Film – Page 3 – The Bad Wilf Network

Film review-The King’s Man

The King’s Man, a prequel to the Kingsman franchise, attempts to provide a backstory for fans but ultimately falls short in delivering a cohesive and engaging story.

Set on the verge of World War One, the film follows King George of England, Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany, and Tsar Nicholas of Russia, played by Tom Hollander, as they find themselves ruling three powerful nations. However, dark forces commanded by Erik Jan Hanussen, played by Daniel Brühl, lurk in the shadows, attempting to infiltrate the leaders’ trust and launch a world war. Meanwhile, manipulative monk Grigori Rasputin, played by Rhys Ifans, adds to the chaos.

Although the action is directed well, with standout moments like the breathtaking skydiving sequence, the screenplay by director Matthew Vaughn and Karl Gajdusek leads The King’s Man into the disjointed territory. It attempts to balance historical drama with action adventure, but the film’s serious anti-war message quickly devolves into a parody.

Rhys Ifans delivers a standout performance, stealing every scene he’s in, but the film’s disjointed nature makes it difficult to fully appreciate. Despite a clever early twist, the story feels predictably plodding, with a post-credits set-up for another instalment that’s head-slappingly obvious.

Overall, while The King’s Man offers some thrilling moments and great performances, it fails to deliver a cohesive and engaging story, leaving audiences feeling underwhelmed.

⭐⭐⭐

Red Notice still Netflix’s number 1 worldwide

Despite the fact that “Red Notice” was not well received by critics, Netflix customers appear to be enamoured with the comedy-action film and its A-list ensemble, which includes Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Ryan Reynolds, and Gal Gadot.

The film topped Netflix’s weekly worldwide streaming lists for English-language movies in all 94 countries for the third week in a row.

According to Netflix, the film has received 328.8 million hours of viewing since its November 12 release and has now overtaken Sandra Bullock’s “Bird Box,” which garnered 282 million hours of viewing in its first 28 days.

Johnson took to Instagram to congratulate the creative team, on the positive response to the action-comedy adventure.

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Director Rawson Marshall Thurber recently discussed the possibility of a sequel. He told The Hollywood reporter “I think that is a real possibility.”

Review-Venom: Let there be Carnage

The Venom franchise is certainly unique within Sony’s Marvel Cinematic Universe, and while it got off to a rocky start with the first film, Venom: Let There Be Carnage manages to course correct and deliver a much more enjoyable experience.

From the get-go, the film establishes a consistent tone and sticks with it, seamlessly blending crude humour and body horror elements. At only 90 minutes, it’s a lean, fast-paced ride that never drags. Tom Hardy’s portrayal of Eddie Brock and Venom is once again a standout, carrying the film through some of its weaker story moments.

Tom Hardy’s portrayal of Eddie Brock and his alter-ego Venom is one of the highlights of the film. Hardy brings an infectious energy and a sense of fun to his performance, making it clear that he’s having a blast playing this character. His comedic timing and physical comedy are on point, especially during the scenes where Eddie and Venom bicker with each other. Hardy’s commitment to the role, both in terms of the physical demands and the voice work, is impressive and adds to the enjoyment of the film. Hardy’s performance is a major factor in the success of Venom: Let there be Carnage, and his enthusiasm for the role is contagious. Woody Harrelson is a welcome addition to the franchise as the villainous Cletus Kasady/Carnage, and he fully embraces the film’s ridiculousness with an over-the-top performance. His chemistry with Hardy accentuates the fun of the film, making up for some of the weaker secondary characters.

Speaking of which, the film’s shorter runtime, unfortunately, means that characters like Anne Weying and Francis Barrison don’t get as much development as they could have. However, their potential roles are intriguing and leave room for exploration in future instalments.

The third-act battle between Venom and Carnage is satisfying and visually impressive, with noticeable improvements in the CGI department from the first film. Director Andy Serkis’ experience in motion-capture performances certainly shows.

In addition to the film’s strong performances, another highlight is the delightful cameo by Reece Shearsmith. The actor, known for his work in British comedies such as “The League of Gentlemen” and “Inside No. 9,” delivers a scene-stealing performance as a hapless Priest, who becomes embroiled in the chaos caused by the symbiotes. His brief appearance provides a much-needed injection of levity into the film, and his delivery of the film’s funniest line is sure to leave audiences in stitches.

However, it’s the post-credit scene that really elevates the film, teasing a potential crossover with another beloved Marvel character and opening up exciting possibilities for future sequels.

Overall, Venom: Let There Be Carnage is a fun, entertaining ride that surpasses its predecessor and leaves fans excited for what’s to come. It’s definitely worth checking out on VOD services.

⭐⭐⭐

Episode 273: Last night in Soho/ Ghostbusters: Afterlife

It’s an original recipe special this week, as Martyn and Gerrod sit down to give spoiler-free reviews on Last night in Soho and, Ghostbusters: Afterlife.

The podcast is available from all good podcast services, such as but not limited to Spotify, Amazon Music, Podchaser, Player FM, Stitcher, and Apple Podcasts.

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Artwork by Penny Smallshire.

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Film Review-Eternals

Chloé Zhao has had a short yet prominent career in the thriving world of independent cinema. Her renown grew even more last year when her film “Nomadland” dominated awards season, taking home Academy Awards for both Best Picture and Best Director. However, her latest work, the $200 million instalment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, titled “Eternals,” is disappointing. While Zhao unquestionably puts in the effort and gives it her all, the movie doesn’t utilises her strengths. The screenplay, co-written by Zhao, Patrick Burleigh, Kaz Firpo, and Ryan Firpo, spans 7000 years, sloppily hopping back and forth across their timeline, resulting in an overly long and overstuffed 157-minute running time. One key problem with “Eternals” is that it is overloaded with characters, and Zhao tries to give each of them some semblance of a backstory. Inevitably all end up feeling shortchanged to various degrees.

The story follows the Eternals, a group of ten good-looking cosmic beings who were sent to Earth aeons ago by Arishem the Judge to defend the planet against a ravenous species known as Deviants. Their centuries-long war ends in 1500 when the last of the Deviants are finally killed. The Eternals then go their separate ways, with each immortal settling and assimilating into different locations around Earth, waiting for Arishem to summon them home. 500 years pass and each Eternal has carved out a life for themselves (more or less). But when a particularly nasty new Deviant suddenly appears in London, it’s clear that it’s time to get the team back together.

The film has a lot of star power portraying the Eternals, and some are much more convincing than others. Gemma Chan is easily the most complete character as Sersi, an eternal with the weird ability to manipulate matter. Richard Madden plays Ikaris, a poor man’s Superman and one-time love interest of Sersi. Angelina Jolie plays Thena, a powerful Wonder Woman-like warrior who wields weapons made of cosmic energy. On the downside, some of the actors feel woefully out of place in most of the scenes they’re in, and some of their characters’ stories feel plucked from another movie.

As the movie predictably brings the former teammates back together, it tries to tell their individual human stories while also building up its cosmic storyline. Surprisingly that leaves little room for superhero action. We do get a couple of set pieces that look fine and check most of the boxes, but there’s little there that we haven’t seen done better elsewhere. Even the big CGI blowout finale is missing the energy and style of the better Marvel films, and it has no stakes.

The movie would have fared better as a Disney+ streaming series. There’s very little here that screams big screen.

There are two post-credit scenes, that will probably be retconned within the next year.

⭐⭐

Trailer-Halloween Kills

Is he a man, or a manifestation of evil? Only one thing is certain, nothing can kill Michael Myers.

The horror antagonist, who started an entire genre is back and more deadly than ever in “Halloween Kills.”

This is the second instalment, in a new trilogy of Halloween films made by David Gordon Green.

Watch the newest trailer below.

In 2018, David Gordon Green’s Halloween, starring icon Jamie Lee Curtis, killed at the box office, earning more than $250 million worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing chapter in the four-decade franchise and setting a new record for the biggest opening weekend in history for a horror film starring a woman.

And the Halloween night when Michael Myers returned isn’t over yet.

Minutes after Laurie Strode (Curtis), her daughter Karen (Judy Greer) and granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak) left masked monster Michael Myers caged and burning in Laurie’s basement, Laurie is rushed to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, believing she finally killed her lifelong tormentor.

But when Michael manages to free himself from Laurie’s trap, his ritual bloodbath resumes. As Laurie fights her pain and prepares to defend herself against him, she inspires all of Haddonfield to rise up against their unstoppable monster.

The Strode women join a group of other survivors of Michael’s first rampage who decide to take matters into their own hands, forming a vigilante mob that sets out to hunt Michael down, once and for all.

Evil dies tonight.

Listen to our podcast about the original film here.

Film Review-Freaky

As I write this, I realise that despite some films being better than others, there has never been a truly terrible body swap movie. “Freaky,” directed by Christopher Landon (“Happy Death Day”), is a low-budget, high-concept supernatural slasher that follows the story of Millie Kessler (Kathryn Newton), a seventeen-year-old girl who spends her days struggling to survive high school and the cruelty of the popular crowd. After becoming the latest target of the town’s infamous serial killer, the Butcher, Millie finds herself magically swapped with him using his mystical dagger. With only 24 hours to switch back before the body swap becomes permanent, Millie must face the Butcher’s murderous rampage in her own body.

While the film does have some laugh-out-loud moments of comedy, such as watching Vince Vaughn’s Butcher swivel his hips like a cheerleader and flirt with Millie’s crush (Uriah Shelton), the premise does tend to run out of steam as the film progresses. Michael Kennedy’s script pays homage to the genre’s predecessors but often falls into the cliches that bogged them down.

The film’s main issue is its ill-defined characters. Millie is the school mascot and often ridiculed by her peers, yet she still looks like Kathryn Newton, making the “Hollywood ugly” label seem implausible. Her friends are also one-dimensional, with the gay and black characters reduced to little more than caricatures.

While it’s possible to argue that Kennedy was aiming for a parody of Hollywood cliches, it’s doubtful that the paper-thin characters were intentional. Despite its flaws, “Freaky” is still an entertaining supernatural slasher with a unique body swap twist.

⭐⭐

Freaky is released in UK cinemas July 2nd.

Review-Greenland

If you’re looking for a break from the stress of COVID-19 and 2021, you might want to consider watching a world-ending disaster movie. Although the trailer for the film Greenland initially seemed like a generic Gerard Butler disaster movie, it turns out to be a more nuanced take on the genre. The story follows John Garrity, a Scottish structural engineer living in Atlanta, Georgia, as he tries to reunite with his estranged wife and diabetic son amid an impending disaster.

Unlike many disaster movies, Greenland focuses on themes of human survival and how people react in times of crisis. The film portrays the family’s encounters with people who are terrible, opportunistic, and altruistic, adding a realistic feel to the proceedings. Morena Baccarin and Gerard Butler’s chemistry is wonderful, and they feel authentic as a troubled couple doing what they can to save their son.

While some viewers may find the film to be a slow burn, others might appreciate its more nuanced take on the disaster movie genre. Given the global crisis we’ve all recently experienced, Greenland’s themes of human survival and the best and worst of humanity may resonate more deeply.

Greenland is available on Prime Video starting February 5th.

Episode 237: Remembering Connery, Sean Connery

Martyn and Chris pay tribute to the late, great Sir Sean Connery, discussing his legendary portrayal of James Bond and his other notable film roles. They also explore what they’d like to see in future James Bond video games, from more creative and challenging missions to improved AI for enemies.

In addition, Chris shares his decision to quit Twitter, citing the toxic environment and negative impact it was having on his mental health. The conversation delves into the broader issue of online toxicity and the importance of creating a healthier digital space.

Listeners are sure to enjoy this thoughtful and engaging discussion of one of cinema’s most iconic actors and the wider issues surrounding social media.

Check out the history of James Bond games.

Equipment used in the creation of this feature was purchased through a grant from Graeae and The Paul Hamlyn Foundation.

The podcast is available from all good podcast services, such as but not limited to Spotify, Amazon Music, Podchaser, Player FM, Stitcher, and Apple Podcasts.

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Chris is taking part in Movember if you’d like to donate you can do so here.

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