Review Round Up – November 2018

Aside from A Star Is Born, November was a real B grade month for me. Plenty of enjoyable viewing but nothing else that really astounded me. Without further ado…

Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)

A solid effort that never quite hits the heights it potentially could have, a remark that sums up most of Ron Howard’s work. Alden Ehrenreich is a great casting choice and should go on to make his own mark on the film industry. A bit of wasted potential but I had a fun time watching.

Grade: B

Independence Day (1996)

Perhaps the best of the spate of blockbuster disaster movies from the mid 1990’s onwards, Independence Day is filled with all the explosions, one-liners and cheese you could possibly want. Featuring Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum at their most charismatic, if you switch your mind off for a couple of hours you’re sure to have a good time.

Grade: B

Mother (2009)

I was loving this movie until around about the third act. It is odd, funny and mysterious with some fairly complex moral issues at play. All those things remain true right through to the end, but I felt it lost focus and I couldn’t really understand what Bong Joon-ho was trying to say. As the eponymous mother, Kim Hye-ja is brilliant.

Grace: B-

We Were Soldiers (2002)

A really solid, somewhat underrated war film, We Were Soldiers honours not only the Americans involved in Vietnam conflict, but also their enemies and all their families back home, waiting nervously. It is all focussed on a single battle, allowing an intense examination of those directly and indirectly involved. Randall Wallace, a largely unproductive director, films his own screenplay with plenty of sentiment but without ever having to pull the wool over the audience’s eyes. Also, badass Sam Elliot is always welcome.

Grade: B+

The Big Red One (1980)

A film that could only have been made in that late 1970’s/early 1980’s period where convention was thrown out the window. A loose, sprawling epic of a war film, Samuel Fuller’s recollection of his personal experiences is filled with both humour and pathos. Veteran Lee Marvin leads a bunch younger actors with suitable stoicism, and plenty of scenes stick in the mind for their poignancy. Another quite underrated gem.

Grade: A-

Deadpool 2 (2018)

Pretty much the same feelings on this as the first time round. The version I watched swapped the acoustic version of ‘Take On Me’ for a generic Celine Dion song during the final scene where Wade tries to get back to Vanessa. Considering this was one of the most effectively emotive scenes not just of this film but of any superhero film, I was pretty disappointed by that.

Grade: B+

American Sniper (2014)

Not quite what I was expecting from old Clint here. A stuffy and overlong look at American heroism was my prediction, a perceptive take on the effects of war on a man and his family was the actual result. It could have used a more well-defined approach and a bit more work in the editing room, but with an excellent Bradley Cooper performance and some generally strong work from Eastwood himself, I did quite like this one.

Grade: B

Thoroughbreds (2018)

Interesting concept and two strong young actresses (Olivia Cooke and Anya Taylor-Joy) but it ultimately fell a little flat for me. Regardless, both girls and writer/director Cory Finley have bright futures in the industry.

Grade: C+