Ghosted (2023)

A mix of action and rom-com starring Chris Evans and Ana de Armas in the lead roles, Ghosted should have been an easy success. The familiar faces, the familiar plotting, and a succession of cameos make it an obvious choice for some straightforward entertainment. There's a reason that it's pretty much been forgotten already though. It's not good. It's hard to describe as truly awful, although I am sure some will, but it's certainly as bland as some vegetable that has had all of the flavour boiled out of it.

Evans plays Cole Turner, a young man who falls hard for Sadie Rhodes (De Armas). He thinks that it might be a good idea, after spending one day with her, to pay her a surprise visit in London. Things don't go according to plan though, with Cole soon abducted by people who believe him to be an infamous CIA agent known as "The Taxman". Can you guess who is actually that agent? Bickering, gunfights, and various hijinks soon ensue.

Written by the not-insubstantial-quartet of Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, Chris McKenna, and Erik Sommers, Ghosted is what happens when you believe that your film has enough star power to ignore things like proper wit, pacing, and characters with some depth. There is nothing to this when you remove the stars. Nothing.

Director Dexter Fletcher is often a capable talent, but he is clearly hamstrung here by the demands of delivering such studio fluff. The action doesn’t have any weight or impact, there’s a surprising, and debilitating, lack of chemistry between the two leads, and nothing is done to make things more interesting around the superficial glossy smoothness of everything.

Evans and De Armas have rarely been worse. They can be charismatic, they can be convincing with action beats and physical work, and they can be fun, but you wouldn’t know that from watching this. Adrien Brody is a main villain, but feels like the wrong choice in every scene focusing on him. It’s either him just cashing a big cheque or not able to find his way into a performance that should just be a bit ridiculous and entertaining. Nobody else makes much of an impression, and the many cameos that crop up feel like a desperate and lazy attempt to please Marvel fans. They are smug and unfunny, like so many other parts of the movie.

I still won’t describe this as truly awful, there were one or two moments I enjoyed before completely losing any optimism about it improving, but it is bad. Very bad. It deserves to be as forgotten as it already is, and I am sure the main cast members are happy to see it fade from memory so quickly.

3/10

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Materialists (2025)

The second feature film both written and directed by Celine Song, I was a bit worried when I saw the advertising materials for Materialists, suspecting it may just be a repeat of her previous film, Past Lives (which I still count as her debut, despite the fact that she is credited with "The Seagull On The Sims 4", a presentation of the Chekov play on The Sims 4 via Twitch). Anyway, Materialists looked as if it was something that might leave me a bit disappointed. Then I started to see it was being labelled as a rom-com, which didn't really make sense alongside what I got from the trailer.

Materialists is not a rom-com, nor is it a simple retread from Song. It's something a bit trickier than that, and ultimately a bit less satisfying. There's some comedy to be mined from the exploration of the modern dating scene, and the reduction of people to commodities, but it's slightly messy and a bit too cynical throughout to earn some of the optimism that is allowed to come through in later scenes.

Dakota Johnson plays Lucy, a woman who works for a matchmaking website. She sometimes sees people in the street and approaches them with her marketing pitch. This is when I first started to worry. Look, I have no idea how the lives of rich and attractive New York City residents work, but the bespoke matchmaking service that we're shown here feels like an unsustainable business model. Anyway, Lucy meets the handsome and charming Harry (Pedro Pascal) at a wedding, where she also reconnects with an ex-partner (John, played by Chris Evans). John seems quite lovely, but has always been relatively poor. Harry is super-rich, and wants a chance to date Lucy, even as she tries to convince him that her employer could help him reach many other potential partners. 

I know what you're thinking. This IS Past Lives all over again. A woman torn between a lovely current partner and complicated feelings attached to an ex. Song isn't really interested in that though, although moments are shown that highlight who Lucy reaches out to when times get very tough. This is all about the unfair expectations that people put on one another when they enter the world of dating. It's about how often people put the physical and material side of things ahead of everything else, often leading to them missing out on the chance to really connect with someone who is perfect for them. You shouldn't seek out just another version of your projected ambition, nor should you look for someone too similar to yourself. Love grows out of differences just as much as it grows from shared interests and values. This would seem to be the point that Song is making, but it's not actually clear. What we get is a serious lack of actual romance, although one or two sweet moments will make people smile, and a real feeling of whiplash when the storyline crashes into a main plot point revolving around a horrible case of assault. 

Johnson continues to do well in movies that aren't tied to any Spider-verse, and she's a very good fit for this role, quick to roll her eyes and tell people the truth underlying their hopes and fears. Pascal has the tougher of the three lead roles, but does well, although he's involved in one particular moment that I am still trying to figure out if it was intended to be slightly absurdly comedic or not. Evans has the much easier job of being sweet and charming in a way that comes very naturally to him onscreen. Zoe Winters fares better when the script gives her something more to chew on in the second half, and Marin Ireland is just fine as Violet, the regional boss of the matchmaking service.

It's hard to strongly dislike this. Everything looks nice enough, and there are a lot of decent lines from characters commenting on the various pitfalls of dating in the modern age. It just ultimately doesn't come together into something really pointed or meaningful. Song seems to have had an idea that she wasn't able to shape into a full final form, but she gave it a try anyway, possibly spurred on by her recent success and her ability to put together three main performers who fit so well in their roles. I didn't mind it while it was on, but I doubt I will ever rewatch it. I'd much prefer to rewatch Past Lives. In fact, maybe one day I'll dig around the dark recesses of the internet to see if there's any way to check out "The Seagull On Sims 4".

6/10

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Red One (2024)

If you're going to be responsible for kidnapping Santa Claus (played here by J. K. Simmons) then you would probably hope to avoid being pursued by Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans. Okay, wait, I know some people would dream of that scenario, but let's just say that no villain wants to be caught by powerful heroes, especially if they're trying to make up for decades of Santa's apparent leniency towards those who should be, or are, on the naughty list.

Johnson is Callum Drift, the head of security for Santa. Which makes it a terrible time for him when the big guy is kidnapped. Who would do such a despicable thing? Drift doesn't know, nor does Zoe (a capable higher-level boss, played by Lucy Liu), but there's one person who might be able to help. He's a lost cause though, a "naughty-lister" of the highest order who also happens to be very good at tracking people down. That's Jack O'Malley (Evans).

Written by Chris Morgan, who has taken some ideas from Hiram Garcia and sprinkled them with the kind of muscular moments that you'd expect from someone who has been in the writer's room for at least half a dozen Fast & Furious movies, Red One is loud and ridiculous in a way that may well cause some to love it, but didn't really work for me. There are one or two fun set-pieces (you'll know them already if you saw the trailer), but not enough to make this truly worth the runtime that clocks in at just over 2 hours. And it doesn't help that Johnson is armed with a gadget that allows him to pull some Ant-Man maneuvers. Very little of the humour works (especially in the earlier scenes), the action gets messier and harder to keep track of in the third act, and there's a general sense of being underwhelmed throughout the finale.

Director Jake Kasdan obviously found this premise appealing - some more Johnson silliness after their work together on the Jumanji movies, but with lots of seasonal trimmings - and I don't begrudge him giving it a try, but he seems to have been distracted by the idea of presenting a modern and cool new yuletide "classic" that he failed to spot the many weaknesses. Things don't flow well, the tone lacks a sweetness and innocence that the best Christmas films keep at their core, and the best bits don't necessarily feel as if they need to be grounded in a Christmas movie. 

Johnson plays the kind of character he always plays (tough and mean, but with a heart of gold), although he deserves some praise for being able to move around in this onscreen world in a way that makes him feel as if he does belong there. Evans has fun being someone with a much wobblier moral compass, but it's a fun inversion (another one) of his clean-cut image that is never fully committed to. Simmons is a surprisingly good, if also surprisingly muscular, Santa, Liu does perfectly well with her small role, Bonnie Hunt is a pleasant Mrs. Claus, and Kristofer Hivju is a lot of fun whenever his Krampus character appears. Other familiar faces include Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Nick Kroll, Marc Evan Jackson, and Kiernan Shipka, all doing just fine, and Wesley Kimmel is decent enough in the role of Dylan, the son of Jack O'Malley, and the one main child who ends up seeing some of the magical battle to return order to things in time for Christmas. I'll also mention the work from Reinaldo Faberlie as Agent Garcia, a large and intimidating polar bear. Overall, the cast isn't bad. I'm just not sure that the leads couldn't have been replaced by better choices, which could have then led to a screenplay being tweaked and improved to fit different personas.

I could sit through this again. I didn't hate it while it was playing. Nothing stands out though. It's the movie equivalent of the overdone musical Christmas tree. Bright, loud, somehow seeming to miss the point of the season while bathing the whole room in flashes of red, green, and gold light. But sometimes you can still look at it and enjoy the temporary distraction.

5/10

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Lightyear (2022)

I am quite behind on my Pixar viewings nowadays, sadly. With one or two notable exceptions (mainly the Cars movies), I was happy to see every one of them as soon as I could. But two things have now combined to take the shine off them. One is a more varying level of quality, and the other is the fact that having them release directly on to a streaming service allows me to think “oh well, it is there when I want to eventually get to it” for a few of their main titles.

Lightyear was not high on my list of priorities, but the fact that it landed so early on a streaming service meant that I actually decided I would check it out right away. I like the main voice cast, I like the franchise it is side-stepping from, and I like some fun sci-fi shenanigans. So I expected to enjoy an evening planned with this as my main event.

It was okay. It was odd, and a step below the quality of the main Toy Story movies, but okay, hampered by one major detail that I will get to soon enough.

This is not necessarily the tale of a character named Buzz Lightyear (voices here by Chris Evans). I mean . . . it IS, but it is also supposed to be, most importantly, the film that Andy saw in the mid-1990s that made him want a Buzz Lightyear action figure. Buzz is not real. He is a film character. Remember that.

While exploring some strange new worlds, Buzz ends up crashing the spaceship while attempting a desperate escape from hostile life-forms. He really thought he could do it alone, and he also thinks he can be the person responsible for testing the necessary fuel crystals that can take his vehicle to the right speeds needed to get everyone home again. Unfortunately, every time Buzz makes a space trip, minutes for him, years pass by on the planet below. People age, have full lives, and pass away while Buzz keeps trying his best to complete his mission, his only constant being a robo-cat, SOX, that was gifted to him for companionship. As the years pass, disaster strikes, the planet is besieged by the dastardly Zurg (James Brolin) and his many robot warriors. Buzz finds a ragtag group of non-professionals who think they can help him put things right, but can they overcome the biggest obstacle, which is Buzz trying to do everything on his own?

Other characters worth noting here are Alisha Hawthorne (Uzo Aduba), a good friend to Buzz who we see at various stages in her life, and the group of amateurs who end up helping our hero: Izzy Hawthorne (the daughter of Alisha, voiced by Keke Palmer), Darby Steel (an elderly woman on parole, and very handy with explosives, voiced by Dale Soules), and Mo Morrison (someone who seems to be constantly out of his depth in any situation requiring some combat skill, voiced by Taika Waititi).

The first feature to be solely directed by Andrew MacLane, there’s nothing technical here that deserves too much criticism. Although aiming for a slightly different style to a number of other Pixar movies, this looks and sounds about as good as you would expect. MacLane does a perfectly decent job, but he is stifled by the script, which he helped to co-write with about four other people (Andrew Stanton, Matthew Aldrich, Jason Headley, and Lauren Gunderson), which generally lacks the charm and heart that viewers have, rightly, come to expect from Pixar. It also comes perilously close to replicating Lost In Space (1998) at times, and I don’t think anyone was asking for an animated reworking of the Lost In Space movie.

Evans is a good choice for the lead, and he has the confident tone in his voice that Buzz needs, as well as investing his character with some sadness and regret in time for the “insurmountable” obstacles to be overcome in the finale, hopefully. Palmer is delightful, Soules and Waititi are both good fun, and Brolin is a suitably weighty villain (in terms of his vocal delivery). Aduba does well with her relatively small amount of screentime, and Peter Sohn is a real highlight while voicing SOX.

Taken as an animated sci-if film without any other context, this is perfectly fine, if disappointingly unmemorable, entertainment. The biggest thing that works against this is the way it is framed. Thinking of the age Andy should have been when he saw it, and of how impactful it is supposed to have been, it just never feels authentic or more than a cynical attempt to wring more money from a franchise that should now probably be left alone. I know it may seem really silly, but I couldn’t watch this without constantly thinking that it was sub-par. And not just sub-par for me, I just couldn’t imagine a kid being so impressed by it that they had to get the action figure (an action figure that, as we see, was missing a number of potentially exciting accessories).

Maybe I have just forgotten how strongly we can react to the widest range of entertainment when we are kids. Or maybe this just isn’t quite good enough. Not good enough for viewers today, nor good enough for fictional viewers who would have seen this back in the first half of the 1990s.

5/10

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Netflix And Chill: The Gray Man (2022)

As soon as I finished watching The Gray Man last night, I smiled. Because it's a film that is as easy to review as it was easy to throw together. I'm not saying that everything onscreen here is a piece of cake, not when it comes to the technical side of things, but it makes use of a cast with obvious talent to tell a story we've seen 100 times before. So I am going to say that the Russo brothers (Anthony and Joe) felt quite at ease while filming this. I'm sure it also helped that Joe Russo worked on the script with fellow MCU workers Chrisopher Markus and Stephen McFeely.

Ryan Gosling plays Six, a highly-skilled assassin/agent who was released from prison many years ago by Fitzroy (Billy Bob Thornton) when the latter realised he could make great use of a killer with a strong moral compass. When his latest job doesn't go to plan, Six finds out that his most recent target was Four, another agent like himself, and he was being killed because he had dirt on the new person in charge (Carmichael, played by Regé-Jean Page). Six then becomes a wanted man, and Carmichael has no qualms about using the sociopathic Lloyd Hansen (Chris Evans) to hunt him down. Lloyd won't care about collateral damage, despite the protestations of the woman who is supposed to help oversee this "off the books" op, Suzanne Brewer (Jessica Henwick). A young girl gets caught up in the whole scheme (Fitzroy's niece, Claire, played by Julia Butters), and Six ends up being given some valuable assistance by agent Dani Miranda (Ana de Armas). That covers pretty much everything, and actually gives you more than you need to know. This is an extended chase movie, and it's one that moves nicely from one set-piece to the next, making the 2+ hour runtime less noticeable than it otherwise would be.

Here are a selection of things I decided were most worthy of mentioning about The Gray Man.

1. Drones are a blight on the action movie landscape, and will do for them what smartphone cameras did for horror movies over the last decade or so. 

2. Ryan Gosling continues to be one of my favourite leading men, despite (or maybe because of) playing safely within his seemingly limited range.

3. Chris Evans also continues to be one of my favourite leading men, and we'll all be much better off if he gets to have more entertainingly villainous roles like this one. He's a man who really knows the value of delivering threats with a big smile and a twinkle in his eye.

4. Ana de Armas is a star, and I hope she continues to make hay while the sun shines. I also keep being reminded that there are a number of films from earlier in her career that I need to check out.

5. The Russo brothers CAN shoot action well, but you wouldn't know that from some of the main sequences here. Some of the action is nicely shot, but far too much of it is too choppily edited, too busy with so many elements being thrown around onscreen, and too focused on showcasing the filming style over showcasing the physical work being done by the leads (or their stunt doubles).

You should manage to have fun with The Gray Man. A surprisingly witty script, one that plays to the strengths of the leads, helps enormously, and every main player already mentioned does well in their role. There's also time for some good work from Dhanush (playing an agent named Avik San) and the great Alfre Woodard. It's not very original, which isn't a big problem when it aims to just consistently entertain, but it also never really feels like the stakes are high. Six is an unstoppable machine, even if he manages to maintain that identity with a hell of a lot of help from Miranda, and the last few scenes underline this by being sorely predictable and anti-climactic.

I'd watch another film making use of these characters in this kind of situation, but everyone knows how easily pleased I can be. This was a decent bit of witty action, but it was nothing great. I'm just thankful that the Russo brothers at least cast the best people they could for the main roles.

6/10

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Knives Out (2019)

Written and directed by Rian Johnson, Knives Out is a hugely entertaining murder mystery that actually doesn't bother too much to keep things mysterious. Johnson seems to expect viewers to be one or two steps ahead, allowing them to get extra pleasure from many of the incidental details along the way.

It all starts with the death of Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer). This death is investigated by a detective named Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig). Everyone seems to have a motive, and the fact that the death seems like an obvious suicide makes the whole investigation a rather strange affair. While the family bicker over what could be revealed in the will, Harlan's nurse (Marta, played by Ana de Armas) finds herself caught up in a lot of drama that she'd really rather do without. Monsieur Blanc views her as a valuable resource, however, due to the fact that she has a condition that makes it incapable for her to tell a lie without having to immediately vomit.

A whodunnit that quickly turns into a howdunnit, I cannot think of a major mainstream release that I enjoyed as much as Knives Out when I saw it in the cinema last year. Although not perfect, and murder mystery purists may be irritated by some of the decisions made by Johnson, it's a dream mix of a quality cast having fun with a smart and playful script. And everything is overlaid by Johnson making directorial decisions that help it all to retain the sheen of classic cinema while never distracting from the dialogue, the mix of characters, and the interplay between everyone.

With the likes of Plummer, Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Johnson, Michael Shannon, and Toni Collette playing members of the Thrombey family, you can rest assured that there are some great performances, but the real surprises come from those you might not expect greatness from. Craig, as much as I tend to enjoy him onscreen (especially as Bond), looks like he's having the most fun he's had in years, accent and all, and it's infectious, particularly while he is being supported by LaKeith Stanfield and Noah Segan. De Armas is so good in her role that this is surely her gateway to many more opportunities (I assumed she wouldn't be around much after Knock Knock, but her turns in both Blade Runner 2049 and this show that she is making some canny career choices). Chris Evans is a dick, and I love him for so happily sliding into that kind of role after so much time being decidedly non-dickish in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, especially when he's so good at that mix of charm and irritating arrogance.

Nobody puts a foot wrong, from the big stars to those who may only have one or two lines, and it's hard not to think that Johnson brought out the best in everyone with his plan to deliver something that manages to feel both fresh and traditional at the same time. From the opening scenes to the standard "assemble the suspects as the killer is about to be revealed" finale, this is pure Agatha Christie fare, through and through. It just has some more swearing, and a bit of vomit. You shouldn't let either of those things put you off.

9/10

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Mubi Monday: Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (2010)

Note - this review originally appeared over on Flickfeast.co.uk.

Edgar Wright returned to the director’s chair with his first big American picture and produced another hugely entertaining modern classic that put him at three for three.

Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) is a twenty-something slacker dating a high schooler (Knives Chau, played by Ellen Wong) and playing in a band, Sex Bob-Omb. When he falls in love with the beautiful and aloof Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) it certainly looks like things are on the up and up, especially with Sex Bob-Omb finally moving from playing in a living room to taking part in a local battle of the bands. Things get complicated, however, when it transpires that Ramona has seven evil exes and Scott has to fight each one of them if he wants to keep her in his life.

Although it’s based on a series of graphic novels, Edgar Wright has here shown how to make the very best videogame movie possible. The structure, at heart, is the standard “beat each successively harder end-of-level boss” and the movie is full of great videogame references and audio and visual gags. Basically, Wright does for videogames with this movie what he did for action flicks in Hot Fuzz and zombie movies in Shaun Of The Dead.

The script, based on the original work by Brian Lee O’Malley and co-written by Michael Bacall and Wright himself, is chock full of great lines and you’re never more than mere seconds away from a great gag.

The direction, as fans such as myself would expect, is superb. With the design and look of the thing inspired both by the graphic novels and numerous videogames everything is eye-catching and every frame is full of little details for you to catch up with on repeat viewings (as was also the case with Wright’s previous two movies). The execution of the comedy is something completely unsurprising but what IS an eye-opener is the choreography and shooting style of each of the big fight sequences. Wright uses visual FX and editing to add energy and impact but he also takes time to showcase some great physical action, providing us with some of the best mainstream kick-ass fun since . . . . . . . . . . . well, I don’t know when. The Expendables, The A-Team, and The Losers were the more straightforward, and hugely enjoyable, action movies of 2010 but Scott Pilgrim, uber-geek that he is, fights his way up to earn a deserved spot right beside them.

As for the cast, there is nobody here who disappoints and it’s a testament to the quality from beginning to end that I can’t write this review without wanting to mention some highlight relating to every single main character onscreen. Michael Cera’s effortless geek persona fits perfectly with his character, Mary Elizabeth Winstead is cool and sexy and Ellen Wong is just as cute as a button. Kieran Culkin puts yet another great, fun role in his growing catalogue of great, fun roles and Anna Kendrick cements her reputation as someone to keep an eye on. The band members (Mark Webber, Alison Pill and Johnny Simmons) are a great bunch with Alison Pill providing the most entertainment as feisty girl drummer, Kim. And then we have the numerous evil exes – Satya Bhabha, Chris Evans, Brandon Routh, Mae Whitman, Keita Saitou and Shota Saito and last, but by no means least, Jason Schwartzman – each one with their own quirky style and each one necessitating a special, super duper finishing move. Chris Evans and Brandon Routh stand out as major highlights but that’s not really a fair statement because every major character and set-piece brings something memorable to the proceedings.

I feel like I’ve missed something out now, some great comment on the superb dialogue or some praise for one of the actors or even talk about the soundtrack (which I actually DID forget to mention despite how energetic and great it is), but that’s just because Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World is so good that you want to praise every aspect of it. It just falls short of being perfect but it’s easily one of the very best, and most entertaining, films of 2010.

9/10

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Prime Time: Street Kings (2008)

Street Kings is a gritty cop thriller directed by David Ayer AND based on a story by James Ellroy so, basically, if you go into it expecting any of the main characters to be unselfishly trying to do good in a bad world then you've never experienced any previous stories from either man. But, just in case there was any doubt, the whole thing helps to let viewers know what they are in for when the main character gets beaten up by some criminals and has his car stolen, which we then discover is all part of a plan to allow him to find where the crooks are holed up, with young female kidnap victims being kept there until they can be moved/sold on, and he then gets to barge in, shooting to kill. It's a good deed, in the grand scheme of things, but it's also symptomatic of the way this character acts. He'd also had a couple of drinks beforehand. He wasn't interested in any due process. He is someone being watched with interest by those who investigate such individuals in the force.

All of this is just a taster to the rest of the film, of course, which follows Detective Tom Ludlow (Keanu Reeves) as he tries to keep doing the job the way he prefers to do it while keeping himself protected from the prying eyes of those who want him stopped. He's helped in this regard by his captain (Forest Whitaker). One of the people wanting him stopped is his ex-partner, Detective Terrence Washington (Terry Crews), and things start to look even stickier for Ludlow when he and Washington are caught in a seemingly random shoot-out. Washington is killed, and Ludlow wants to find those who did it. But those who know Ludlow's behaviour think it would be best for all concerned if the case was dropped and the shooters left to get themselves arrested or killed on some other occasion.

Although there are plenty of beats here that are very familiar to fans of Ayer's work, Street Kings does turn into something slightly different once it gets beyond the opening third act. It's still not a million miles away from anything else the director has done, but the more interesting developments stop it from feeling like nothing more than a tired rehash. You can feel the Ellroy heart beating through most of the runtime, once that opening act is out of the way, and the screenplay put together by Ellroy, Kurt Wimmer, and Jamie Moss is solid in terms of the plotting, pacing, and character development. That's not to say that it's always believable, not at all, but there's enough done to distract you from/let you forgive the less believable moments.

Reeves is very good in the lead role. He's not on top form, it's always a bit harder to believe him as someone with such a murky moral code, but he does well enough. Whitaker gives one of his standard turns, and is good enough, and Crews does enough to show himself as a viable threat to his ex-partner before the shooting takes him out of the film. The rest of the cast is full of great performers, although they are not all used as well as they could be. Chris Evans is the highlight, playing the detective in charge of the shooting investigation who ends up allowing Reeves to help him, and you also get Hugh Laurie with an American accent again, and Jay Mohr, John Corbett, and Amaury Nolasco playing the main colleagues who accept that getting the job done often means breaking some rules. Naomie Harris and Martha Higareda try their best, despite being given the usual short shrift that women tend to get in Ayer movies, and there are good little moments for Cedric The Entertainer, Common, and The Game.

Far from essential viewing, this remains a film I would highly recommend to those who like this particular subgenre. The various elements are well put together, it feels like something a bit different for Reeves, and the ending is surprisingly satisfying when everything eventually pays off.

7/10

You can buy the movie here.
Americans can buy it here.

Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Here we go with another Marvel blockbuster and another superhero ensemble, this time the much-anticipated feature that finally pits our familiar heroes against the mighty Thanos (Josh Brolin, in motion captured form). Things look bleak from the start, with Thanos having control of two of the infinity stones, placed in his gauntlet, within the first ten minutes. And viewers are under no illusion that everything will get worse before it gets better. Earth is a target, other planets have already been decimated, and nobody has anything approaching a proper plan to stop Thanos in his tracks.

Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, the men who did such great work with the second and third Captain America movies, Avengers: Infinity War is a LOT of fun. It's all about great power, great battles, and the ultimate stakes. And all of it is elevated by the cast, including, but not limited to, Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Holland, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Pratt, Scarlett Johansson, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Chadwick Boseman, Anthony Mackie, and Peter Dinklage. They are all perfect in their roles, as anyone who has seen any of the previous Marvel movies will already know.

Which is why it's a shame that the script, by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, doesn't always treat them as well as they deserve. The writers deserve credit for the plotting, for trying to make something that will please fans and also allow relative newcomers to enjoy everything, and for somehow making sure that every single character has at least one great line, despite the crowded cast. They also deserve credit for a couple of the choices made, but let's not rush to highlight anything here as particularly unpredictable or brave. Considering the elements in place, the grand finale didn't resonate with me as it seems to have resonated with some others. But I started this paragraph about to criticise the writers for their treatment of the characters and I should really finish that thought. One or two examples aside, mainly from the Guardians Of The Galaxy, most of these characters feel either a bit too removed from what they used to be, or just a bit too convenient in their geography and timing. I do understand that they've all been through a lot in recent years, which would change anyone, but these don't feel like natural developments. They feel like the writers forgot the essence of the characters at times, sometimes within the runtime of this very film. And don't even start me on how the opening scenes of this film spoil the end of a certain other superhero movie (not going to name it, watch and you'll see what I mean).

That isn't the only problem that the film has. First of all, things are now TOO big. The threat, the scope, the runtime, this is a film that may will certainly be held up as a prime example by anyone who wants to show how superhero movie fatigue is a rot that has been developing in multiplexes over the past decade or so. I am not one of those people, but even I was starting to feel a bit weary by just the end of the first act.

It's also a shame that the Russo brothers don't keep the action as smooth and satisfying as it was in their previous two movies. I assume that has to do with the increase in size, leading to more stunts and effects and a need for more editing in most of the main action sequences. The most satisfying set-piece for me was one set in the streets of Edinburgh, but that is just because I live here (rather than the quality of the action itself). When even the fluidity and grace of Black Panther is turned into something looking clumsy and erratic you have to think that something is a bit off with the way the fights were filmed.

Despite my criticisms here, the good far outweighs the bad, and I don't want the above thoughts to make anyone think that I disliked it. I definitely liked it. I REALLY liked it. Mainly because of the cast being so effortlessly brillant, but there are also plenty of fun lines of dialogue, some great exchanges, a very real sense of danger throughout, and satisfying callbacks to previous adventures and connections. The special effects are fantastic, with Thanos looking a lot better here than he did in the trailers for the movie, and the lengthy 149-minute runtime goes by quickly enough (although it could have certainly been trimmed in at least one or two places). Oh, and there's the inevitable post-credits sequence. Just the one, but worth sticking around for.

8/10

The disc release is a while away yet so just do some shopping here to help me get rewarded.
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Push (2009)

A decent cast and decent premise are both wasted in this unexciting, muddled, and inevitably inconsequential, superhero movie from writer David Bourla and director Paul McGuigan.

Chris Evans plays Nick Gant, a young man who has the power of telekinesis, even if he is still learning how to use it. His life is thrown into chaos when he's approached by Cassie Holmes (Dakota Fanning), a young woman who can see into the future. Cassie needs his help catch another person with super-powers (Kira Hudson, played by Camilla Belle) and to set a chain of events in motion that will eventually lead to her rescuing her mother from the government officials keeping her captive. There's a high probability that Chris and Cassie could die, as Cassie keeps pointing out, but she tries to remain hopeful that they can succeed in their quest while avoiding the attention of other talented individuals. Xiaolu Li plays another young woman who can see into the future, although she's better at it than Cassie, and Henry Carver (Djimon Hounsou) is an agent determined to retrieve Kira for the benefit of the organisation that he works for.

Sounds like fun? Telekinesis and seeing the future? I've not even mentioned the talent that Kira has for being able to push thoughts, suggestions and false memories into the mind of anyone not mentally prepared to defend against such a sneak attack. Or the guys who can shout/scream so loudly that they can kill people and break glass. Even more fun, right? Wrong.

Push just never delivers, it never rises up to what it could be - an enjoyable adventure featuring folk who never made the cut for X-Men (and don't take that as a highly disparaging remark, I'm a huge fan of Chris Evans and he's the main reason I was able to find this film reasonably enjoyable).

This is mostly due to the poor script and lacklustre direction, but it doesn't help that the majority of the cast, aside from Evans, Fanning and Hounsou, are so forgettable. Camilla Belle is especially disappointing in her role, failing to liven up a character not written all that well in the first place and the least said about those two shouting/screaming guys, the better.

When Bourla plotted out the movie he obviously thought he was being clever and unconventional when he was, in fact, simply being annoying and dull. The plot, twists and turns and all, makes little sense and ends up having no real purpose. It's almost as if the whole thing exists just to set up a sequel that never happened.

The filmmakers may have thought it commendable that they made a movie focused on characters over action, but they forgot to make the characters interesting enough for that approach to work. It's a shame because the potential was there for something much better. This is simply average, at best.

5/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Push-Blu-ray-Chris-Evans/dp/B00206U5XO/ref=sr_1_2?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1359128027&sr=1-2

Avengers Assemble (2012)

And so it appears at last (albeit with an annoying title change so that we easily confused Brits don't think Steed and Emma Peel are coming back to the big screen this year), the  film that looks set to be the mightiest of superhero movies, the royal rumble of the Marvel cinematic universe, the geekgasm for comic book fans. With Joss Whedon directing (and co-writing the script with Zak Penn), Avengers Assemble actually manages to be all of this and more.

For anyone adjusting to the sunlight and the sights around them after coming out of some decade-long hibernation, here is the plot. Loki (Tom Hiddleston), last seen causing major trouble for Thor (Chris Hemsworth), has managed to get himself to Earth with a device that can run on self-sustaining energy and grow more and more powerful. Loki hopes to use this device to bring a warring alien race to Earth, cause mayhem and chaos, and then lord it over all he surveys. Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) really doesn't want this to happen so he enlists the help of the superheroes that he knows and thinks up to the task. Captain America (Chris Evans), Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Thor, Dr. Bruce Banner/The Incredible Hulk (played by Mark Ruffalo in both forms), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and, hopefully, Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner). The biggest problem is that these characters don't play well together, something that Loki soon realises as he puts strain upon strain on their relationships (even completely taking over one or two characters to do his bidding). There's also the ever-dependable Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) and Agent Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders).

Most of the cast here have already grown into their characters in a previous movie (with Robert Downey Jr. perfecting his great patter in two enjoyable Iron Man films) but viewers may be most surprised to find that the person who comes near to stealing every scene here is Mark Ruffalo, arguably the best onscreen interpretation yet of the man who fears his own uncontrollable strength and rage. In a script full of great one-liners he also comes close to bagging two of the top five spots (though the absolutely greatest retort comes from Loki in a comment so funny that the cinema audience I saw the film with was laughing hard for the next full minute). But the best, and most impressive, thing about Avengers Assemble is just how everyone gets their share of great moments without the movie feeling overlong or bloated in any way. You may go into this film with a favourite that you're looking forward to seeing but I guarantee that you come out of it loving the entire group and struggling to pick an outright favourite moment. Which all goes to show just how much praise Tom Hiddleston also deserves for making Loki such a memorable and worthy villain, a perfect mix of camp and menace and scheming (his outburst to Black Widow in one particular scene ranks up there with some of the very best rants by cinematic baddies ever).

The writing is as sharp as you would expect. Okay, this isn't necessarily a film for complete newcomers (if there ARE any) but it sketches out enough details to keep most people happy and it does a great job of following major plot strands through a whole cat's cradle of different sub-strings. There are also at least four great action set-pieces, just as important to a film of this type, and the barnstorming finale features a superb mix of CGI, witticisms and sheer spectacle.

As you would expect from Whedon, he knows what fans want. I think that most people will be like myself, eager to like the film even before the opening titles come up. But with great anticipation comes, of course, the chance for great disappointment. Thankfully, there's absolutely nothing to worry about here. Whedon shows in almost every sequence that he knows just what audiences want, the action may be fast and frantic on many occasions but there are many times when the camera is pulled back and viewers are allowed to revel in a moment of sheer fan-pleasing awesomeness (be it simple joy at the scale of the action or an extended shot of Hulk having a smashing time).

2012 is already shaping up to be a great year for BIG cinematic spectacle (I am also drooling with anticipation at the thought of going to see Prometheus and The Dark Knight Rises) and Avengers Assemble has already set a very high bar for blockbuster quality. Did I want to go back and watch it again as soon as the credits rolled? Yes. Am I looking forward to reliving the whole thing on shiny disc format? Yes. Am I already very, VERY eager for a sequel? I think you know the answer to that one.

9/10

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