RECENT MOVIE REVIEWS
OVERLORD ■ OVER-LAUDED
OVERLORD could have been awesome, if only it could settle on a particular genre. Fans of SAVING PRIVATE RYAN and BAND OF BROTHERS will likely appreciate the World War II-focused opening. After a parachute drop goes horribly wrong for greenhorn paratrooper Boyce (Jovan Adepo) and the rest of his company, Aussie director Julius Avery quickly leans into some effective and grounded horror imagery.
OVERLORD is, after all, supposed to be a horror movie. Not long after, though, the horror takes a back seat to a mystery that, ultimately, has an underwhelming conclusion. The fact that the action sequences, though hardly original, are the best features of OVERLORD is disappointing. It makes sense that the action works given Avery’s previous inaugural feature effort in Aussie crime caper SON OF A GUN.
In fairness, the lack of horror feels a whole lot less Avery’s problem and more an issue with the story. Despite a mystery that continually promises horrific revelations, the results are tame and the scare moments are far too familiar to have any meaningful impact. With the horror mostly muted, you’re left with a movie that’s more bombastic action. But even that’s in short supply.
On top of this, OVERLORD reeks of a movie that received a budget injection after the fact. There’s too many longwinded dialogue scenes that stall the pace and destroy any built-up tension, but these scenes are spliced with some money-shot moments that suggest budget thrown at the wrong cinematic elements.
While it helps that a solid cast of mostly unknown actors help to carry these dialogue-driven moments, these scenes distract from all three of the more interesting elements of OVERLORD: namely, the occasional action, the sparse horror and the initially compelling mystery.
OVERLORD isn’t terrible. It just could have been a whole lot better if it delivered on the promise of a whacky alternative reality where next-level Nazi experimentation reveals truly horrific results. As it stands, OVERLORD has some great elements, but never truly rises up to be greater than the sum of these dissected parts.
★★ STARS ■ (TBC) ■ 109mins
Review by Nathan Lawrence
SMALLFOOT ■ Different-sized feat
Warner Bros. Animation is more hit than miss but still clearly struggles to consistently delight in the ways that Disney and Pixar do. SMALLFOOT, the latest animated movie from Warner Bros. Animation, underlines this struggle more than ever before, mostly in terms of its tonal confusion.
Y’see, SMALLFOOT is an animated kids movie. It’s also a musical, but it only has a handful of songs. It explores some surprisingly mature content, which means it’s a family-friendly dramedy, of sorts. Then there’s the comedy, where the cleverer stuff works more often than the Looney Tunes-esque slapstickery.
Ultimately, SMALLFOOT is an inversion of the Yeti fable, wherein a society of hidden Yetis encounter their first small-footed human. While a lot of the story structure feels familiar, it’s the unexpected exploration of the potent grey area of absolute truth vs lying to protect the greater good that resonates most. On one hand, this thematic exploration feels oddly mature in a movie primarily aimed at children. On the other, it’s refreshing to see such a complex topic explored thoughtfully and without a cop-out resolution.
Still, despite this, SMALLFOOT is a tonally divided movie that doesn’t effortlessly drift between the highs and lows like more renowned Disney and Pixar movies do. Fans of animated movies should enjoy SMALLFOOT for the most part, but it’s hard to not get lost in what could have been had the creative team settled on exactly what type of movie they wanted.
★★★½ STARS ■ PG ■ 96mins
Review by Nathan Lawrence
CHRISTOPHER ROBIN ■ As sweet as honey
Disney is on fire when it comes to its live-action adaptations of beloved animated things. Part of this is because the House of Mouse has a shrewd eye for matching talented directors with appropriate properties, and this is no different with recruiting Marc Forster to helm CHRISTOPHER ROBIN.
While the simplest pitch for CHRISTOPHER ROBIN is ‘HOOK with Winnie-the-Pooh’, it feels closer to Forster’s earlier FINDING NEVERLAND than Spielberg’s divisive family movie. If you’re familiar with HOOK, you’ll be familiar with the premise for CHRISTOPHER ROBIN, too. The titular character, lovingly played by the always talented Ewan McGregor, leaves Winnie-the-Pooh (and the rest of Pooh’s friends) and commits the cardinal sin of growing up.
The opening backstory moves fast enough, but the rest of the movie plods along like Winnie post honey feast. The G rating also seems to necessitate more of a formulaic story, too, which means CHRISTOPHER ROBIN sticks very closely to tried-and-proven story beats. What separates it from the throng of mundane family-friendly movies is the talented cast, the endearing antics of Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends, as well as the abundance of heart that permeates throughout.
CHRISTOPHER ROBIN isn’t the kind of movie you need to see on the big screen or even need to see more than once. But whether you’re looking for an entertaining family movie, a way to feel like a child again for an hour and a half, or want to be moved to both smiles and tears, CHRISTOPHER ROBIN has the right kind of Disney magic to demand it should be seen.
★★★½ STARS ■ G ■ 104mins
Review by Nathan Lawrence
THE NUN ■ Nun too pleasing
It seems that the creators of THE NUN are all too aware of how unfrightening and unoriginal their movie is. This is made increasingly more evident as you watch a movie whose biggest supernatural feat is to make the 96-minute running time feel like it’s oftentimes excruciatingly long.
You’ll likely start to clue on to the trajectory of lacklustre or even absent scares when you’re laughing more than gasping. The fact the humour is more effective than the scares is concerning. Despite an opening that’s effective in terms of setting a creepy tone, even if it’s not terribly logical in terms of the characters’ motivations, THE NUN quickly descends into a snore-fest with occasional stabs at flirting with wanting to be a gore-fest. This tonal confusion persists throughout.
As a prequel to THE CONJURING movies, there aren’t any surprises to be had, so you should know from the outset that the trio of Nun hunters are fated to fail. There are occasional moments of creepiness, but because the creators lean more into the humour, occasionally bordering on the goofiness of ARMY OF DARKNESS (minus the execution), THE NUN doesn’t deliver on the promise of its pitch: to scare the hell out of you.
There is a silver lining, though. THE NUN is performing well at the box office, and while that would normally be disappointing for the cons listed above, the quality shift between similarly themed spinoffs ANNABELLE (terrible) and ANNABELLE: CREATION (surprisingly sinister) means there’s hope yet that this particular nun can break her tame habits and have a shot at fright-filled redemption in the inevitable sequel.
★★ STARS ■ MA15+ ■ 96mins
Review by Nathan Lawrence
THE SPY WHO DUMPED ME ■ This movie didn’t bond
I’ll admit it: I’m a sucker for a good (or, hey, even a slightly bad) action comedy film. For me, the magic is unleashed in the chemistry of the stars, their ability to use each other to really squeeze
every drop of funny out of a scene and keep it all just that little bit unexpected at times. Mila Kunis and Kate McKinnon are an exceptional comedy duo, and they sell the film’s premise
well: two best friends caught up in the secretive, dangerous world of international spies, thanks to Audrey’s (Kunis) relationship with a seemingly ordinary man. McKinnon is becoming
somewhat typecast as the zany, unpredictable best friend, but she lights up every scene she is in with perfect timing, often the catalyst for the unpredictable outcomes of problems the two
must face.
However, it must be said that they are let down by the package as a whole. This is a film that never truly finds its tone, nor does it fully realise any particular genre: it begins as a straight out
buddy cop-style comedy, before slowing right down into serious spy thriller and finally settling amidst a potluck of action drama with talented comedic actresses trying their best. It is at least
twenty minutes too long to accommodate indulgent, serious dramatic scenes, and it really kills the pace just when you think the ship is righting itself.
Susanna Fogel’s direction is sharp, and the action scenes wouldn’t be out of place in a Bond film. But that’s unlikely to be what the audience expected to see, especially in place of true spy
parody and consistency of humour. Enjoy the effortless comedic genius of Kunis and McKinnon, just don’t expect a particularly fulfilling journey.
★★½ STARS ■ MA15+ ■ 117mins
Review by Catie McHugh
DIE HARD, UHD ■ Christmas in July
Bruce Willis might not consider DIE HARD a Christmas movie but, for many, it’s the Christmas movie. And, really, why shouldn’t it be counted with the collection of other traditional Christmas classics? Dig beneath the surface of a fantastically entertaining action flick and DIE HARD is a movie about family.
John McClane (Willis), estranged from his wife Holly (Bonnie Bedelia), is, after all, seeking to repair his fractured family during the silly season. Beyond the familial fare, DIE HARD is one of the rare textbook examples of a perfect action movie. Director John McTiernan expertly mixes holiday heart and humour with compelling characters, quotable one-liners and inventive action set pieces.
Unlike its more recent sequels, DIE HARD achieves all of this within the confines of what amounts to a single location (for the most part) without ever becoming boring. Listening to the director’s commentary (with some surprisingly fascinating insights from production designer Jackson DeGovia), there’s a fascinating behind-the-scenes story, too. DIE HARD is a movie that the then fledgling McTiernan turned down multiple times before finally accepting the gig, albeit with some strict stipulations.
He wanted a heist movie, not a terrorist flick, so that he could prioritise entertainment over seriousness. McTiernan’s opinion that terrorist movies have to be serious is even more relevant 30 years after DIE HARD’s release. In a heist movie, McTiernan argues, there’s not only room for fun but the audience can get behind the villains, too (to a certain extent).
This is underscored by Alan Rickman’s Hans Gruber: a role the late actor sunk his teeth into and his first American movie, to boot. It’s understandable why it was the beginning of a fantastic career for the late, great Rickman. The 4K transfer, too, adds to the experience, even if it does make it even easier to spot some of the continuity errors (particularly McClane’s partially self-cleaning white singlet).
DIE HARD in 4K is another example of how older movies with an emphasis on practical effects can wow new and old audiences alike decades after their initial release. The lack of special features on the regular UHD version of DIE HARD is somewhat disappointing (limited to a collection of commentaries), but for fans, that shouldn’t act as a deterrent to add yet another version of this iconic action movie to their growing UHD library.
★★★★★ STARS ■ M ■ 132mins
4K UHD Blu-ray IN STORES NOW
Review by Nathan Lawrence
SKYSCRAPER ■ $125M DIE HARD fan flick
DIE HARD has become its own genre. It’s used as an elevator-pitch comparison to similarly framed action movies. For instance, SPEED is ‘DIE HARD on a bus’. THE ROCK is ‘DIE HARD on Alcatraz’. OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN is ‘DIE HARD in the White House’. And so on. SKYSCRAPER fits into this mould, too, but the trick is that, when simplified, it’s ‘DIE HARD in a high-tech building’… which is redundant, because that is DIE HARD.
The more accurate description, then, becomes SKYSCRAPER is ‘DIE HARD with Dwayne Johnson’. That’s not usually a bad thing. Despite a recent misstep with RAMPAGE, Johnson shows he has a keen eye for crowd-pleasing roles. In SKYSCRAPER, he plays Will Sawyer, a security specialist who’s tasked with appraising the security of a towering skyscraper called The Pearl.
He brings his wife, Sarah (Neve Campbell), and two kids along to check out the soon-to-be-opened tourist attraction when it’s attacked by the typical nefarious types. Make no mistake, you’ve seen this type of movie dozens of times before in terms of familiar familial stakes and cookie-cutter baddies, but it’s SKYSCRAPER’ self-awareness that stops it from being a mere clone.
Johnson’s charisma goes a long way to keeping things firmly in entertainment territory for the vast majority of the movie, while the constantly rising stakes make for some memorable set-piece moments. SKYSCRAPER isn’t the kind of contemporary action movie that’s an instant classic like JOHN WICK or MAD MAX: FURY ROAD, but like OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN, SKYSCRAPER has enough DIE HARD-like good stuff going for it that it’s hard to not get caught up in the fun.
★ STARS ■ PG ■ 102mins
Review by Nathan Lawrence
THE EQUALIZER 2 ■ Equally forgettable
There are many movies that don’t really deserve sequels and, for me, THE EQUALIZER was one of those. The 2014 movie was a big-screen adaptation of a 1985 TV series. While I’m unfamiliar with the series, the biggest problem with original movie is it feels like THE PUNISHER-lite. Hell, even the name seems as though it’s riffing off Marvel’s infamous antihero.
While the 2014 movie had some original action sequences in its pro column, it was hard to shake the reality that it felt like a Punisher knock-off. Plus it was too long. The sequel suffers from the same running-time bloat.
Then there are the odd inclusions that seemingly go nowhere. Returning director Antoine Fuqua reintroduces the SHERLOCK HOLMES-lite fight precognition and wristwatch gimmick of the original, only to ditch it soon after.
Similarly, there are subplot characters that serve little purpose and the baddie reveal is obvious almost immediately. The action sequences feel lazier and, really, it’s only the strong performances of the ever-reliable Denzel Washington and unfortunately underused Melissa Leo that help lift the material beyond boring.
In fairness, I wasn’t a fan of THE EQUALIZER so the chances are good that if you are, THE EQUALIZER 2 will be a better balanced experience for you. For everyone else, though, there’s very little to enjoy in THE EQUALIZER 2, including the mostly by-the-numbers action sequences. Go watch JOHN WICK 2 instead.
★½ STARS ■ MA15+ ■ 121mins
Review by Nathan Lawrence
TRUTH OR DARE ■ TRUTH: Don’t see this
One of my pet peeves is movies that don’t live up to the promise of their pitch. Case in point, TRUTH OR DARE. On paper, TRUTH OR DARE is an interesting enough horror premise. Even the trailers show a movie that could go one of two ways. On one hand, TRUTH OR DARE could be the next IT FOLLOWS or THE RING, given its similar pay-it-forward cursed premise. On the other hand, the trailers also show a movie that has the potential to be a trashy teen horror flick.
The truth is, TRUTH OR DARE is so much more the negative latter than the hopeful former. It hits all of the right beats of a horror movie, but it hits them in awkward and cliché ways, with a cast of forgettable teens who you want to see die more than you hope they’ll live. Thankfully, it doesn’t waste a whole lot of time before it starts killing them off, after the group of fractured friends inadvertently stumble on a cursed game of truth or dare.
One of the bigger setups for the most compelling truth of the group has a pay-off that’s off screen. The other truths are a whole lot less interesting. As for the dares, well, they start off relatively tame, but then take a sharp turn towards ‘kill this person’ before too long. Outside of the lacklustre deaths, cringe-worthy dialogue, and bland characters, the biggest sin of TRUTH OR DARE is that it consistently breaks the rules it sets down.
The ending, at least, is somewhat interesting, but the fact its gunning so hard for an obvious sequel in a movie that doesn’t deserve one takes away a lot of its oomph. Given TRUTH OR DARE was quite clearly made on a budget with a cast of nobodies, hopefully the filmmakers can have a better crack at more interesting characters and exploration of an idea that, on the surface, legitimately sounds pretty damn harrowing… when that inevitable sequel rolls around.
★½ STARS ■ M ■ 100mins
Review by Nathan Lawrence
I, TONYA ■ Blood on the ice
Being late to the review party has its perks, like sighing with relief that Allison Janney deservedly won the Oscar for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in her depiction of godawful mother LaVona in I, TONYA. The thing is, she’s far from the only reason to watch this fantastic movie, even if she demands that all eyes are on her whenever she’s on screen (she’s that good).
In the scenes that Janney isn’t in, Margot Robbie is in charge as the titular Tonya, a character based on the real-life Olympic figure skater caught up in a stranger-than-fiction story of jealousy, dire misunderstandings, and crimes against skater knees. Screenwriter Steven Rogers has presented the familiar tale of the antihero skater in such a compelling way that it’s hard to not stay fully engaged, aside from the odd slow moment.
Director Craig Gillespie helms the story with an obvious sense of confidence and disregard for breaking the fourth wall in a darkly funny crime story that plays out like GOODFELLAS on ice. At the head of the story is Robbie who carries it forward in her warts-and-all portrayal of an underdog character who, despite some of what she says and does, you can’t help but root for. Then there’s Sebastian Stan’s subtly sympathetic portrayal of Tonya’s husband Jeff who you love to hate but yet somehow occasionally feel sorry for.
I, TONYA is a compelling take on one of the greatest Olympic controversies. It effortlessly shifts between dark drama, in-depth character study, and laugh-out-loud hilarity in a way that really shouldn’t work but totally does. If you’re after a movie that ticks all the entertainment right boxes, don’t skate past this.