House of Gucci (2021) Review

So with Oscar season coming around the films that are expected to compete for the major awards are set to be released and House of Gucci has come out and I have watched it, so here is my review for it. The premise of the film sees the rise of an ambitious woman as she infiltrates The Gucci family and organisation. 

Main Character

Lady Gaga has been gaining rave reviews for her performance as Madame Gucci and she is really good here. She plays this aggressive person really well and you see just how manipulative she can become in order to get what she wants. She does have a presence on the screen and there is no denying that your eyes are drawn to her during the film. I am not sure this is the groundbreaking performance that I was expecting but there is no denying that she does a really good job and considering she was just a singer a few years ago it is very impressive. 

Supporting Characters

In terms of acting the star for me was Adam Driver playing her husband. This guy has so much range as an actor that he can go from the bad guy in a Star Wars film to a kind of calm and measured powerful man in this film. Their dynamic is really good and I think both of them do a really great job of building the dynamic in the film. Jared Leto looks almost unrecognisable in the film but has some pretty good lines. He sometimes comes across as a caricature but he manages to balance it just well enough to be a fun part of the film. Al Pacino and Jeremy Irons play senior members of the Gucci family and they are obviously very good, Pacino in particular has a strong presence in the film and is an intriguing aspect of the overall story.  Salma Hayek has a smaller role in the film and she also does a decent job though it is a slightly weird role that comes out of nowhere. 

Story 

The story is really interesting in seeing the rise of the Gucci brand and all of the moving parts that take place in a massive company like this. All the actors play their role well and the family dynamic with real trust issues taking place between the characters. But this isn't the story I was really expecting, it feels like a long build up to the really interesting stuff which we never get to see. It focuses on so many broad subjects that it seems to struggle to focus on the more engaging parts of the plot. 

Script

The script is good, there is drama, intrigue and bits of humour there. It never becomes confusing when it really could of with all the business jargon But I felt like it never hit the top in terms of the dialogue, its good but its not great and for a film that I expected huge things from that is a let down. 

Style 

The film looks fantastic, it feels really glamorise just like the lifestyle that these people and organisation had in real life. The choice of song and music really added to the feel of the film, and changed the dynamic compared to the scenery of the film. But the film is way too long, the runtime really holds the film back and I thought it could have done with a shorter runtime that really focused on the more interesting parts of the story. 

Overall   

Overall, House of Gucci is a good film. It falls short from being a film of the year contender but if you are interested in this story of the rise of a fashion empire then go and watch it. 

Rating - 7/10

Red Notice (2021) Review

Over the years Netflix has been getting bigger and bigger and Red Notice is the biggest film project that they have ever done and I have now watched it and here is my review for it. The premise of the film sees a police profiler have to work with a thief to clear his name. 

Main Character

Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson plays the lead character and he is exactly what you would expect. He is charming and cracking one liners left right and centre as you would expect by Johnson as he is a pro at doing just this. But I just feel like this is expected by now and the actual character here is really dull, I know this isn't a film to be taken too seriously but I just need some more character depth or else this is just another Dwayne Johnson action film with no substance. 

Supporting Characters 

Ryan Reynolds plays the thief in the film and I kind of feel similar with is performance. He is entertaining as he pretty much is in everything with one liners a plenty and the two of them have some decent chemistry. His character is handled better but it still leaves quite a bit to be desired and the humour was the thing that was chosen instead. Gal Gadot plays the antagonist and she seems like she is having a lot of fun. It did feel like something different for her as an actress and it made her performance stand out more to me then the other two more prominent characters in the film. Ritu Arya from The Umbrella Academy plays an interpol agent and she is functional but I guess I wanted to see more of her and what really motivated her to the plot of the film.

Story  

The story of the film has some fun and exciting set pieces with decent chemistry between Johnson, Reynolds and Gadot with the situations that they are placed in. But the film is so generic that it makes the whole thing worse. If you have watched some films you have seen plenty of story elements from this film and then they throw in a twist that makes little sense just to try and spice up the story a bit more. 

Script

The script has some funny lines and interactions in it, which considering this is a film that sees Dwayne Johnson and Ryan Reynolds share the screen you would expect that. But the film is pretty illogical and the drama falls really flat that by the end I kind of wondered what was the entire point of it overall. 

Style 

The film does have some good action scenes, they are fun and have lots of great stunt work and action co-ordination in tact. But there is just something a bit off, the pacing is okay though I think even the style is quite generic and it hurts the overall feel of the film. 

Overall

Overall, Red Notice is an average film. Despite the A List cast and heavy financial backing it falls short and needed better writing and creative decisions being made. 

Rating - 5/10

Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) Trailer Review

It has been highly anticipated for a few days now that we would be getting a new Spider-Man: No Way Home and it has hit the internet and I am going to review it as there is plenty to discuss. 

It seems like Doctor Octopus is defeated by Spider-Man 

The first trailer showed an encounter between Doctor Otto Octavious and Tom Holland's Spider-Man and we get more of it here. First of all Otto finds out that this is not his Spider-Man and then he is locked up. It also seems like he isn't being fully evil here and may even be somewhat an ally and continue his redemptive arc that started in the original Spider-Man 2. 

Doctor Strange wants the villains to face their fate. 

Strange and Octavious reveals that they know of the fate of the villains to Spider-Man. Strange claims that all the villains die fighting their Spider-Man, even though that isn't technically true. It shows why in scenes it seems like Strange is against Peter Parker and that is because he wants to return them whereas Peter wants to save them from dying.

Doctor Octopus seems to get a Stark Tech upgrade 

There's a shot where Octavious arms transform with a more red design and my theory is that this is some Stark Tech he has been able to find. The question is when he gets this upgrade and how exactly it plays into the film. 

Electro's new design is great and he actually seems normal.

One of the biggest criticisms of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is Jamie Foxx's weird performance as Max Dillon/Electro so I wasn't overly excited about his casting here. But the blue head is gone and replaced with a costume similar to the one seen in The Spider-Man PS4 game, I mean it even has the Star shaped head piece. He also has dialogue that seems normal, so hopefully this is the version of Electro that people end up remembering. 

Electro seems to be fighting Doctor Octopus

I only noticed this on my second watch, but the scene where Electro is talking and shoots the bolt of lightning it hits a building with Doctor Octopus on. Is this a trailer trick? Or does this prove that Otto is trying to take down the other villains too and Electro is fighting him. 

Willem Dafoe is back as Green Goblin 

Now this was already confirmed but we finally hear dialogue from Willem Dafoe's Norman Osbourne but we see The Green Goblin in all of his glory. Personally I am still not a huge fan of this costume but the colour seems to be less vibrant and I guess it does fit the iconic role so I still am really glad to see him here. 

Sandman and Lizard are now confirmed too

The next two villains seen in the trailer are Lizard and Sandman looking just like they did in their respective films. They are seen teaming up with Electro which is interesting as potentially those three team up thus leading to a Sinister Six type of team up. 

The trailer recreates the best scene in The Amazing Spider-Man 2

So as everybody knows by now The Amazing Spider-Man 2 sees Gwen Stacy fall to her death with Peter attempting to save her and this trailer straight up copies it. MJ falls from a building and Peter tries to go after here and it is clear as day that this is meant to remind us of this moment. No my theory is that this is where Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man turns up and saves MJ, making up for not saving Gwen in his own film. 

No Tobey Maguire or Andrew Garfield 

It is pretty common knowledge that along with the returning villains, we will be getting some returning heroes. Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's versions of Spider-Man are going to be in the film but Marvel Studios haven't showed any footage of them yet which is a great thing as the first time I want to see anything with them is when I watch the film in the cinema. 

Overall

Overall, this trailer is fantastic and it is full of so much nostalgia and characters getting another go at things that I am hopeful that this film truly delivers as the hype is at top levels for it. 

Marvel Studios announce New TV Series for Disney+

It was a relatively quiet Disney+ day compared to last year but Marvel Studios didn't go down quietly and announced new shows that will be hitting the streaming service over the next few years. I will go through them here and give my thoughts on them. 

Echo 

The first one is Echo. This has been reported for a few months now but it was confirmed that this show was coming. Echo is a deaf superhero who will be played by Alaqua Cox, she is set to make her debut in Hawkeye which means that Marvel has some big plans for her. Honestly, I know very little about the character so I have few thoughts on it but hopefully she becomes a fan favourite. 

Agatha: House of Harkness 

This news was leaked recently but it is now confirmed that Kathryn Hahn will reprise her role as Agatha Harkness for her own spinoff show. I am much more excited about this show, Hahn was fantastic in Wandavision and because her characters true motivations were revealed so late there, I think there is plenty to work with. I would like to see some more of her backstory and a little bit of redemption would also be cool. 

X-Men '97

Another piece of really exciting news was that the iconic X-Men animated series that run in the 90's is being revived with a new series. I watched this show almost religiously as a youngster and this is really the first step with The X-Men under the Disney flagship. My main request is that the iconic theme song is back as else it will feel a bit hollow. 

Spider-Man: Freshman Year

Another animated show that was announced is a new Spider-Man one called Freshman year and honestly this is the one I am least excited about. The show is meant to show the early days of Peter Parker as he becomes Spider-Man, but do we really need another Spider-Man property? This just feels like a rehash and for me this show will have to do something pretty special to make it stand out. 

Marvel Zombies

The last show announced is one more animated show and this one has been teased already in What If? Marvel Zombies was a really fun and interesting episode of that show but I am not sure I am exactly convinced by a whole show. It will be interesting to see if it connects to the episode of What If? or whether it is going to start off fresh, personally I hope for a fresh start with the occasional episode involving Zombies in the main show. 

Overall

Overall, there are some exciting projects here but it does feel like a bit of a step down from the other Disney+ group of shows. There isn't any show here that has me as excited as other shows such as Loki, Ms Marvel and Moon Knight. Hopefully these shows can really deliver and keep The MCU rolling for years to come. 

Eternals (2021) Review

After what feels like forever, Marvel Studios newest characters The Eternals have come to the big screen and I have watched the film today and here is my review for it. The premise of the film documents the story of thousand year old powered individuals and their fight against their sworn enemies The Deviants. 

Main Character

Gemma Chan plays Sersi and she is the main character here and she is fine. Chan does an effective job in the role and she is just a decent character. She is by no means the best Marvel lead protagonist but considering this is a real ensemble cast she fits in very effectively. Richard Madden plays Ikaris and I thought he was great, it took me time to get on board with his character but he really starts to thrive as the film progresses and you learn more about him and his motivations makes him stand out from the rest of The Eternals. 

Supporting Characters

Angelina Jolie plays Thena and I thought she was effective here. She is basically the films Wonder Woman and thus has some good action scenes but she has an interesting character that is somewhat developed and obviously Jolie can pull this off well. Kumail Nanjiani and Brian Tyree Henry are more of the comic relief and they are really good at it and they are just fun additions to the cast. Lauren Ridloff is really good too and she is really important as the first deaf actress to play a superhero and it feels like an important moment here. Barry Keoghan as Druig is a really effective character, he plays it really well and I really liked the twists and turns that were given to his character. Salma Hayek & Kit Harrington are also good in their smaller roles here and I kind of wish we could have spent more time with Harrington in particular. 

Story 

The individual stories for each member of The Eternals are well done, Ikaris, Thena and Druig in particular have really good arcs and make them interesting characters. The whole romance dynamic between Ikaris and Sersi is also really well done too and made it a romance that I actually cared about in The MCU. It has nuance in its storytelling and the motivations of different groups and people is well handled and made me care. But this film has a few too many characters in it and it does slow down the story telling, I also thought the whole ending sequence was a bit lacklustre and fails to deliver completely on the epic levels it should have. 

Script

The script has some chuckle worthy moments and some complexity too it when it comes to a few of its characters. But it falls short of doing enough to really make you care about the overall situation, it seems so large scale but at times the dialogue is rigid and it digs its heels in, especially in the past scenes. 

Style 

The film looks brilliant. The CGI is breathtaking and the action scenes are fantastically made and flow incredibly well. The film is 2 and a half hours and it didn't feel too long for me and it felt like an appropriate length. But the pacing of the film gets let down due to its editing of the plot, it jumps all over time periods and it feels very choppy which did make the film feel disjointed with its feeling. 

Overall

Overall, Eternals is a good film. It has a hard job of introducing so many new characters and story elements to an established universe, it has issues but overall I saw this as a pretty positive experience. 

Overall - 7/10

The Book of Boba Fett (2021) Trailer Review

Ever since The Mandalorian season 2 finished I have been anticipating the return to the Star Wars live action world and finally we have a trailer for the upcoming series The Book of Boba Fett. Boba Fett is one of the most underused characters in the Star Wars universe and finally we are going to see a show where he is given centre stage. The trailer came out yesterday and here are the main things that I noticed. 

Boba Fett has officially taken over Jabba The Hutt's empire

In the post credit scene of The Mandalorian season 2, we saw Boba Fett kill Bib Fortuna and sit in the throne that belonged to Jabba The Hutt. The trailer makes it clear that Boba no longer sees himself as a Bounty Hunter but as this criminal leader and he inherits the issues with that as well.

He is looking to unite the criminal organisations

The trailer makes it clear that Boba does not want to rule like Jabba, he wants to unite the criminal empires through respect. We have seen these criminal organisations such as Crimson Dawn and The Pike Syndicate in other films and shows so it will be interesting to see if they get involved in the show. 

Boba seems to have healed up since The Mandalorian. 

When we meet Boba in The Mandalorian, he was looking a bit pale and weak physically even when he got his famous armour back. But here he looks reinvigorated and back to his brutal and fighting self which is great to see. 

Boba and Fennec are going to be fun to watch

We saw Boba Fett and Fennec Shand team up in The Mandalorian Season 2 and they are back together in this show with her being his closest ally. From the small scenes we have seen Morrison and Ming-Na Wen have great chemistry and I can't wait to see the two of them working together, more on screen. 

We could see how Boba escaped The Sarlacc

It was never completely addressed how Boba Fett survived his apparent demise in Return of The Jedi but we could see it here. We see a shot of Tusken Raiders and Boba had a Gaffi Stick in The Mandalorian so it is a possibility that they help rescue him. 

Basically The Godfather in space

Already since the trailer has been revealed the comparison to The Godfather has been there and it is pretty apt. Boba is clearly going to face resistance, though we aren't exactly sure who the antagonists of the show is and whether it will link to the greater Star Wars universe.

Overall 

Overall, This trailer for The Book Of Boba Fett doesn't exactly reveal too much but it sets the tone and does a really good job at that and I am really looking forward to watching this show ever week.