Superman (2025)

I'm not interested in comparing this incarnation of Superman to other recent onscreen incarnations. Mainly because this film blows away almost every other film outing for the man of steel, but also because there's no need. I will say that I did enjoy a cinematic exchange between Superman and Batman that had the latter refining a definition of what constitutes bravery. It's a shame that the movies didn't really dive much further into those kind of considerate diversions more often, particularly when you see how effective it is in this movie.

As beloved as the character of Superman is, he's always been a bit tricky for some to get a handle on. It's difficult to create tension and fun around someone so seemingly-invulnerable and full of noble intention. There are only so many times that we can see him being felled by a piece of kryptonite.

Writer-director James Gunn tackles this problem head on, giving us a Superman movie in which our hero is often, to put it bluntly, on the end of a major bloody hiding. Things start in the middle of one such encounter, with Superman (David Corenswet) having just been defeated in a fight for the very first time. It's a bad defeat, particularly for someone not used to the concept. Thankfully, a fortress of solitude and some helpful robots soon get Supes back in the air. That means that he can soon get back to his usual schedule of maintaining his Clark Kent disguise alongside Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) and co. at the Daily Planet, keeping the people of Metropolis safe from the many strange invaders that keep trying to smoosh them, and being monitored and plotted against by Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult). 

Christopher Reeve remains my favourite Superman. He is the high benchmark against which all others are measured, although it must be said that everyone given an opportunity to don the suit and cape on cinema screens has had a bloody good go at truly embodying the character for a new generation. Nobody gets everything right though. Cavill was fantastic as Superman, but I found him less believable in the few times we saw him as Clark Kent. Brandon Routh found himself stuck in a film that ensured he could never avoid being overshadowed. Corenswet is very good here, although he doesn't get too much time mixing with people in his normal "human" mode, but I have to say that he has the advantage of being the star of what is now my favourite Superman movie. I still love many of the others, but Gunn shows just how much he knows, and believes in, this hero.

There's nothing subtle here, but nobody really expects subtlety from a Superman film. Still, considering the fact that you have scenes with someone taking a stand against a genocidal government that makes them unpopular, a moment depicting busy online trolls in the best possible way, a busy plot that makes room for some deliberately old-fashioned and vital investigative journalism, and an entire plot revolving around someone good becoming demonised by others simply because of the circumstances that led to their arrival in America . . . this puts our hero in a world that is both a beautifully-realised Metropolis and also something not too dissimilar to our own.

Intentionally or not, and it has to be the former (let's be honest), Gunn gives audiences a much brighter and apparently lighter take on the hero that we've seen mired in some grimdark fare for a decade or so now. That doesn't mean the film is full of sunshine and rainbows though. There are big themes dealt with here, and the main characters are sketched out so well that a few major moments in the third act had me getting all misty-eyed in the cinema. In fact, there's a speech here that, while not unlike dialogue we have heard from various other movie characters throughout the years, is incredibly moving simply BECAUSE it is being said by Superman, and he's portrayed as someone that we know absolutely means every word of it. That's what this film has that other recent Superman outings have lacked - heart. There's also some humour, of course, but it's not the same kind one-note witticisms that have started to become an issue with many other blockbusters recently.

Neva Howell and Pruitt Taylor Vince are a wonderful and warm new set of foster parents (aka Ma Kent and Pa Kent), Skyler Gisondo is a good fit for the role of Jimmy Olsen, and María Gabriela de Faría, Edi Gathegi, Nathan Fillion, and Isabela Merced all have fun as, respectively, The Engineer, Mr. Terrific, Guy Gardner, and Hawkgirl. Wendell Pierce is an excellent Perry White, Sara Sampaio eventually gets a scene or two in which to shine as Eve Teschmacher, and, if you've seen any of the pre-release advertising, you should already be prepared for Krypto to steal the show/slightly irritate you, depending on how you feel about very cute dogs wearing capes. Everything relies on a central trio though, and I cannot find fault with Corenswet, Brosnahan, or Hoult. They're given enough room to step into some big shoes and try to make each role their own, and I'm going to say that they succeed more than I had thought possible. I didn't spend any of my time watching this film comparing their characters against past portrayals. I quite simply rooted for Superman, waited for Lex Luthor to come unstuck, and enjoyed the intelligence and tenacity of a Lois Lane who wields her journalism skills as her very own super-power.

Superman will, like all of the best super-heroes, mean so many different things to so many different people. But this Superman is probably the hero we need right now. And it's only one or two very minor criticisms that have stopped me from rating this as a perfect film. Hell, the final scene made me smile so much that I might even add that one extra point whenever I get around to rewatching it, and I am definitely aiming to rewatch it ASAP.                   

9/10

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Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)

It took a while, a span of time that saw writer-director James Gunn move from Marvel to DC and then back again, and then back AGAIN to accept a very senior role at DC, but we got there eventually. The third, and final (at least in this incarnation), adventure for the Guardians Of The Galaxy. A lot of people are happy, most seem to think that Gunn managed to stick the landing. I am not in agreement with those people.

Our main group aren’t in a great place when the film starts, with Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) spending time drunk and sad while the others are unable to snap him out of his funk. Everything gets much worse when Adam Warlock (Will Poulter) turns up, picks a fight with our gang, and then leaves after being seriously wounded. He isn’t the only casualty though. Rocket (Bradley Cooper) ends up in critical condition, and the fact that he has some kind of killswitch inside him makes it impossible to immediately heal him. The guardians have to figure out how to bypass the killswitch, which means they have to find out more about Rocket’s past, putting them on a headlong path towards someone known as The High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji). Well, we find out about Rocket’s past as we see many flashbacks showing us everything that the Guardians may or may not find out about at a later stage.

While I am not going to say that this is the worst Marvel movie since Thor: Love And Thunder, there are a lot of the same problems dragging this down from the great ending it could have been. Much like Waititi being encouraged to further indulge himself with his second Thor movie, Gunn seems to have been given free rein to cut loose and go crazy for the final instalment of this trilogy. With the exception of The High Evolutionary, who is a fantastic main villain, almost everyone now speaks in banter and gags. There are very few instances without an abundance of jokes. I get that these movies have been full of humour throughout the previous instalments, but it’s all overdone here in a way that jars with the more serious moments. And, hooo boy, are there some serious moments here. The whole backstory for Rocket is an upsetting and emotional look at animal vivisection, and the third act feels even more callous than some of the other Marvel movies, when you fully consider the impact of the large-scale destruction. So I can see that Gunn would have wanted plenty of humour to offset these moments, but it just doesn’t work well enough, mainly due to him twisting other characters too far away from how they used to be. Even a surprising Groot (still voiced by Vin Diesel) moment feels a bit disappointing and at odds with the charm of his essence.

The production design is wild throughout, and that also feels as if it has gone too far. Gunn wants every scene crammed full of alien species and strange environments, but too much of everything just has you wishing for a moment or two of something refreshingly normal. And then there’s the soundtrack, which people have once again marked as a highlight. No. This is a selection of obtrusive needle-drops that simply don’t work as well as by soundtrack choices from the first two movies. I love most of the songs used here, but they rarely felt like a natural fit for the scenes they were shoehorned into.

The cast generally do a good job, working well with what they are given. If you enjoyed Pratt, Cooper, Diesel, Dave Bautista, Pom Klementieff, Karen Gillan, Zoe Saldana, and Sean Gunn in the previous movies then you should enjoy them here. Poulter is sadly wasted in his role, as is Elizabeth Debicki (playing his “mother”), Maria Bakalova provides the voice of Cosmo, another fairly wasted character, and I am sure fans of Gunn’s work will enjoy seeing a small role for Nathan Fillion. Iwuji would steal the film though, were it not for the fact that many of his scenes involve him interacting with a super-cute, younger version of Rocket. His genuinely threatening and cruel villain is good enough to lift the whole film up a notch or two.

It’s hard to stay angry or disappointed with Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 though, knowing that everyone involved really wanted to come back and do their best to ensure a fitting end to this particular chapter in their cinematic incarnation, but it’s not one I will be revisiting, as opposed to the previous two adventures. Not only is the main storyline surprisingly predictable, it’s also surprisingly unsatisfying. One moment near the very end had me thinking that Gunn was actually committed to making the most of this opportunity to provide a properly emotional ending for this ragtag bunch of reluctant heroes, but it was soon undercut by one of the many easier options available in his storytelling toolbox. And it's also worth noting the most egregious and unnecessary "f-bomb" I can think of, seemingly just to take full advantage of the 12A rating here in the UK.

There are still moments here to enjoy, and many other people found less to be critical of than I did, but I was disappointed, and it feels like yet more proof that Marvel will struggle to get back to the consistent greatness they made seem so effortless as they built everything towards the cinematic conclusion of the Infinity Saga.

5/10

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The Suicide Squad (2021)

There's an extra factor at play here, something that makes The Suicide Squad feel like it deserves to be relished more than perhaps any previous superhero movie within the recent selection of DC adventures. Because writer-director James Gunn got this gig after some idiot attempted to lose him work with Marvel/Disney, which temporarily worked, allowing him to deliver this film . . . before returning to Marvel/Disney for the third Guardians Of The Galaxy movie. So thanks to that idiot, with a name I have already forgotten, for allowing us to receive even more fun from Gunn.

The plot is relatively simple. A squad is assembled for a mission that doesn't seem to have much chance for survival. That squad includes Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Bloodsport (Idris Elba), Peacemaker (John Cena), Ratcatcher (Daniela Melchior), King Shark (voiced by Sylvester Stallone), Polka-Dot Man (David Dastmalchian), and one or two others. They wade into the hostile territory of Corto Maltese, where they end up plotting to apprehend an important figure named Thinker (Peter Capaldi).

If there's one word you could use to describe The Suicide Squad it's gleeful. Gunn gleefully throws around bucket-loads of blood and gore, mixing laughs in with the action to provide the most twisted and anarchic superhero film since, well, Super. Strangely enough, that sense of anarchy still manages to feel very calculated and formulaic. The film is wild fun when compared to other movies within this subgenre, but it's not all that surprising when you know the kind of film it is aiming to be, and Gunn makes that pretty clear from the opening sequence (with great use of the song "People Who Died", by the Jim Carroll Band). Thankfully, the set-pieces are entertaining enough to keep your spirits high, and there are also one or two moments that allow viewers to remember that Gunn is good at giving his high-budget fare a good bit of heart and soul.

Robbie remains arguably the most valuable jewel in the crown of this movie universe, and is once again excellent, while Elba makes effortless cool again look . . . effortlessly cool. Cena is a lot of fun in his role, Melchior and Dastmalchian are both wonderful, and Stallone's vocal work is a lot of fun. But it would be very easy to criticise these characters for obvious parallels, considering the direction from Gunn. King Shark may have more words in his vocabulary, but feels quite Groot-ish, and Cena is as humourless as Drax. Consider Harley Quinn as an equal to Rocket, and that just leaves you wondering whether Elba would be Peter Quill or Gamora. It might seem unfair to think of those comparisons while the film is on, but Gunn practically invites them by the fact that he seems to be drawn to the same kind of ragtag bunch of lovable rogues. 

Each main act here has enough inventiveness and energy to blow away that feeling of over-saturation that many film fans have been experiencing lately. Superhero movies aren't going away any time soon, but that's not a problem when we get some more variety from the films being released. And if that variety sometimes comes from focusing on "the villains" then all the better, because I enjoyed this more than I enjoyed Suicide Squad. And I liked Suicide Squad well enough.

8/10

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The Joking Gunn

We interrupt the scheduled Mubi Monday post for this, apologies in advance. Also, BE WARNED, content coming up that may cause offence/trigger.

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past 48 hours or so then you are no doubt aware that James Gunn has been "let go" by Disney. He will no longer be attached to the third Guardians Of The Galaxy movie. A lot of Marvel fans were upset by this news. Gunn himself doesn't seem too happy, but made a diplomatic statement that took it on the chin.

And what caused this. LOADS of bad jokes he had on Twitter from 6+ years ago.

They were often deliberately crafted to shock. Gunn was trying to be that kind of guy. If there was a hashtag then he would think of the most offensive line to accompany it.

One example: "Three Men and a Baby They Had Sex With #unromanticmovies"

Another example: "The Hardy Boys and The Mystery Of What It Feels Like When Uncle Bernie Fists Me #SadChildrensBooks"

Another example: "This hotel shower is the weakest ever. Felt like a three year old was peeing on my head."

At least one had a video link URL that had a title none of us would want to see, I hope, but I was informed that the URL went to a video not really in line with the description (which would make sense, otherwise he would have surely been kicked out on his ear a long time ago). And he retweeted and mentioned sex offenders and statements (real or pretend?) from people who were members of NAMBLA. I haven't screencapped them because I am just a bit crap with that stuff, and it's late, and you can find them all very easily right now.

They're all quite bad, to put it mildly. Although I like the shower tweet, which isn't in any way connected to paedophilia but resonates with any parent who has had their kid above them just at the wrong time. We parents have all been peed on at least once. It's a strange kind of reverse baptism.

Now, here's where things get weird. Gunn already apologised for many of his comments back in 2012. You can Google that easily enough. It was mainly in response to GLAAD but he gave an apology that, in the intervening years, seems to have proven sincere. He used to be a full-time Tromaville citizen, and those guys know how to shock their viewers, but now he had moved into another league. A level of the business that wouldn't want him just for his shock tactics and attempts at edgy humour (which were, for the most part, quite shite anyway).

The other weird thing. This all came about as part of a campaign orchestrated by Mike "Pizzagate" Cernovich. A man actually charged with rape in 2003. He denied the allegations, and the charge was reduced to misdemeanour battery. This was set up by someone who wanted to stir up fake outrage and put someone out of work because they were extremely vocal against the current POTUS. You can follow the lines back and easily figure that out for yourself. Easily.

And here's the worst thing. His plan worked. Not only that, he then tried to take down more figures over the past few hours. And you cannot be opposed to this plan. Because those who want these people to shut up have started to bandy around the word "paedophile". In fact, they complain about people making jokes that include paedophilia and rape, taking the lead from a man who was actually charged with rape.

Many MANY online folks have now already labelled James Gunn as a paedophile. Call them out on it and you get a comment about how there would be no other reason for all of those tweets and jokes on the subject. I have been told that he hung around with abusers, I can't find any proof of that, and have also been accused of supporting a paedophile.

I am not allowed to babysit any more

Why? Because this is an important line. This is, make no bones about it, a battle for freedom of speech to be available to all, not just those on the right or the left, or wherever you are on the political spectrum. Many are extra-smug because Gunn was also vocal about the tweet that got Roseanne fired from her show. Was that intended as a joke? I don't think so. Roseanne eventually blamed it on meds. She now states that she didn't know the race of her target. Which is odd, as the tweet mentioned a Muslim brotherhood along with the ape reference. Also, she made this tweet while currently employed with the people who were putting out her show. The two examples are very different, but don't try to argue that with someone who wants them to be exactly the same. You'll be called a "pedo-apologist" and bitter because your freedom of speech argument has bitten you on the ass.

No Daddy Day Care plans in my future

This is a really big deal. It's worrying. I get that people don't like all jokes. People don't often like sick jokes, of course, and there are many who believe that some things should be off-limits in the field of humour. I do understand people feeling that way even if I disagree. I urge them to avoid people who make those jokes, and let others pick who they want to laugh along with. The same goes for books, movies, foods, anything where taste is a factor, basically. If Gunn was ever trying to be a stand-up comic then I don't think he would do very well.

But jokes are JOKES, and what I have seen over this weekend is a seething mob of people genuinely equating jokes with the act of doing something, and some even calling it worse. Joke about paedophilia? You're a paedophile. Joke about rape? You're probably a rapist. Joke about something disease? You're heartless scum.

That's not true. I have, at some point, joked about all of those things. I know, you can roll your eyes and feel disappointed in me. I am sorry. I am not always as good or clever as I would like to be. Yet I am good enough to have never done any of those things. And I have never actually seen a chicken cross a road. I have also never told a doctor that I felt like a pair of curtains. The times when I have walked into a pub with an Englishman and Irishman alongside me hasn't resulted in a number of jokes that keep ending with the Irishman being made to look silly (okay, sometimes it has, but we've all taken our turn to look silly and they're my friends so what makes us laugh just makes us laugh). Despite the running joke with my wife whenever she calls to tell me that she is due home soon, I have never had to hide a stash of drugs or kick out a group of hookers. Because neither have been in our house. But I joke about it. A lot. And I know many others with a dark/sick sense of humour that I trust a lot more than some who may not say boo to a goose (as the saying goes, although I have also never seen ANYONE say boo to a goose).

I couldn't give a shit if Gunn gets to return to superhero movies, or if the third Guardians movie even goes ahead. I do, however, give a shit if he is labelled as a social outcast/criminal for telling lots and lots of bad jokes (allegedly thousands of the damn things). And I give a shit about conversations being shut down so quickly by one word, whatever that word might be.

According to sources over the years, certain people have recently displayed behaviour that was quite well-known behind the scenes, be it abusive attitudes or racism. According to everyone who knows James Gunn, he is a lovely and friendly and sweet guy. I'll be as disgusted as anyone else if any evidence comes up to paint him in a different light. But, for now, I can find his jokes unfunny while also not thinking that he deserves to lose his position/goodwill for bad stuff that he already apologised for. Six years ago.

I said that it was getting more and more important lately for us to not just be silent in the face of increasingly nasty and insidious tactics to keep people in check. I am sorry to those who have maybe been bored by my many comments on this over the weekend. This concerns us all, even if you don't think it does. What will you be labelled when you say something that someone with a bit of influence finds disagreeable or unpleasant? What is in your past that you think they can use to attack you?

A lie used to be able to get halfway around the world before the truth could get its pants on. Now it can get all the way around. Twice. With photoshopped pics to back it up.

Genuine poll

Marvel fans may want to sign this petition, but I doubt it will do much good - GOTG3 petition.
And people may want to buy Cards Against Humanity here.

Guardians Of The Galaxy (2014)

Guardians Of The Galaxy is a rare thing indeed. A blockbuster that exceeds expectations, a slick slice of comic-book entertainment that perfectly blends heart, humour, thrills, and action (and some great songs). It's like a flipped upside-down version of The Avengers, while also serving as a perfect companion piece to that ensemble piece. So let me get the plot description out of the way, and then I can start the drooling words of praise.

Chris Pratt (having a great year, thanks to both this and The Lego Movie) stars as Peter Quill. Well, he'd prefer everyone to call him Star Lord, but that doesn't seem to be happening. Peter gets himself in some trouble when he tries to steal a mysterious orb. It's wanted by a big baddie named Ronan (Lee Pace), who is working for the evil Thanos (Josh Brolin). That's why a deadly assassin named Gamora (Zoe Saldana) is sent to deal with Peter. And that's why there's a bounty on his head, that ends up interesting Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper) and Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel). There's a big fight which lands the four individuals in prison, where they meet the vengeance-seeking Drax (Dave Bautista). Unbeknownst to them, they are about to work together as a team on an adventure that will start off with them looking for riches, or vengeance, in the case of Drax, and end up with them finding . . . . . . . . . . . . . well, something else.

Worthy of the name Star Lord?

There's SO much in this movie that's just pretty perfect, it will have many viewers with a big grin on their face as the end credits roll, and repeat viewings won't dampen its appeal. It may run for about 120 minutes, but that just flies by. Very few scenes are completely extraneous, with almost every line of dialogue and every action fleshing out the motley team onscreen, showing their motivation, their fears, their courage, their humour, their very entitlement to be main characters in this big-budget film.

The script, co-written by director James Gunn and Nicole Perlman, deftly balances everything that I've already mentioned. The action beats aren't ever forgotten, but the real draw here is the fact that we can spend time with such great characters, and see them grow into their roles. And, yes, the fact that Groot basically says nothing but "I am Groot" makes for both a nice running joke and also a surprisingly effective way of establishing his closeness with Rocket, a raccoon with a sharp mind, smart mouth, and penchant for building potent weaponry at short notice.

Gunn takes the script and overlays it with assured, slick direction. He may have already gotten used to the big chair, with the likes of Slither and Super, but this is a massive step up, and viewers never once see any signs of nerves or insecurity. Which is as it should be. Gunn's instincts have been steering him right for years (yes, yes I do also love Tromeo & Juliet - his first movie as a writer - so sue me) and it seems that audiences might finally be completely receptive to his output. Okay, it's the Marvel name being sold, but it's Gunn who takes this gamble and makes it into an outright winner.

He's helped immensely by a cast full of people all on top form. Pratt, as mentioned above, is due to make 2014 HIS year. His performance here is wonderful, and I've no doubt that he'll win over lots of new fans with this role. Saldana gets another chance to be tough and sexy, and she can do that with ease, even with green skin. Cooper and Diesel may be providing voices only, and the latter may only be mostly saddled with the one sentence, but don't underestimate the great work that they do. And Dave Bautista is surprisingly good as the angry brute who has a habit of taking figures of speech literally. Pace is good enough, yet his character is a bit weak, especially when compared to other villains from the Marvel universe,and ESPECIALLY compared to big bad Thanos. I shouldn't have to check the name of the villain at IMDb while writing this review, but that's what I had to do.

"I am Groot"

The other bonus here is the supporting cast, with Gunn giving viewers an embarrassment of riches in that department. Michael Rooker is blue-skinned Yondu, the man who took Peter away from Earth when he was just a young boy, Karen Gillan is blue, bald Nebula, a woman who wants to help Ronan cause some major destruction, Benicio Del Toro is The Collector, and there are worthwhile moments for Djimon Hounsou, Glenn Close, John C. Reilly, Peter Serafinowicz, Gregg Henry, and Ophelia Lovibond. It's easy to spot the Stan Lee cameo, and there's also the usual Lloyd Kaufman cameo that we've come to expect from Mr. Gunn.

Oh, and there's that soundtrack. If you've seen any of the trailers for this movie then you'll already suspect that it has a few good tunes on the soundtrack. It does. More than that, however, is the way in which the soundtrack is almost a character in its own right. The songs are a link to the past for Peter Quill, and his precious Walkman and mix tape both hold just as much importance as the orb that so many people want to get their hands on.

I could go on and on: about how surprisingly tight the structuring is, about how many moments managed to sneak up on me and make me unexpectedly emotional (including a moment with a raccoon - yes, the damn raccoon almost gave me a lump in my throat), about the flawless visual effects throughout, about the one great gag that will fly over the heads of kids while parents laugh their asses off, about the post-credits surprise.

This is a film full of many surprising delights, with one of the best being just how many people have decided to go with the flow and help it achieve some stellar results at the box office.

9/10

Trust me, you'll want to buy this - http://www.amazon.com/Guardians-Galaxy-Blu-ray-Chris-Pratt/dp/B009NNM95Y/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1406851090&sr=1-1&keywords=guardians+of+the+galaxy&dpPl=1

Super (2010)

In 2009 and 2010 viewers were given not one, not two, but three movies concerning people trying to make themselves into superheroes. The biggest release of the three was the enjoyable Kick-Ass. The one that kind of got lost between the cracks was Defendor (which I highly recommend). And then we have this movie, Super.

Rainn Wilson plays a man who is driven into action when his wife (Liv Tyler) is taken away from him by a local criminal kingpin (Kevin Bacon). At a low point in his life, he receives a vision that blends the message of a character on TV named The Holy Avenger (Nathan Fillion) and the touch of god. He'll become a superhero, fighting crime on a path that will lead him to taking down the kingpin and rescuing the one he loves. It's not long until The Crimson Bolt starts to cause problems for criminals, including anyone who cuts in line at the cinema, and a girl (Ellen Page) who works in a small comic book store doesn't take long to figure out just who the new superhero REALLY is.

James Gunn is a talented guy, capable of writing scripts that blend very dark moments with great entertainment, and he shows that again with this movie, which he both wrote and directed. Super really gets its strength from clashing child-like naivete up against the harsh realities of the world around us. A world in which criminals will draw a gun and shoot a man, superhero or not. A world that replaces the "kapow" and "whammy" of comic book panels with broken bones and blood. It's no place for the main character to try out his deluded plan, but he does so anyway.

Wilson is very good in the main role, a lovable schmuck who overreaches, but does so with good intentions. He's unbalanced, but his moral compass always tends to point the right way, even if the punishment he metes out can sometimes outweigh the transgression. Page is also great, countering the dark and disturbed mental state of Wilson's character with her brighter, though equally disturbed, outlook. Liv Tyler doesn't have as much to do, mainly being the damsel in distress, but she's very good, while Bacon has a blast as the main villain, helped out by a right hand man played by the great Michael Rooker. Gregg Henry fills out the cast, playing a detective who ends up in the middle of quite a crazy situation.

Super is a good film. It's interesting and funny and dark and warped. There's just something that stops me from liking it as much as some others do. I think that may be to do with the fact that I just prefer the two other movies mentioned in the first paragraph. Kick-Ass embraced the idea to provide brilliant, bloody entertainment. Defendor used the notion to really explore perception and mental health. Super sits in between the two, which leaves it slightly less satisfying, cinematically, than either.

7/10

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Slither (2006)

Let's get one things clear right from the off. Despite various soundbites and hyperbole bandied about, this movie is not as funny or funnier than Shaun Of The Dead. It's not up there with the best of the horror comedies from the past (the likes of An American Werewolf In London, The Return Of The Living Dead, etc), but it does easily earn a place on the second tier just below them.

Michael Rooker plays Grant Grant, a small-town guy through and through, who has his life, and physicality, changed when he's infected by an other-worldly parasite. Hiding his changes from his wife (played by the beautiful Elizabeth Banks) and everyone else, except his victim(s), it's only when the local police (led by the immensely likable Nathan Fillion) put things together that he has to hide while the changes continue and a plan to infect the entire town develops.

Apart from those mentioned, I should also comment on Gregg Henry's brilliant and hilarious performance as beleaguered mayor, Jack MacReady. He's all cursewords and bluster and steals almost every scene he's in. While the others onscreen don't make quite the same impact they are all very good, and Tania Saulnier is a talented young actress I'd certainly like to see in more movies.

Director and writer James Gunn may not top his work on the Dawn Of TheDead remake, which benefited from his superb script, but in many ways he makes a film that's altogether more pleasing for genre fans; packed, as it is, full of references to genre works and people while also providing solid entertainment and thrills in a decent mixture of slime, gore and giggles.

Where the movie falls down slightly is in its use of juxtaposition for comedy effect. One scene in particular, a rape (some may disagree with that definition but that IS what it is) intercut with some drunken singing and revelry, fails almost completely because the contrast is just TOO jarring to take for laughs. That aside though, the sharp script and spot-on performances (along with the decent effects and more "out there" moments) help to make this a worthy entry into the modern comedy-horror subgenre.

8/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Slither-DVD-Nathan-Fillion/dp/B000HDR7YW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1373234424&sr=8-1&keywords=slither

Terror Firmer (1999)

To judge Terror Firmer by any standard movie criteria is to do a disservice both to yourself and to the movie. Terror Firmer is just an absolutely bonkers, overly gory, hilarious celebration of all that is Troma from start to finish. When a movie has been running for mere seconds and shows someone having their leg ripped off then you know that things aren't going to be subtle and insightful. When, moments later, a woman has her unborn child ripped out of her stomach then you know that things just went way off the scale of anything that society would label as acceptable or tolerable. And, if you keep watching the whole movie, you realise that you're glad that Troma keep on keeping on with their particular brand of low budget lunacy.

The actual story revolves around a vicious killer who is causing a number of disruptions on the set of the latest Troma movie. Cast and crew members start to die and police want to find the culprit as soon as possible, obviously. Which all just means that viewers get to see one crazy death sequence after another, linked by numerous references to other Troma movies, plenty of gags (both lame and pretty good) and occasional moments in which characters discuss the merits of independent filmmaking and how spirited it is to keep breaking taboos and pushing boundaries.

To many people, this film will rank amongst the very worst that they could be forced to watch. For others, like myself, it will easily rank up there with the very best inspired insanity that Troma can provide. Lloyd Kaufman gets to sit in the director's chair and the script is based on the book that he co-wrote with James Gunn entitled "All I Need To Know About Filmmaking I Learned From The Toxic Avenger". He also stars as the blind director of the film within the film. So, hopefully, you don't mind his particular style of overacting and mugging to the camera.

The rest of the cast more than makes up for any weaknesses in Kaufman's repertory. Will Keenan is especially great as a man quite obsessed with pickling, Trent Haaga is good fun (n.b. Haaga would go on to direct Keenan in the superb Chop - well worth checking out), Alyce LaTourelle is a lot of fun and also very attractive and then we get the great Debbie Rochon, the legendary Ron Jeremy, the equally legendary Lemmy and many other familiar faces dotted throughout the supporting cast.

It's an absolutely hilarious slice of distasteful entertainment. Or it could be the worst thing you ever see.

8/10.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Terror-Firmer-DVD-US-NTSC/dp/B000056L2U

Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV (2000)

Within the first 10-15 minutes of the fourth Toxic Avenger movie we get to "enjoy" a gang known as the Diaper Mafia crashing into a classroom full of "special young adults" and laying waste to as many as possible. There's bloodshed, gratuitous nudity, a sickening amount of bodily functions and an absolute lack of anything that even comes close to being politically correct. And so I knew that I was going to enjoy this film a lot more than the third movie.

The Toxic Avenger (David Mattey) this time ends up in Amortville, the evil alternate version of Tromaville, while his place in Tromaville is taken by The Noxious Offender (David Mattey). Good ol' Toxie tries to put right a number of wrongs and find his way home while The Noxious Offender blackens the good name of our herois monster by doing horrid things like ripping the arms off the police chief and quickly reducing the population of Tromaville by means of violent death. He also thinks himself lucky when he eventually finds his way back to the trailer that Toxie calls home, complete with the blind, and now pregnant, wife (played this time by Heidi Sjursen).

Lloyd Kaufman directs this outing on his own but there are a LOT of people responsible for the script, which shows in the sheer amount of rapid-fire tasteless gags, references to other movies and unsubtle satire. Amazingly, it all comes together to produce something that's just a whole lot of shits and giggles (and, yes, that comment can be taken almost literally).

While I didn't really enjoy the fact that so many fart sound effects were placed all over the soundtrack and while I didn't always like the focus on moments featuring faeces, sexual abuse or ejaculations I was never bored and was actually laughing from beginning to end. Admittedly, even someone as thick-skinned as I am couldn't quite believe how far flung from the PC world we inhabit the Troma crew had gone but it's as refreshing to find nowadays as it is juvenile and objectionable.

The cast all either play dumb or get nekkid (or both) with gleeful abandon and there are a number of cameo roles for people like Lemmy (who snagged himself a better role in Tromeo & Juliet but has some fun lines here), Corey Feldman, Ron Jeremy and James Gunn.

If you're a Troma fan who also happens to love films like The Wizard Of Oz and Citizen Kane then you may well love this. If you're a fan of proper cinema who happens to love the aforementioned movies and has never seen two babies in a womb fighting each other with mops then you may well want to avoid this for the duration of your entire life.

6/10.

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