved difficult for any film released but if there was one film that people were convinced would break this cycle, it was The Revenant.
Inspired by true events (apparently?) Leonardo DiCaprio plays an 18th century frontiersman Hugh Glass who is left for dead by his companions after a horrifying bear attack and a unimaginable betrayal at the hand of his confidant John Fitzgerald.
The film opens with a stunning action sequence as Indians attack the frontier base in an attempt to steal their pelts. This scene was masterfully shot and at times looked as if it was done in one take. I don't believe that it was but the camera work and clever editing made it so believable and didn't break immersion for a second. This scene really set the tone for the rest of the film and I instantly wanted more.
The acting is top notch across the board, DiCaprio shines in this film and his portrayal of a grief stricken survivor was as believable as it was heartbreaking. He constantly delivered a deeply unsettling performance and clearly had to endure a lot throughout filming. You felt every punch, scrape and fall as his situation went from bad to worse, an exhausting but thrilling watch! Tom Hardy was a good but slightly monotone villain, his performance came across as erratic and his character could deceive those around but also break out into unspeakable acts of violence and cruelty. The sign of a good villain is when you root for them to get their just desserts at the end, Tom Hardy's acting provoked this feeling very early on in the film. The supporting cast were solid all round with a great performance from Will Poulter, glad to see this young British star getting more roles in major films he is one to watch.
The real stars of The Revenant however were the cameramen, they deserve to be paid just as much as the actors for pulling some of the insane and dangerous shots this film has to offer! So many times I found myself asking 'how did they do that one?' these moments became so frequent I no longer cared and just sat back and revelled in what in what was nothing less than visual poetry.
All the acting and camera tricks aside there are problems with The Revenant, some of them rather obvious. The main problem is with the plot, it has a huge low point in it's middle act and just doesn't seem to progress forward in what seems like minutes on end. The pacing of the first third and final act are fine but it really does stumble as it links these together, at least 30 minutes maybe more could have been cut without losing major plot points. Another thing that may put people of is the inconsistent tone, the film has very artistic shot and mixes in dreamlike sequences as the plot pushes forward. These are very distracting and at times felt totally unnecessary, they didn't match up at all with the violent and gritty ending. The ending is another problem, almost 2 and half hours we build up towards the final battle only for it to be riddled with cliques and a cop out 'make up your own mind' final scene.
The Verdict
The Revenant is a visual and technical triumph and will undoubtedly be talked about for years to come. It has a strong cast and some memorable action sequences. It is held back from greatness however due to it overly long runtime, inconsistent tone/ideas and limp-wristed finale. Is 2016 finally Leo's year? That remains to be seen...
3/5
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