CINEMA FIX SEPTEMBER FILM REVIEWS

Life and work have been extremely positive and busy of late, but I have still found time to watch a number of films during September. Here are some quick reviews of just a few of the ones I have seen.

** MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS **

65 (2023)

How could a sci-fi-creature film with Adam Driver battling dinosaurs sixty-five million years ago be so uninspired? This probably would have been amazing with Arnold Schwarzenegger in the lead and John McTiernan directing in the nineties, but the limp father-daughter narrative propellent and severe lack of dinosaur carnage left me feeling disappointed.

Mark: 5 out of 11

CINEMA REVIEW: A HAUNTING IN VENICE (2023)

I love Agatha Christie and I love Poirot. The recent renditions from Kenneth Branagh have been mixed. Murder on the Orient Express (2017) was fantastic, especially for a very familiar murder mystery, while Death on the Nile (2022) was overcooked with a number of miscasts. A Haunting in Venice (2023) is a return to form and a real Halloween treat. The murder mystery isn’t the most interesting part as the plot points, apart from one decent twist, are mostly obvious. But the spooky lighting, eerie sound, imaginative use of lenses and camera angles, plus the claustrophobic and spooky atmosphere created within the Venetian palazzo are extremely impressive. I actually wanted more supernatural scares. The cast are great, although Tina Fey was glamorously miscast as the author, Ariadne Oliver. The ITV/David Suchet version was more faithful and had a better story, but I really enjoyed this excellent piece of comfort cinema.

Mark: 8 out of 11

APPLE TV REVIEW: CAUSEWAY (2022)

Jennifer Lawrence produces and stars as a U.S. soldier/engineer blown up in Afghanistan who, while suffering from PTSD, struggles to get her life back together in New Orleans. A lower-budget and lower key drama that clearly gave Lawrence a change of pace from the blockbusters she has been starring in for years. Causeway (2022) reminded me how great an actress Lawrence is and also, how brilliant Bryan Tyree Henry is. But the character study meanders with a lack of narrative drive, clarity and dynamism Lawrence showed in Silver Linings Playbook (2012). Indeed, while a worthy advocate for a soldier’s suffering, there wasn’t much Joy (2015) to be found here.

Mark: 6.5 out of 11

SKY CINEMA REVIEW: DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS: HONOR AMONGST THIEVES (2023)

I missed this at the cinema as I was probably washing my hair at the time; what there is of it. However, this latest uber-budgeted attempt to breathe life into the table-top-dice-throwing Dungeons and Dragons game is actually really entertaining. Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez and Hugh Grant lead the energetic cast in a series of fantastically funny and frenetic action set-pieces involving magic, monsters, wizards, castles, stolen booty and of course, dragons. Pine and Grant are always very watchable, but Michelle Rodriguez steals the film with smashing physicality and deadpan humour as the barbarian, Holga Kilgore. The script has many fine gags throughout, as the likeable characters and pacey heist plot rip along wonderfully. You cannot go wrong with a ragtag group of outsiders finding community while fighting against a pernicious foe. Well, actually you can. But, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023) does not!

Mark: 8 out of 11

DISNEY+ REVIEW: NO ONE WILL SAVE YOU (2023)

Kaitlyn Dever’s Brynn exists in a town where no one seems to speak to her or each other. But suddenly the place is overrun with aliens and Brynn must fight for her life while still not uttering a word. Hmmmm. . . in between the no dialogue cinematic contrivance becoming a bit of a bore, Brian Duffield’s excellent B-movie has some terrific action and a committed lead performance from the sensational Kaitlyn Dever. Since her breakthrough appearance in Short Term 12 (2013), she has gone from strength-to-strength as a performer. As a work of pure suspense cinema the film works mostly because of a weaponised Dever, the dynamic camerawork and the cracking sound and editing. However, the story has a number of holes, especially toward the end, which is frankly ridiculous. But Brian Duffield is a very talented writer and director and it is great that he strived for some formal originality in a familiar genre. Even though there was (yes I know it raises the tension) no organic narrative reason for the lack of speech throughout.

Mark: 7.5 out of 11