The New Mutants (2020)

It seems strange to start 2021 with my review of The New Mutants, a film that seemed destined, at one point, to never actually get itself a proper release. It was delayed time and again, and eventually appeared on VOD platforms last week here in the UK. There were already a lot of damning reviews, which I am sure have put people off from wanting to see it. Like many films that have become an easy target for critics, it's not as bad as it has been made out to be. It's not great, but the main premise is an interesting way to take characters like this and deliver something a bit different from the usual superhero outings.

Blu Hunt plays Dani Moonstar, a young woman who wakes up in a facility being run by Dr. Reyes (Alice Braga). The other youngsters in the facility are Rahne Sinclair (Maisie Williams), Illyana Rasputin (Anya Taylor-Joy), Sam Guthrie (Charlie Heaton), and Roberto da Costa (Henry Zaga). Each one of these people has a unique super-power, and Dr. Reyes says that she is helping them learn to control their powers before they can move to another facility. Nobody knows what Dani's power is, although it soon becomes clear when the others end up having encounters with their worst fears.

Directed by Josh Boone, who also co-wrote the script with Knate Lee, The New Mutants has some obvious flaws, but it cannot be faulted for the interesting angle, and the consistency of tone. This is a dark thriller, at its best when conjuring up images that wouldn't be out of place in a horror movie, and the fact that neither Boone nor Lee have had any previous experience with superhero movies is a big bonus. If you're looking for big, bombastic, set-pieces then this is not the film for you, although the third act delivers an impressive battle between the leads and a main villain, but it's definitely one to enjoy if you're wanting an origin tale with a very different flavour. And no real need to actually deliver any details of origins.

Most of the problems come from the acting, unfortunately. This isn't a bad cast, not on paper, but a number of key players aren't used well. Williams is given a Scottish accent, because that is the character as written for the comics (although I think diverging slightly would probably not have upset too many people). Taylor-Joy has to be a grumpy Russian. And Heaton plays his character like the abandoned son of Jordy Verrill. I wouldn't have been surprised if his origin story had involved him discovering some green goo and exclaiming "meteor shit!". Braga, Hunt, and Zaga don't seem to be putting on any accents, but, out of the three, it's only Hunt who gets to play a character as interesting as that played by Williams or Taylor-Joy.

The rest of the problems come from certain decisions made with the plotting, and who ends up being pitted against our "heroes" in the finale. Although it's all done well enough, everything would have been a bit more satisfying with a better villain. Even if they were just clearly working directly behind the scenes (there's a backstory teased out, which could have worked out well in the planned trilogy we're now never going to see, but it doesn't really factor into the grand finale). It's also a shame to know that this is a compromised vision, more so than any other films that have had fans shouting for any director's cuts. Unlike certain other titles I could mention, I'd very much like to see a version of this film without any interference, or limitations.

It's easy to see why this didn't really find an audience, and Boone and Lee don't always do themselves any favours, but I recommend at least giving this one viewing. It's something a bit different, and has some interesting ideas in the mix. Which isn't something you can say about most superhero movies, however good they otherwise are.

6/10

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The Owners (2020)

It’s a premise we have seen before, in various ways, but The Owners has a lot of grim fun with the premise of some crime-minded people breaking into a house that has some dark, potentially deadly, secret hidden within.

Sylvester McCoy and Rita Tushingham play the elderly couple who have their home invaded by some youths who intend to empty their safe. Ian Kenny is Nathan, who has also brought along his girlfriend, Mary (Maisie Williams). Andrew Ellis is Terry, a slightly timid lad who seems to have a crush on Mary. And then you have the tough leader, Gaz (Jake Curran). Once the group starts to meet some resistance from their elderly victims, Gaz is the one willing to go further than anyone else to scare, or hurt, people who are between him and his potential payday. Why wouldn’t anyone just have over their money? What do they have to hide?

Based on a graphic novel, Une Nuir De Pleine Lune (by Hermann and Yves H), director Julius Berg makes an impressive feature debut with something that manages to take viewers through familiar territory while saving one or two decent plot turns to try and make the third act a pleasant surprise. And it works, thanks to the performances, and the script, co-written by Berg and Mathieu Gompel, with some help from Geoff Cox.

Although Williams may be the main draw here, to those that know her so well after years spent watching Game Of Thrones, there isn’t really a bad performance from the main players, and both McCoy and Tushingham are a treat in every scene. Starting off completely sweet and innocent, and vulnerable, the two then get to have a lot of fun once things start coming undone. Both are on top form, but Tushingham is particularly good in the way she seems to ebb in and out of clarity, making you wonder if she has dementia or is sometimes playing up that notion.

Some may roll their eyes during the first half, worried that it is all a bit too silly and cliched. Stick with it, I would say it is worth your time, at least until you get to see the older characters become more active. Then you can enjoy a few moments of viciousness, some fun cat and mouse action, and an impressively twisted final act.

7/10

https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews

Mubi Monday: The Falling (2014)

Take a little bit of Picnic At Hanging Rock, add a smattering of The Crucible, and then underpin with the turbulent emotions of a young girl struggling to maintain any kind of relationship with her single mother and you have The Falling, an intriguing drama that benefits from a superb cast, all giving great performances, and a script that keeps diving deeper into darkness as things build towards the end of a particular journey for the lead character.

Maisie Williams is Lydia Lamont, a young girl who is best friends with Abbie Mortimer (Florence Pugh). It comes to light that Abbie is pregnant, which creates a strain between the two of them. A tragedy soon occurs, which then leads to an outbreak of fainting spells throughout their school. Is there something real behind these incidents, or is Lydia somehow influencing all of the other girls around her?

Written and directed by Carol Morley, this is very much a film that keeps digging further and further into a pit of grime, culminating in a third-act that isn't afraid to truly shock viewers, but not in a way that feels like it is being gratuitous or exploitative. Along with the fainting spells, Lydia is falling further further into a spiral of poor mental health, spurred on by her thoughts about her own life and her mother, all to the fore while she has less to distract her from her home situation.

Initially showing a typical clear divide between the girls and their teachers, lines start to blur while the latter characters start to struggle to maintain their composure, either due to the thoughts they start to have about their own lives or the growing show of strength required to try bringing the girls back in line.

Williams is very good in her role, giving a performance full of twitches and meanness that isn't reduced to JUST the twitches and meanness. Pugh has a lot less screentime, but brings her usual charisma to help her character cast a large shadow over all of the proceedings (all the more impressive, considering this is her first film role). Maxine Peake is Eileen Lamont, Lydia's mother, and gives an excellent and nervy turn, and Joe Cole plays Kenneth, Lydia's brother, a young man who makes some absolutely horrible decisions. Greta Scacchi and Monica Dolan are the two main teachers, and both excellent in their roles, and you get decent roles for Anna Burnett, Hannah Rose Caton, Morfydd Clark, and others.

Deceptive, in terms of how far away the feeling of the ending is from the feeling of the start, The Falling is an excellent British drama that manages to feel both traditionally grounded and psychologically complex, probing some very unexpected areas. Recommended.

8/10

https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews

Prime Time: Early Man (2018)

It was only a matter of time until Aardman delivered a movie that left me even slightly disappointed. The fact that it took this long, and that Early Man is still an enjoyable enough bit of fun, if not one I will rush to rewatch, is testament to the quality of their work. From Chicken Run to the Wallace & Gromit movie, and then the wonderful The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists! I even really like Flushed Away, and enjoyed the slightly lower-tier movie outing for Shaun The Sheep. And I couldn't even begin to narrow the gags down to a Top 10 if we were to discuss the many wonderful short films they have made (although Gromit laying down enough track ahead of himself as he speeds along on a model train will always be my favourite of the lot).

Early Man is the story of a group of cave-dwelling people who end up being displaced from their valley by some giant machines, all controlled by men who are living it up in the Bronze Age. When one man (Dug, voiced by Eddie Redmayne) goes to find out more, he ends up challenging the more advanced people to a game of football. Winning will get them their valley back, but losing will see them used as miners.

Director Nick Park, who also developed the story idea with Mark Burton (and Burton wrote the screenplay with James Higginson), doesn't seem to be too sure of what he wants here. There are the usual wonderful visual gags, although not as many of them as we've had in his previous films, but the combination of the prehistoric setting and football match challenge makes for a strange combination that doesn't quite work. Some people will be wanting more dino-centric gags, others may want some more time with the football, and neither group will be wholly satisfied with the end result.

There's another problem though, and that is the voice cast. It's just not very . . . good. Eddie Redmayne is perfectly acceptable in the main role, but that's all he is. Never the most charismatic or warm performers, his voice work is at least better than most of the roles that utilise his entire physical presence. Tom Hiddleston and Maisie Williams both do okay, the former as an enemy and the latter as an ally, but they're hidden behind some pointless and silly accents (unless my old ears have started to deceive me). Timothy Spall is a welcome presence, Rob Brydon does well, Miriam Margolyes is an amusingly stern Queen, and there are a number of familiar British celebrities making up the rest of the main troupe.

Despite those story and cast issues, Early Man still does enough to make for a fun 90 minutes (well, closer to 80 minutes before the end credits roll), and I am sure that younger viewers will appreciate it more than I did. It does, after all, have dinosaurs, cute rabbits, a helpful boar named Hognob, and a cast of obvious heroes to root for and villains to boo and hiss at.

6/10

Early Man can be bought here.
Americans can buy it here.

iBoy (2017)

Simple, silly, moderately entertaining for most of its runtime, iBoy is a film that somehow feels both over the top and never able to fully realise the potential of the central gimmick. It doesn't seem to know where it wants to go in terms of grit and tone, leaving it disappointing to those hoping for some kind of urban revenge tale with a twist and equally disappointing to those seeking pure escapism.

Bill Milner plays young Tom, a boy who runs into a vicious gang incident and is shot in the head while trying to call for help as he flees. When he comes out of a coma, Tom is informed that bits of his smart phone are now stuck inside his head. It soon becomes clear that this freak accident allows Tom to access the internet, and thus any other gadgetry, with the upgraded power of his mind, and he doesn't waste any time setting about to deal with the general crime problem in his neighbourhood, and the specific gang members who changed his life.

Although Milner isn't asked to do any more than wear a hoodie and look sullen for many parts of the movie, he's good enough in the lead role. Maisie Williams also does okay, as Lucy, the object of Tom's unvoiced affection, although it's an underwritten role that seems to have been offered to her in order to use her name as a selling point. Jordan Bolger is also good as Danny, a friend of Tom who starts to wonder about the changes in him, and both Miranda Richardson and Rory Kinnear do good work, with the latter coming in to steal the movie in the last few scenes. The rest of the cast consists of young rent-a-thugs who simply hang around onscreen until our hero can deal with them.

Based on a novel by Kevin Brooks, the screenplay, written by Joe Barton, Mark Denton, and Jonny Stockwood, is busy moving from one nonsensical tech-reliant set-piece to the next (seeing how Tom views the world and makes his connections to the devices around him) without any real attempt to actually flesh out the rest of the characters beyond the level of inferior teen drama (think of a cross between Grange Hill and Hollyoaks, but with some added gang presence).

Director Adam Randall doesn't do enough to make up for the script problems, although it's hard to fault him for his basic approach to the material, especially when considering the fact that the budget must have come in at the lower end of the spectrum, and the entire movie ends up playing out on one standard level of engagement when it really should have been a mix of satisfying highs and temporary setbacks for our hero.

Like a lot of the other Netflix-branded content, this is something that isn't awful and isn't great. It's just there, available to you as you lounge on your sofa and push the button for it (either accidentally or on purpose). Nobody involved will hold it up as the shining star on their CV but it's not the worst way to spend 90 minutes.

4/10

iBoy isn't on shiny disc yet, so why not buy Johnny Mnemonic instead.
Americans can get Johnny Mnemonic here.