yesterdanereviews

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Monster Trucks (2016)

Film review #671

Director: Chris Wedge

SYNOPSIS: A young junkyard worker gets a surprise when a strange tentacled creature wanders into the yard to consume oil. He learns that a local oil company is after it after they disturbed its habitat, so the pair team up to rescue the other creatures that have been captured and get them home...

THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: Monster Trucks is a 2016 sci-fi film. When oil company Terravax inadvertently drills into a oil reserve that houses intelligent creatures. Terravax manage to capture two of them, but one escapes to a junkyard where high school student Tripp is working. After befriending the creature, he realises that he can fit the creature in the front of his truck and essentially become an engine for it, and the two team up to try and keep it safe from Terravax security and find it's way home. The story is very much an E.T. and Free Willy story, with nothing new to offer: the creature wants to find it's way home, and the big mean oil company is standing in it's way, these are not novel concepts. Full of clear-cut clichés that barely play out, it is easy to simply tune out of this film, but sticking with it, there is a certain charm the film exudes, and it pulls off it's main premise decently. There's not really much depth to it, but the pre-teen audience it is aimed at might be entertained enough by the sporadic amount of action.

The characters are again a fairly uninteresting bunch: reasonably likeable leads keep the film going, but side characters barely get any mileage out of their appearances. The creature itself is rendered nicely, and is fairly well animated and brought to life. Applying any amount of scrutiny to the plot very quickly unravels any cohesion or reason. For example, the sheer amount of damage Tripp does when he and the creature are on the road includes smashing into other people's cars and crushing a whole row of them in front of a car dealership, but nowhere is it mentioned again, even by the Sherriff who is his Mum's boyfriend. Despite doing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of damage throughout the film, Tripp just ends the film with a brand new truck and goes on his way seemingly with no repercussions. Also, the blatant disregard to any actual physics with how cars handle is something you're clearly supposed to overlook as well. Like I say, the film is for a young audience that aren't going to perform any analysis on the consistency of the plot, but it does ask you to overlook a lot of things that don't make sense.

Overall, Monster Trucks is just another kid's movie that recycles the E.T. and Free Willy formula while contributing little to nothing of it's own. Nevertheless, it does have enough charm and likability in some of it's lead characters to get you through it if you're not turned off. The consistencies of the plot bare very little relation to reality sometimes, but given the young target audience, that can be overlooked. It's just not going to challenge that audience with anything impactful or long-lasting. Monster Trucks is best described as mild entertainment that's stuck in first gear.

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The Devil Conspiracy (2022)

Film review #666

Director: Nathan Frankowski

SYNOPSIS: The Devil Conspiracy is a 2022 sci-fi film. Essentially, the plot concerns the battle between Michael and Lucifer, and a present-day cult seeking to revive Lucifer, leading Michael to take possession of a priest's body to stop them. Sounds like a good old-fashioned religious epic right? The film starts off with an epic battle between Michael and Lucifer, ending with Lucifer being chained up in Hell. I think that's what happened anyway, because it's almost impossible to work out what happens amidst the extremely poor lighting that obviously hides the lack of scenery and the poor CG. Cutting away from this to the present day, we see a woman named Laura visiting her friend father Marconi at the Shroud of Turin on display. Meanwhile, a biotech firm has been successfully able to clone geniuses from history from their DNA, and auctioning the clones off to wealthy buyers, as demonstrated in a sequence in the Sistine Chapel where a child clone of Stradivari gives a violin performance. It's very much Jurassic Park with geniuses instead of velociraptors, and it's a premise that is at least interesting and has potential. However, it never gets mentioned again, as the biotech firm is secretly a Lucifer worshipping cult that wants to get the Shroud of Turin for themselves to get Jesus's DNA, and recreate him as a vessel for Lucifer or something. They kidnap Laura to impregnate her or possess her with Lucifer...or both, it's not really to clear, as she is imprisoned in the cult's secret headquarters to give birth to the child, meanwhile Michael possesses the body of father Marconi, after he is killed during the theft of the Shroud, as he tries to find Laura and the child.

There's obviously a lot of interesting elements that are at play here in the film, between religious epics and sci-fi cloning. Unfortunately when the film settles down, it mostly just revolves around Laura stuck in this barren facility occasionally trying to escape through clinical corridors, and Michael being imprisoned in Hell, and also trying to escape; although it's quite difficult to tell again because of the severe lack of lighting. The core of the movie then just becomes a dull run-around with no real thrills, action or epic battles befitting the subject matter. The acting is less than stellar, the characters are fairly dull, and it drags on for nearly two hours just waiting for Laura to give birth. The worst aspect of the film is probably the lighting, particularly in the sequences in Hell, where you barely see anything that is going on, as mentioned earlier, to obviously obscure the lack of scenery detail and the bad special effects. These scenes are almost impossible to parse and work out just where they are set or what is going on. There's obviously some thought gone into the colour of what little lighting there is to represent different characters, but it's nowhere near enough. I can't really find much positive to say about this film: it has some interesting concepts which it lays out in the outset, then just throws them all away to bring the film to a standstill for the remainder. It is, overall, a dull watch that fails to justify it's runtime.

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Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002)

Film review #670

Director: Jay Roach

SYNOPSIS: British super spy Austin Powers receives word that his Father has gone missing, and must travel back in time to the 1970's to rescue him. Teaming up with undercover FBI agent Foxxy Cleopatra, he investigates the supervillain Goldmember, who has some connection with the disappearance...

THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: Austin Powers in Goldmember is 2002 film and the third in the Austin Powers franchise. The opening sequence sees Austin Powers on the set of a film based on him named "Austinpussy," as we see famous actors playing the roles of all the characters, including Tom Cruise as Austin, Danny Devito as Mini-me etc. with Spielberg directing. This is probably one of the funniest moments of the film: it throws in so many cameos and recognisable faces that it's impossible to divert your attention. The plot proper focuses on Austin learning that his Father has disappeared, and the villain Goldmember is somehow responsible. Travelling back in time to the 1970s, Austin teams up with undercover FBI agent Foxxy Cleopatra to stop Goldmember and unravel the mystery. The film is structured very similarly to the other Austin Powers films: like a series of skits loosely related to each other, and like the other films, some work better than others. On the whole though, the hits always outweigh the misses. Like the second film, Goldmember has a time travel aspect to the story, with Austin travelling back to the 1970's this time instead of the 1960's. The setting doesn't play that much of a part of the film, but it is a little different from the 60's setting of its predecessor. The time travel aspect does make things a bit confusing: often you can have no idea what time period a scene is in, but it's not too much of an issue; you're not watching this film for continuity. It does, however, throw up some new backstory for the characters in surprising ways, even if they barely make sense.

The humour continues the curve of the series with it incorporating more contemporary references and crude humour. As I mentioned in my review of the second film, the first one was very thorough in it's spoofing of James Bond and spy films, so the humour does have to evolve and find new material. It's still got enough of it, but it really becomes the base for other jokes, or to provide call-backs to the previous films. Goldmember leans a lot more into stereotypes and the humour is a bit more mean, and I think it doesn't fit the series sometimes, and the more contemporary humour does make the film seem a little dated watching it in the present. There's still plenty of good things about it and the humour is largely on par with the the other two, I just think there's a few more misses this time around.

Goldmember's new cast are a good all-around addition: Beyoncé as Foxxy Cleopatra works really well, and adds something fresh to the humour and story. Michael Caine as Austin's Father Nigel is a really good choice, and he pulls off the role very well, sometimes being more Austin Powers than Austin Powers. Goldmember, played again by Michael Myers and bringing the characters he plays in the film to four alongside Austin, Dr. Evil and Fat Bastard, doesn't really make much impact as a villain or a character> I remember his "smoke and a pancake" line being infinitely quoted when the film was released, but that's about it. Overall, Goldmember fits nicely into the Austin Powers franchise, and continues its brand of humour. The film is a narrative mess between moving between time travelling and whatnot, but it's easy to overlook that. It changes enough to keep things fresh, but it pushes the humour into more crude and contemporary references that I think narrow it's appeal, and don't connect as easily. Still, however, a perfectly good spoof in keeping with the franchise.

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Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)

Film review #669

Director: Jay Roach

SYNOPSIS: Dr. Evil returns from being frozen orbit with a new plan to defeat his nemesis Austin Powers: he travels to 1969 to steal Austin's "mojo" and render him powerless. Austin chases him back in time, and teams up with CIA agent Felicity Shagwell to once again thwart Dr. Evil's plan for world domination...

THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me is a 1999 film and a sequel to the 1997 Austin Powers film. Picking up right where the first film leaves off, Austin is on his honeymoon with Vanessa, when it turns out she is a fembot and tries to kill Austin. Destroying her and thus restoring his singlehood. Vanessa being a fembot all along makes zero sense in continuity, but like its predecessor, the film is a spoof that insists you don't overthink about continuity and plotholes, and just "enjoy the ride." This also goes for the time travel element of the story, as Basil and Austin turn to the camera, and tell the audience not to worry about it. That's honestly the best way to do it in this type of film: you don't want to get bogged down in the details and be thinking how it makes sense, rather than just enjoying the humour. Taking Austin back in time to 1969 puts Austin in his element, and refreshes the story instead of it being about Austin having to adjust to the 90's again, which is a smart move and provides fertile ground for new material. In fact, I think this film actually flows better than the first one, which jumped around a bit too distinctly and made very little sense continuity-wise.

On the whole, the film is structured the same as the first one: With Michael Myers at the helm and following his experience on "Saturday Night Live," the film is best treated as a series of related, somewhat connected skits. In this way, you can see that the skits are a bit of hit and miss: although the hits outweigh the misses by a good ratio, making an overall good experience. While the first film had the element of Vanessa being the prudish, straight-laced counter to Austin's over-the-top colourful antics, this contrast never really got off the ground as a foundational plot-point, as Vanessa warmed up to Austin fairly quickly. Replacing Vanessa (Liz Hurley) with Felicity Shagwell (Heather Graham), who is just as high-energy as Austin is, allows the film to just revel in what it does best: being colourful and fun.

A noticeable change in this film is that the humour pivots to more crude comedy, and incorporating contemporary references. The first film was very much focused on spoofing spy films and obviously 007, and it was very thorough is getting through all the material to spoof. As such, it makes sense to pivot the humour slightly differently, as it somewhat exhausted it's subject matter. With one of the opening scenes featuring Jerry Springer and his talk show, this obviously feels a bit dated, but you get the idea. The inclusion of the character Fat Bastard, also played by Myers alongside Austin and Doctor Evil, adds in more crude humour, which is not going to appeal to everyone. I think he's a character which has one joke, which is recycled a bit too much. Nevertheless, he has become a rather iconic character, so you're mileage will vary with that. The film also has callbacks to jokes from the previous film, but I think they fail to iterate on them or do anything different, so they feel like recycling the same material.

Overall, I think The Spy Who Shagged Me is more or less on the same level as International Man of Mystery. I think it slightly improves over the original in terms of flow and plot structure, and revels in it's own identity a bit more than focusing on spoofing other films. Where it is weaker is perhaps the incorporation of contemporary references and the crude humour that don't have the more timeless, universal appeal. On the whole though, the film carries the franchise onward well.

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Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)

Film review #668

Director: Jay Roach

SYNOPSIS: Supervillain Dr. Evil is foiled once again by British Agent Austin Powers, and escapes by putting himself into cryogenic stasis in orbit. Austin Powers agrees to be frozen himself, until the time that Dr. Evil returns. Thirty years later in 1997, Dr. Evil remerges, and Austin is reanimated into a very different world from the sixties...

THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery is a 1997 film. The film sees British agent Austin Powers reanimated from cryogenic stasis after his nemesis Dr. Evil has returned via the same method after thirty years. Austin has to readjust to life in the 1990's, as well as stop Dr. Evil's plan for world domination. The film is primarily a spoof of classic spy films; James Bond in particular to the surprise of no one. While the humour is perhaps of little surprise to anyone, in the sense that it is rather easy to poke fun at the 007 formula because it is so formulaic, Austin Powers is very thorough in that you end up feeling they really got as much mileage out of the subject matter as they possibly could have. Flipping the innuendo-based, nudge-nudge-wink of Bond to an openly raunchy and Horny Powers also provides a very different tone, so it doesn't feel stuck in the shadows of it's spoofed subject matter: it can be bright, colourful and funny in it's own way.

Where this film shines strongest is it blends the sixties and nineties quite well, picking up humour and satire from both eras and playing it out well: as such, I think it hit a sweet spot upon release, in that it appealed to an older demographic with the sixties aesthetic, while still having enough modern humour that pokes fun at the older stuff for teens and young adults. Goldeneye in 1995 brought the James Bond films into the modern era by addressing the role of 007 in a post-Cold War world, and Austin Powers somewhat does the same thing, just obviously with a much more comedy-focused approach. I don't think there's anything necessarily new or surprising here that lesser films have done before, but everything is brought together well, and full of colour and energy to make entertaining from start to finish.

The plot in this film is obviously a secondary concern, but taking a closer look at it, the film barely flows at all; it often feels like a set of loosely connected skits featuring the characters. It zips around the different locations and characters without any real regard for continuity, but like I say, it's not too much of a concern. The film is mostly about throwing Austin and Dr. Evil into silly situations, which it does well. Mike Myers plays both the role of Austin Powers and Dr. Evil, sharing a different type of humour with each: Powers with his raunchy, straightforwardness, and Dr. Evil as a parody of Blofeld having to accommodate his evil plans to a world that sees Evil in a different way, and also having to deal with being a father. As I say, it's varied enough to keep things interesting, and when a scene's humour doesn't pay off, it quickly moves onto the next one anyway. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery perhaps treads old ground parodying the oft-parodied spy franchise, but keeps it fresh with it's quick humour that never lingers, and it's variety that appeals across a wide audience. I wasn't blown away by the humour, but it avoids becoming stale at any point, so it's perfectly entertaining from beginning to end.

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Archenemy (2020)

Film review #667

Director: Adam Egypt Mortimer

SYNOPSIS: A homeless vagabond wanders the city, who claims that he is a superhero that has lost his superpowers after arriving from another dimension. He meets a teenage boy who is having trouble with a local crime boss, and the two team up to try and right some wrongs...

THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: Archenemy is a 2020 sci-fi film. A homeless ruffian who calls himself Max Fist claims to be a superhero who lost his powers after arriving on Earth from another dimension. A teenage boy known as Hamster wants to be an investigative journalist, and thus becomes interested in Max Fist's story. However, Hamster and his Sister are in trouble with a local crime boss, and Hamster and Max form an unlikely alliance and friendship as they work together to help one another. The premise of this film is fairly simple, centring around an unlikely friendship that is a familiar tale and easy to grasp, but handles it well for the most part. While the opening relies on a typical setup to establish it's premise and characters, it branches out a bit more later on.

The main issue that pervades this film is around a very poorly written story and script: in the first instance, there's just so much of the story told through exposition and dialogue that just weighs everything down, and breaks the first rule of cinema of showing not telling. As such, the film is constantly slowed down or paused to reel off bloated dialogue, and any sense of momentum is constantly disrupted. Action scenes are competent, but lack the scale and spectacle due to the limited budget. Archenemy has a good idea attached to it, but it's over-reliance on long dialogues and exposition constantly ruin any sense of energy and momentum the film may be able to generate.

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The Gene Generation (2007)

Film review #665

Director: Pearry Reginald Teo

SYNOPSIS: In a dystopian future, Michelle works as assassin while trying to keep her younger brother out of trouble. When he gets into trouble with a ruthless gang, he inadvertently acquires a DNA hacker, a device that can cure any disease by rewriting the victim's DNA. Powerful people apparently want this device, so Michelle gets dragged into he brother...

THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: The Gene Generation is a 2005 sci-fi film. The plot centres around assassin for hire Michelle, who tries to keep her younger Brother out of trouble as he continues to get into bigger trouble. That's the best way I can describe this film: the details are lost amidst the continual circling of this one point. The story opens with some exposition about a device called a DNA hacker, which could cure any disease by rewriting a person's DNA, or it would kill the user if they were not programmed for it's use, which seems like a bit of an odd device. Anyway, for some reason, this has led to a dystopic future where everything is really dark and grim for some reason.

In this dismal world, Michelle is one of the best assassins-for-hire. She tries to keep her younger brother out of trouble, but naturally, he keeps getting into it, and inadvertently comes into possession of the last DNA hacker. Michelle is clearly meant to be a bad-ass, and she does at least get some cool fight scenes. This is clearly meant to be balanced out with the emotional scenes showing her struggle with trying to protect her brother, but the trouble is this seems wholly unbalanced: every other scene we see Michelle weeping that she is unable to protect him, and this constant interruption fails to really establish her character as the bad-ass she is supposed to be. This constant back-and-forth also fails to take the plot anywhere or build tension, as it all just seems like the same cycle of her Brother getting into trouble, and Michelle having to bail him out. There's an overarching story of some villain wanting to use the DNA hacker to resurrect someone, but there's so much other little stuff going on that as mentioned that it gets lost, and the other events of the film barely build up to it.

The world itself is your mid-2000's typical experience, with everyone dressing in leather, and a dystopian world rendered with PlayStation 2-era graphics. Also, everything is dark...really dark; probably so you can't see the CG properly. There's very little to recommend The Gene Generation: the story goes nowhere, the characters are underdeveloped, and everything is just so dark you can barely see half the screen most of the time. There's a few decent fight scenes, but in a post-Matrix world of people in leather beating up other people in leather, it's just not that memorable or unique.

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Bombhaat - The Power of Time (2020)

Film review #664

Director: Raghavendra Varma

SYNOPSIS: Ever since he was born, Vicky has caused everyone around him to experience bad luck. Now a student in robotics engineering, he becomes wrapped up in a malicious plot involving his Professor friend, his daughter, and his own girlfriend...

THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: Bombhaat - The Power of Time is a 2020 Indian sci-fi film. Vicky is a robotics engineering student who has been cursed with bad luck ever since he was born, to the point that his parents don't want him in the house when something important is happening. While he has troubles with his girlfriend, a mad scientist is out to get his Godfather for some sort of evil scheme, dragging Vicky into a whole host of shenanigans. Mixing romance, comedy and science-fiction, Bombhaat is a mish-mash of ingredients that are far too diluted to stand on their own or as a credible story. The romance has the depth of a puddle, the comedy is incredibly bland and never actually stretches to make an actual joke, and the science-fiction is just scraps of different things thrown together, most notably a villain who is a complete cartoon character, and just doesn't fit anything else in the film. It somewhat feels like the filmmakers took inspiration from Jim Carrey's portrayal of Dr. Robotnik in Sonic the Hedgehog, but that's a completely different film with a completely different target audience. I think this film is for young adults, but the comedy is just so bland and timid it lacks any kind of impact.

Vicky's relationship with his Godfather, the scientist who the villain wants to steal his inventions from, definitely tries to emulate a Marty/Doc Brown dynamic from Back to the Future, but has no chance to develop anything meaningful. By the time the film gets to it's actual main plot point concerning the Professor's android daughter that the mad scientist wants to kidnap and sell to military contractors, too much time has passed to rescue the film. There's little moments of flair and style, but nothing overarching, just bits and pieces that always feel out of place. There's a few neat action scenes, but nothing special. Overall I just felt a general sense of boredom watching this film: it really fails to inspire in anyway. The story structure is all over the place, the characters are weak and no coherent style or direction means nothing really sticks.

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Timemaster (1995)

Film review #663

Director: James Glickenhaus

SYNOPSIS: In a post-apocalyptic 2007 United States, young Jesse's parents are kidnapped by a race of time-travelling aliens. He is helped by one of the aliens to rescue them from a game of virtual reality played by the aliens that is fought to the death, and takes the chance to stop the nuclear war that destroyed civilisation in the process...

THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: Timemaster is a 1995 sci-fi film. This is where I'd usually recap the plot of the film but...the big problem with this film is that is simply incomprehensible. The beginning of the film is set in a post-apocalyptic U.S. in 2007 after a soldier went mad in the White House kitchen and launched nuclear weapons. Jesse is living in a desert outpost with his younger sister and their parents. One day some people show up in a spaceship that might be aliens and kidnap Jesse's parents to take part in a virtual reality game in the future. One of the maybe aliens from the future helps Jesse travel through time to rescue his parents and also prevent the nuclear apocalypse. Incorporating time travel into a film's story always runs the risk of complicating it and generating plotholes, and this film suffers from that immensely, even before it introduces the aliens and whatnot. Jesse travels through time to the Wild West, where he saves his Father; or is it actually virtual reality? When he time travels does he inhabit the body of his ancestor, since people seem to recognise him? I honestly can't tell. There is no coherence between the different settings, too many characters, and too many things going on.

This film definitely wants to be the next Back to the Future. The young protagonist makes friends with a much older mentor who allows him to travel through time, including to the past, future and the wild west. That's apparently not enough though, as they also add the whole virtual reality death-game thing as well. Jesse is clearly set up to be the next Marty McFly, but he seems a bit too young and he's not that great of an actor. Although it's clear that he got the role not based on his acting ability, but because he is the son of the director, and actually named Jesse, alongside his on-screen sister also being played by his sister. Isiah, the mentor and obvious Doc Brown equivalent is played by Pat Morita AKA Mr Miyagi from The Karate Kid. His character clearly leans on that mentor role he is most famous for, but his performance here in no way stands up to that, and feels very weak by comparison. Annie is Jesse's romantic interest who he picks up in the Wild West, and who does absolutely nothing in the film beyond following Jesse around; they have no scenes alone, no character development, nothing. I don't know what the point of her character is. Eventually we get into the future or alien world or whatever, where the virtual reality life-or-death game is played. the winners get a blue goo that extends there life, and the losers get turned into the blue goo, with people betting a certain amount of time (in the form of said blue goo) on the matches. You could probably base the whole film around this, but it's just another plot element amongst the mess of others. The Chairman of this sport (if you can call it that) is played by Michael Dorn AKA Worf from Star Trek: The Next Generation. Maybe you won't recognise him without the makeup, but you'll definitely recognise that iconic voice. Unfortunately, his character isn't really fleshed out enough to make a decent villain: we don't really get to know anything about him.

This is, ultimately a kids film, packed with lots of action and adventure, and while it does have a lot of flashy effects and contraptions that would appeal to this audience, it's all too overwhelming to piece together. There is at least one swear word too, so I'm not sure it is meant to be a kids film. Maybe it, again, is trying to emulate Back to the Future by having a bit of an edge, but there's not enough here to do that, especially, as mentioned, that the lead character is too young to really balance being a kid and young adult, like Marty McFly was. Overall, Timemaster is a confusing and haphazard mess, that, despite some recognisable actors, fails to make any of the mish-mash of its ideas stick, or its characters interesting. It comes across as a ploy to get the director's children into an acting career by taking the lead roles; a move that seems to have spectacularly backfired insomuch as James Glickenhaus retired from filmmaking after this film. While seeing stars like Pat Morita and Michael Dorn in the film make it a novelty, that's really the only thing you can get out of this incomprehensible, budget Back to the Future-derivative mess.

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Viral (2016)

Film review #662

Director: Ariel Schulman; Henry Joost

SYNOPSIS: When a parasitic infaction starts to spread in a suburb, the entire town is quarantined, and Stacey and Emma, two sisters, are caught within while their parents are out of town. As people they know are taken over by the parasite, which turns them into aggressive , ravenous monsters, the survivors must find a way to survive...

THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: Viral is a 2016 sci-fi horror film. Stacey and Emma are Sisters that move to a Californian suburb with their parents. When an outbreak of 'worm flu' hits the area, the Sisters are trapped in the quarantine zone, while their parents are away, and must find a way to survive as their neighbours are infected and turn into ravenous, aggressive monsters. Following the typical script of a viral/infected outbreak, the two Sisters must try and survive amidst a host of typical teenage problems. While a low-budget film with not much in the way of flashy setups or large-scale events, the film at least has a coherent narrative focusing on the two sisters, and hinging everything around that. The rest of the teen drama stuff rarely hits home, and lacks a similar investment.

The premise of the film is revealed quite clearly, although perhaps a bit on the nose that Emma and Stacey's Father is a biology teacher who just so happens to be an expert in parasitic infections. While the effects are mostly low key, I found the gore and bodily infections very visceral and disturbing; which is undoubtedly what is intended. While the dynamic between the two sisters drives the story along, other plot elements lag behind, and other characters seem to hang about doing very typical things that don't distinguish them. The film loses its way towards the ending, and I don't think had any real idea what to do to conclude it, so it just...doesn't.

While Viral is for the most part a very typical outbreak horror film, it does provide some entertainment at its core, and some nasty effects to make its atmosphere stick. Outside of that though, there's not much that is memorable or interesting amidst the many other films like it.

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Kalki 2898 A.D. (2024)

Film review #661

Director: Nag Ashwin

SYNOPSIS: In the year 2898 A.D., a post-apocalyptic Earth is ruled by the supreme ruler Yaskin from The Complex: the last surviving city on Earth. Ashwatthama, who has been cursed to wander the Earth as an immortal for six thousand years, meets a young girl named Raia, who escapes being taken to The Complex. She unknowingly brings him the gem from his forehead that was taken all those years ago, and when he places it back where it belongs, finds out that a woman is bearing the prophesised Kalki, who will bring about a new age. The two then seek out to find this woman and protect her from Yakin's evil forces...

THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: Kalki 2898 A.D. is a 2024 Indian sci-fi epic. As a starting point, the film is heavily based around the rich Hindu scriptures and religious texts, featuring various figures and events. It's not wholly necessary to know about them in order to get into this film, as you can get the general gist of the characters and the backstory, but it definitely feels overwhelming at the beginning of the film if you know next to nothing about it (like me). Essentially, the film is set in the year 2898, in a post-apocalyptic wasteland that you've seen in many times before, so that part is at least familiar. Ashwatthama, an immortal who has been cursed by Kirshna to wander Earth for six thousand years after attempting to kill the princess Uttawa's child, and his divine gem is taken from him. Having to watch humanity's decline over that period, Ashwatthama is reunited with his divine gem by a chance encounter with a young girl named Raia, he learns that the prophesised child Kalki, is to be born to a pregnant woman, and heads out to protect her, as Kalki is destined to usher in a new age for humanity. If I had to compare it to Western cinema releases, I would say it's a mix of Mad Max, Marvel's Avengers, and The Lord of the Rings. It's made to be an epic, featuring a large cast of characters, large scale structures, locations, battles, the works. Clocking in at nearly three hours, it's a fairly standard runtime for Indian cinema, but definitely the kind of runtime reserved for the aforementioned epics in Western cinema. The world is established fairly well, alongside the situation of the people living there. Again, it might be fairly typical if you're used to western cinema, but it is something less undertaken in Indian films, and I think the incorporation of Hindu scripture helps with that transition.

The problem with the film is that there are too many disparate characters that the film introduces, and spends the first half of the film wandering about the world as the characters bump into each other rather aimlessly. As mentioned, the world is established decently enough, but there's not too much direction with regards to what we are supposed to be doing there. The second half of the film brings things together more, towards a finale filled with epic battles and a showdown with the villain. The epic battle between two opposing forces really does feel like something you would see in Lord of the Rings or some such, leading me to feel that the film just imitated a typical Hollywood-style climax. Even worse, the film describes itself at the end as continuing in the "Kalki Cinematic Universe," which just reinforces the point that it's trying to mold itself into a very specific format, and not trying to be self-contained. The trouble with trying to square up to Hollywood blockbusters is that it never looks or feels on par with the; inviting the comparisons, but all the worse for it. The CG is noticeably rough at points, and the large-scale shots don't quite look convincing enough. The characters never really come into their own either, as they're often spaced out and large amounts of time passes in between seeing them, and take too long in establishing where there place is in the film. The big example of this is Bhairava, a bounty hunter is a scoundrel and a villain right up until the last scene of the film, where he suddenly flips.

Kalki 2898 A.D. is an ambitious cinematic attempt that synthesises Western cinema epics with traditional Hindu foundations. Having the biggest budget of any Indian film at the time of release, it aims high, but a muddled story, awkward pacing, and disparate characters fail to really bring everything together, and elevate it to the level of its ambition. Might be more interesting to someone who appreciates the incorporation of Hindu scripture and figures, but will probably draw comparisons with more successful films to Western viewers.

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A Guide to Dating at the End of the World (2022)

Film review #659

Director: Samuel Gay

SYNOPSIS: After her friend tries once again to set her up with another guy, Alex proclaims to everyone that she would not go out with John if he were the last man on Earth. Unfortunately for her, this hypothetical actually comes true, as she awakens the next day to find that everyone has disappeared...except for John. The pair must work together to figure out what is going on, and find a way to return to their normal lives, and maybe learn something along the way...

THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: A Guide to Dating at the End of the World is a 2022 Australian romance/comedy/sci-fi film. The film centres around Alex, a woman who is constantly being set up with men by her friends (or attempted to anyway). The latest one is John, who she claims she would not go out with him if he were the last man on Earth. As luck would have it, a side effect of the large hadron collider being switched on sends Alex out-of-sync with reality, and the only person left in the world. That is, until she runs into John, and the two must work through their differences. With a silly premise and a low budget, there's very little in this film to take seriously. That said, there are some good points. I really liked Alex's character and her flippant, no nonsense approach to everything. She has a certain edge to her that isn't just a typical "unfeeling, emotionless person who eventually finds love" as you might usually see in a romance film.

John, on the other hand, never really grows into a likable character for me. He starts off being quite obnoxious and weird, and basically stays that way throughout the film, even when it is revealed he was being to stubborn is because he was reading a stupid self-help dating book that said to never take no for an answer, it still doesn't really reflect on his character well, and still feels like an excuse. When the film tries to develop some sort of romance between them, it never really feels genuine or in keeping with their characters: Alex's character just completely loses that edge which is integral to her, and John just seems to have the emotional range of a house brick, which leads to very little chemistry, and a very real sense that their actions are just written for the purposes of the script, without any real consideration for their characters.

The film has some nice shots of an empty Australian city, and a few Australian-centric jokes that probably won't land if you're not familiar with the country. There's no point in taking anything too seriously in this film: the science is non-existent, and every idea is absurd, but overall, I think it feels a bit fresh thanks to its lead, and has some nice moments, but the film really struggles to square it's script and idea with the characters, leading to a profound disconnect between what we see and what is intended, and a very lacklustre sense of chemistry which is pivotal in a romance comedy film.

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Riddler's Moon (1998)

Film review #659

Director: Don McBrearty

SYNOPSIS: The farmers of Indiana have been plagued by a mysterious plague in their soil that poisons their animals and prevents any crops growing. When Elias, the son of one of the farmer's, has a vision about a bountiful crop being planted in one of their fields, his Mother is reluctant to believe it, but sure enough, Elias' vision comes true, and it leads them down a path that requires their faith to see through...

THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: Riddler's Moon is a 1998 TV sci-fi film. Set in rural Indiana, where a mysterious soil epidemic has meant crops cannot grow, the son of one of the farmers has a vision of a bountiful crop in one of the fields. He tries to convince his Mother, Victoria Riddler (Katherine Mulgrew) to plant their and trust him. despite her scepticisms, she follows her sons vision and the field yields a huge crop, but the residents of the town are suspicious of this newfound bounty, and wondering why she can grow crops and they can't. The premise of the film is very much a Field of Dreams set-up, with a farmer fulfilling a vision for reasons they are unaware of, and requiring them to trust it to be rewarded. It certainly does not have the emotional highs of Field of Dreams, but for a made-for-TV movie, it is well grounded, and the drama is gripping enough to keep things going for its duration.

The setting of rural Indiana is nicely set-up and brought to life, although the film was shot entirely in Luxembourg. The residents of the town are brought to life and have a certain familiarity to them which again helps the setting seem authentic. The main criticism I have of this film is that it is often very vague about what it building up to: it's established that it has something to do with aliens coming to visit, but even at the end, we don't really get a pay-off, rather just a narration that the aliens rejuvenated the fields and left, offering no insight into how or why this whole set-up occurred. Part of that ambiguity is fine, but some of it is so vague that it doesn't really offer any kind of conclusion. Part of this might be that the film went through a lot of rewrites and adjustments, including inputs from different network executives, so perhaps the end product was just a case of a compromise that satisfies no one. There was also the point at which the townsfolk simply change their minds and help out the Riddlers, after spending most of the movie suspicious that they are the only ones who can grow crops: it just didn't seem like there was a pivotal moment which caused them to change their minds. Despite these flaws and an overwhelming sense of vagueness probably derived form its multiple rewrites, Riddler's Moon has some solid drama and performances, with enough heart and charm to make it watchable, particularly for a TV movie. It's not quite Field of Dreams, but pulls off the emotional moments when it counts.

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Paradise Hills (2019)

Film review #658

Director: Alice Waddington

SYNOPSIS: Uma wakes up in a strange room with no memory of how she got there. It turns out she is on an island called Paradise, where she has been sent by her parents to become a more obedient and refined member of society. Trapped there with a host of other women, she plots her escape, while attempting to uncover the mysteries of the island...

THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: Paradise Hills is a 2019 film. The film centres around Uma, a young woman who wakes up on a mysterious island known as Paradise. She, along with the other women there, have been sent their because they have been disobedient and unrefined, and are to be treated to become better members of the elite upper class of society. Uma makes friends with some of the other 'inhabitants' and uncovers the dark truths of the island as she plots her escape. The premise is simple enough to follow, and we are immediately thrown into this strange world that feels full and expertly crafted: the highlight of the film is the sets, design and costumes that ooze complexity and elegance, yet have a certain strangeness about them, obviously leaning into an Alice in Wonderland aesthetic. We don't really get too much of a glimpse of the world outside of this island: we only know that there is an extreme class divide between the rich and poor, although we only ever see the rich side of things. This is not really an issue though, as it is enough to go on for the most part. The main issue with this film is the story never really goes anywhere: it sets the scene and some bits and pieces, but is too poorly paced in exposing viewers to new secrets of the island and raising the stakes at the appropriate times.

Uma builds a relationship with the other inhabitants of the island, whose motivations and personalities are well defined. The trouble is that these relationships never really cohere into something strong and worthwhile which the film wants them too. Uma's relationship with Amarna becomes a promising cornerstone of the film and the glimpse of hope amidst the gloom of the island's machinations, but it never approaches a critical mass where it becomes something substantial. hen Amarna disappears halfway through the film, that cornerstone also disappears, and the film becomes even more lost. There is something that is meant to be substantial about someone leaving and having their absence felt, but it's not really dealt with in the story.

The film takes a sharp turn at the ending, as all the loose ends are complicated even further with even more threads in the finale, and a confrontation with the Duchess (Milia Jovovich), who turns out to be a half...plant? I don't know, it didn't really make any sense or fit in with the film in any way. Also, the relationships with the characters Uma bonds with essentially amount to nothing, and a character introduced in the last twenty minutes instead becomes the focus and solution to everything: it just so often feels like the most important aspects that the film built up really matter. The film really needed a better script to bring everything together, and Alice Waddington in her directorial debut unfortunately is not able to wield the loose ends she has been handed. Paradise Hills has a strong look and feel, while offering some interesting characters, but lacks almost any direction in the plot, or any notion of how to tie anything together. This culminates in an ending that leaves you wondering just what any of what was built up mattered.

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From Beyond (1986)

Film review #656

Director: Stuart Gordon

SYNOPSIS: Two scientists have developed a machine that allows access to a new dimension of reality beyond normal perceptions. testing it on himself, Dr. Edward Pretorius is exposed to a world beyond imagination, and becomes addicted to the experience. When the machine explodes and Pretorius seemingly dies, his assistant, Crawford Tillinghast, is arrested for murder. Seeking an answer to what truly happened, psychologist Dr. Katherine McMichaels returns to the scene to see whether Tillinghast's wild claims are true...

THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: From Beyond is a 1986 horror film based on H.P. Lovecraft's story of the same name. two scientists invent a machine called the resonator that provides access to a dimension beyond human perception, when one of them is driven mad by the pleasures and sensations he experiences from beyond, the machine explodes and Pretorius is seemingly killed, his assistant, Crawford Tillinghast is arrested and committed to a psychiatric ward. Psychologist Dr. Katherine McMichaels attempts to get to the bottom of what happened, and whether Crawford is telling the truth about the events, by returning to the laboratory with him and recreating the experiments. What follows is a bit of a threadbare story, as the characters fumble about with the machine a bit and try to understand what it does. The real focus of this film is the body horror, and the gruesome special effects that increase in intensity and complexity as the film progresses. Make no mistake, this film is just an indulgence in sex, special effects, and the slimiest, twisted body horror that could be gotten away with. It's weird, it's over-the-top, and it's exactly what it needs to be.

Lovecraft's stories are notoriously difficult to adapt, owing to a rich lore and otherworldliness that is tough to bring to the screen. From Beyond takes a very non-pretentious approach and, as mentioned, focuses on body horror to showcase a realm beyond human experience. There's definitely great effort gone into getting the practical effects looking as gross and as visceral as possible. Sure, it still looks like a low-budget film, but the aesthetic is still arresting, and shots never linger long enough for you to nitpick the details, which is smart. Honestly, for what it is, I think this is a pretty good film for cheap shlock: it doesn't try to be something it isn't, and still manages to pull off something memorable and creepy. Honestly worth a look if you're into these types of films, but not much depth or content for a wider audience to grasp onto.

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Alienated (2021)

Film review #656

Director: Darryl Anka

SYNOPSIS: A scientist who is struggling with his latest experiment with quantum teleportation has a chance encounter with a UFO. When he sees a flyer for an artist's exhibit featuring an image that looks suspiciously like the UFO he saw, he goes to the exhibition to meet her. Unbeknownst to him, however, the artist is actually an alien who came down from the ship...

THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: Alienated is a 2021 sci-fi romance film. David Bennett is a physicist who hit a dead-end with his latest experiment on quantum teleportation, and also dealing with his dad's hoarding, which threatens his eviction. When out for a walk, he sees a UFO in the sky. Later, he comes across a flyer for an artist's exhibition which features the shape of the UFO he saw. At the exhibit, he finds the artist, a quirky young woman named Jordan Waters. The setup is embarrassingly simple: A scientist who only believes in rationality and objective truth, and a quirky artist who values creativity and expression. Combined, they make the very typical odd couple in this sci-fi romance. I suppose the twist is that Jordan is actually an alien from the UFO that David saw, but I don't think her being an alien really influences the story that much anyway: she seems perfectly adapted to Earth, and is not really a fish-out-of-water character, only having a few forced moments of her being ignorant about earth's customs, which feel like they're forced upon her character through the script than a reflection on her character. She is also pursued by Ray Watts, a conspiracy theorist who believes aliens walk among us, and sees the UFO too. This sub-plot doesn't really connect to or alter the central romance plot in any way, it's just to add in a little bit of threat I suppose. The film really limps along with no real development between the characters, or overcoming obstacles, it's just a bit dull, and fails to go into any real depths.

A romance film such as this has to hinge on the chemistry between the main characters: this does not have that. As mentioned, the two are polar opposites in the most cliched way ever, offering very little room for individuality or something to organically develop. The acting is really poor, and for some reason every line is delivered in the exact same tone and volume, equalising all of the delivery in such a way there is absolutely no room for expression, quiet or loud moments; it just feels like reciting lines over and over with no personal input. Likewise, there's no real scenes where David and Jordan's relationship really develops, or we see them naturally being together; it's just stilted dialogue all the way through. Grace Lacey as Jordan fills her role reasonably well, but there's no real opportunity for her to be the free spirit she is supposed to be. David's relationship with his Father provides another sub-plot that again barely ties to the main story, but does offer at least an emotional moment or two. It should also be noted that David's Father has the worse fake Irish accent ever, and it is overwhelmingly distracting in every scene he is in.

In terms of everything else, the effects are fairly bland and uninteresting: the sci-fi elements don't really add anything at all to the plot to make it interesting. Jordan has this power to alter her luck or something, which she uses when she is being pursued by the conspiracy theorist, but again it just doesn't figure into anything, and it seems weird to establish a reality-altering ability and not have it figure into anything. Everything is also shot really close up a lot of the time, which is probably to hide the small sets, and barely establishes the setting a lot of the time. The close ups would make sense if the characters had an emotional reaction to anything, but they just don't. Alienated takes a very cliché setup and fails to generate any kind of chemistry or emotional response. The sci-fi element barely figures into the plot, and again adds very little. Jordan is a somewhat likable character, but she's left with very little to work with in terms of a poor story, weak chemistry, and just an overall undercooked production.

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High-Rise (2016)

Film review #655

Director: Ben Wheatley

SYNOPSIS: Dr. Robert Laing moves into a brand new tower block, where the richest residents live at the top, and the poorest below. Seeing a world of decadence and excess, he eventually joins in on the social structure created by the building, but the social hierarchy is threatened as order breaks down...

THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: High-Rise is a 2016 dystopian film based on the 1975 novel of the same name by J.G. Ballard. Set at the time of the original novel, the film focuses on neurologist Dr. Robert Laing as he moves into a state-of-the-art tower block on the outskirts of London, where the upper class residents live on the higher floors, while the poorer residents live below, with all amenities and services provided inside, so that leaving the block is hardly necessary. Wanting to live a quiet life, Robert tries to keep to himself, but eventually finds himself embroiled in the tower's lavish lifestyle, and when the hierarchical order starts to break down, he must find a way to survive. A lot of this film focuses on style: it goes to great lengths to highlight the decadent lifestyle of the rich that goes on, to the detriment of those living below. There's barely ten minutes that go by in this film without a new party scene kicking off. The setting is illustrated fairly well, and you get a good sense of the differences between the floors, and the points of contest that everyone has, reflecting society as a whole condensed into this single tower block, which echoes the intent of Ballard's dystopian novel. While the film certainly captures the feeling of the 1970s of which it is set, with the ubiquitous tower blocks of the time providing the basis of its dystopian critique, it does perhaps lack the bite that Ballard's original story did of the time with the contemporary setting. However, its contrast between social classes is still sharp enough.

The biggest problem with this film is the plot: while there undoubtedly is one, it is often obscured or unintelligible behind the overwhelming decadence and stimulation on screen, with all the shouting and partying, it's difficult to get into the nuances concerning the different characters and their relations. The main beats of the lower class rebelling against the upper is fairly evident, but anything beyond that fails to establish itself. It may be argued that part of this is that the breakdown of society, along with the breakdown of the main characters mental state, are illustrated by this incoherence, but you can certainly show that while still making a story that's simple to follow. As such, it never really grips you at any point, and there's nothing really at stake for any of the characters, as this revolution never really seems out of necessity; it's not like these people are trapped in the tower block, they could have left at any time. While the film focuses on its style and aesthetics, it somehow fails to showcase any human response or emotions in any of the characters. Again, you could argue that the absence of humanity in the conditions of the tower is part of the plot, but it fails to offer anything in place of that.

Overall, High-Rise revels in style and decadence to establish an environment in which humanity is lost amidst an all too familiar class struggle. Any sense of narrative or characters is lost amidst the constant party scenes and anarchy, meaning there is very little narrative to progress, and the mish-mash of sex and violence never coheres into anything graspable or meaningful. A mess, but a mess with a bit of flair.