Turning Red (2022)

Whether you view it as an analogy about being embarrassed by your parents, a tale about dealing with the trials and tribulations of starting to menstruate, or just accept that a young girl becomes a giant red panda when stressed, Turning Red is a cute and fun film that many should enjoy. Even if the third act skates very close to Teen Wolf.

Rosalie Chiang voices Meilin, a young girl who tries to do everything in a way that her mother (Sandra Oh) would approve of. But all of the good behaviour and good school grades don’t buy her any goodwill when she has the chance to see her favourite boyband in concert. That’s quite stressful and anger-inducing, and it’s not helped by the fact that Meilin now turns into a giant red panda when she gets too stressed. 

Directed by Domee Shi, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Julia Cho, this is a high-concept film that uses the central idea to explore a number of interesting and relatable themes. The transition period when you are a child dealing with changes in your body is the big one, of course, but there is also a look at the pressure parents can put on their children, as well as cycles of behaviour that can cause real harm to different generations. It isn’t just the relationship between parents and children that are the focus though. There is a look at the value of real friendship, the people who can accept you as you are, and there is a lesson about having difficult conversations long before problems start to snowball from something minor into something major.

Chiang is great in the lead role, just the right mix of cute end occasionally annoying, and Oh is equally good as the overbearing and worried mother. There may not be a load of familiar names scattered elsewhere throughout the cast list, but Wai Ching Ho and Orion Lee are both very good, playing family members with very different perspectives on the situation, and Ava Morse, Hyein Park, and Maitreyi Ramakrishnan are a great trio of friends for our lead to be close to. Tristan Allerick Chen is fun as an irritant known as Tyler, and the wonderful James Hong gets to have fun in a small, but crucial, supporting role.

The animation is pretty gorgeous throughout, especially when incorporating some traditional elements that support and influence the style and nature of the tale, there are a few lively songs accompanying some key moments (although they are used to soundtrack the film, which means none of the main characters actually burst into spontaneous songs), and the third act is enjoyably thoughtful and satisfying.

Although not up there with their very best, Turning Red is a real joy, not least because it has approximately 100% more red panda content than most animated features. And that alone is enough to make it worth your time.

8/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews

Ani-MAY-tion: Batman: Soul Of The Dragon (2021)

I have enjoyed many of the animated Batman movies from the past couple of decades, some of them rank alongside some of my favourite live-action features, and so I went into Batman: Soul Of The Dragon with a certain amount of optimism. It looked as if Batman was being thrown into the middle of a Bruce Lee escapade, and that was alright by me. Okay, there’s no ACTUAL Bruce Lee here, but we all know this is a pairing of Batman and Lee in everything but name.

The plot revolves around a mystical and powerful sword. It was guarded for years, but now may have fallen into the wrong hands. If the sword is used to open a secret gate then our world will be at the mercy of some grand horrors. Fortunately, Batman is on the case, and he is accompanied by some skilled martial artists who used to train alongside him many years ago.

This should have been a slam dunk. I cannot think of the last time I was so excited by the premise of an animated Batman movie, and I kept putting off my viewing of it with a heavy heart. The fact that it ends up being a sub-par adventure for the Caped Crusader is almost unforgivable. There’s no reason for this to be as relatively dull as it is, and things aren’t helped by a supernatural element coming to the fore in the third act.

Writer Jeremy Adams supplies a dull and lifeless script, seemingly uninterested in using the period and setting to occasionally let loose and have some fun with the characters, and director Sam Liu (who helmed one of my favourite animated Batman films a few years ago) does little to liven things up in between the moments of dialogue. The fights lack a certain amount of power and flair that I was expecting, and the pacing isn’t helped by the non-chronological structure, making things feel a bit too drawn out as we are pulled towards a finale that doesn’t seem half as interesting as other movie ideas I had in my head.

The voice cast do well enough. David Giuntoli is fine in the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman, although he isn’t up there with the best actors to take on the role, but I was much happier to hear the performances from Mark Dacascos, Michael Jai White, and Kelly Hu. I am not saying that I recognised them immediately, but they were a great fit for their respective roles, and I am generally a fan of them in anything they do. James Hong also has a small role, and is always a welcome delight, while Josh Keaton is stuck playing a fairly uninteresting villain.

It’s all okay, I guess, but almost every department deemed a bit more. The visual style should have been bolder, the soundtrack should have been more interesting, and the plot should have mixed in more recognizable elements from one or two classic martial arts movies. We should have been given a great “Bruce Lee” movie with Batman added in as a special ingredient. Instead we got a mediocre Batman movie with “Bruce Lee” and co. mishandled and wasted.

4/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews
Or Amazon is nice at this time of year - https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/Y1ZUCB13HLJD?ref_=wl_share

Netflix And Chill: Wendell & Wild (2022)

Another stop-motion animated movie from director Henry Selick (who also helmed such greats as The Nightmare Before Christmas, James And The Giant Peach, and Coraline, as well as Monkeybone . . . but we don't mention Monkeybone), Wendell & Wild feels a step removed from his previous features thanks to a more diverse cast and an excuse to reunite Key and Peele onscreen (even if it's only in voice form, of course). Unfortunately, it's also not as good as most of the titles I just mentioned (except Monkeybone . . . but we don't mention Monkeybone).

Kat is a troubled teen, having blamed herself for years for the death of her parents. Moving from one place to the next, with trouble often not far away, Kat finally ends up at a school very close to the small town where she used to live in happier times. Wanting nothing more than her parents brought back to life, Kat ends up being tricked by two demons, Wendell (Keegan-Michael Key) and Wild (Jordan Peele), who want to enter the world of the living and try out their plan to raise the dead with some very powerful hair restorer. There's also a pair of schemers trying to keep their part in a deadly chapter in history hidden, which could become tougher when the dead start to rise, and Kat may find herself equally in danger from the undead and the living.

I'm not sure why this doesn't work as well as other Selick features, but it seems to lack something truly magical and impressive. The detailing is often as lovely as you'd expect, but there also seems to be no connective tissue between the land of the living and the land of the dead, with each one feeling like it stays in whatever snowglobe-like environment is required for each main scene. The tone is also disappointingly wobbly, neither macabre nor amusing enough, and it feels weird that Key and Peele are used here (Peele having also helped to write the screenplay) without making the most of their talents. Perhaps the problems come from the source material, it's based on a book by Selick and Clay McLeod Chapman, or maybe it needs more than one watch to pick up on more of the lovely production design and character developments. Maybe it needed a better score from Bruno Coulais to lend stronger support to the visuals. I would rewatch this, but it won't ever be too high on my list of priorities.

Ross is a very good lead, Key and Peele are a bit muted, but fun, and it's great to hear Angela Bassett, James Hong, Ving Rhames, David Harewood, and Maxine Peake in main roles, every one a great actor also able to deliver a great vocal performance. Sam Zelaya and Tamara Smart are also very good, playing two other teenagers important to the plot, alongside Seema Virdi and Ramona Young in supporting roles.

I cannot dismiss this as a bad film, and it's more entertaining and inventive than dozens of other movies aimed at younger viewers, but it's near the bottom of the pile when compared to similar stop-motion features presenting macabre elements in a child-friendly way.

6/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews
Or Amazon is nice at this time of year - https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/Y1ZUCB13HLJD?ref_=wl_share

Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)

I hope you have already heard from other people raving about just how good Everything Everywhere All At Once is. That will make up for my own poor attempt to convince you to see it. Because it is an easier film to experience than to discuss, but it is a strong contender for film of the year (and, arguably, a strong contender already for film of the decade). It isn’t for the faint of heart though, and I am sure that many casual film fans will be put off by the unrelenting craziness of it all.

Michelle Yeoh stars as Evelyn Wang, a woman who is at a low ebb. She runs a launderette with her husband (Waymond, played by Ke Huy Quan), and both a full tax audit and possible divorce looms on her horizon. She also struggles to find a strong connection with her daughter (Joy, played by Stephanie Hsu), and uses her critical father (James Hong) as an excuse to avoid non-judgemental acceptance of Joy’s lesbianism. Evelyn doesn’t mean to be hurtful, she is just projecting from her own life experience. And here’s where things get complicated. It turns out that there are an infinite number of multiverses, and Evelyn is suddenly asked to harness the power of various incarnations of herself in order to protect them. This is done by acting in the most illogical way, allowing the “jump” to the access point, and absorbing the skillset from the person in the alternative timeline. Why is Evelyn required to do this? Someone is out to destroy every timeline, and Evelyn may be the only one able to stop them.

I know, trust me, that the paragraph above is a bit dense and odd. It’s also a decent enough summary of the opening 15-20 minutes of this movie. All you need to know is delivered in one main info-dump, spoken by Ke Huy Quan, and other details are noted as everything becomes more action-packed.

Written and directed by Daniels (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert), this is a tour de force of consistently inventive and astonishing film-making. The editing alone is an absolute masterclass (I don’t often namecheck editors, just because I focus on the “front of house team” most of the time, but Paul Rogers definitely warrants a mention here), but the script and direction lead to an end product so brilliant that it will be hard for Daniels to top this. In fact, it could be argued that it will be hard for anyone to top this. 

They help themselves greatly with the casting. Yeoh is someone who film fans should have been in love with for years already. If that isn’t the case, change it now. She has always been a massive talent and this gives her the role(s) of her life. Showing so much range, in terms of the characters portrayed and her ability to move from comedy to action to heartfelt emotional moments, Yeoh is one important chamber of the heart of the movie. Quan is another important chamber, and I cannot think of a recent movie moment that has made me happier than the sequence in which he beats up some security guards with a small fanny pack. He makes for a sad, tired, figure in many other scenes, but he also provides a reserve of strength that others use, and it is all conveyed with a quiet, unassuming, performance that is absolutely pitch perfect. Hsu is yet another chamber, and she gets to move between massive highs and massive lows with her character. She is dreadfully unhappy in a way that feels like every “lost” teen ever, but also symbolises unfulfilled potential and dashed hopes just as much as anyone else onscreen. The fourth chamber, ensuring the strong heartbeat that powers the whole film, is made up of both Hong and Jamie Lee Curtis, the former playing the formidable tax auditor. Both are painted as villains at different times, both are much more than that, and both do their bit to ensure that there is not one weak link in the lead acting chain. In an ideal world this would lead to every award everywhere all at once. Maybe in another universe.

There are great action scenes, great moments of absurd humour (highlights include googly eyes, a riff on Ratatouille, and a universe in which people have somehow evolved to have hotdogs for fingers), and simply great moments that will have you grinning from ear to ear. Did I keep track of the timelines and the science? Not quite. Do I think it all fits perfectly together? Not quite. But it is, like a number of other movies, something so magnificent that one or two minor quibbles don’t stop it from feeling perfect. And it is worth noting that, aside from the fighting and silliness, pushing the brain-melting science out of the way, this is a film about love and support. It is important that you have people who give you that love and support, and it is equally important that you pass that same love and support along to those you care about.

Although I know many people who would absolutely hate this, I consider it unmissable. And those who cannot enjoy the full experience it delivers are, quite frankly, missing out.

10/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews

Big Trouble In Little China (1986)

"When some wild-eyed, eight-foot-tall maniac grabs your neck, taps the back of your favorite head up against the barroom wall, and he looks you crooked in the eye and he asks you if ya paid your dues, you just stare that big sucker right back in the eye, and you remember what ol' Jack Burton always says at a time like that: "Have ya paid your dues, Jack?" "Yessir, the check is in the mail." 

As much as I try, I just can't help myself. When I visit someone at their home I end up looking at the music, movies and books on their shelves and I end up making snap judgments. If I see a shelf full of CDs by Lady Gaga, The Scissor Sisters and Jessie J, then I don't predict a friendly match made in heaven. If the only books I can see are distributed by Mills & Boon then, again, we probably don't have a lot in common. These judgments are irrational, and often incorrect, but they pop into my mind. If I look at someone's DVD collection and they have Big Trouble In Little China, well, I'd hope that we will get along just fine. It's not just me thinking this way. Kurt Russell says on the DVD commentary track (which is absolutely brilliant, by the way) that you can always tell someone's sense of humour by whether they like this movie or not. So if you're reading this review and you've already seen the movie before and didn't like it . . . . . . . . . . . . . . well, we probably wouldn't fare very well if thrown together on a blind date.

Russell plays Jack Burton, a truck driver who gets himself in the middle of some very strange business indeed when he accompanies a friend (Wang Chi, played by Dennis Dun) to pick up the love of his life (Miao Yin, played by Suzee Pai) from the airport. Miao Yin is kidnapped and Jack and Wang head off in hot pursuit to rescue her from her kidnappers. That turns out to be quite tricky when the men discover that Miao has been specifically chosen by the mysterious and powerful David Lo Pan (James Hong), all because of her beautiful green eyes. While they consider their options, another green-eyed beauty arrives, investigative reporter Gracie Law (Kim Cattrall), and helps formulate a plan that will, hopefully, lead to the rescue of Miao Yin as well as many other women being held against their will. It's just unlucky for them that they don't realise the mystical forces they will be coming up against.

I'm sure that most people who have heard of this film nowadays know a bit more than audiences who went to see it back in 1986. In fact, back when it was first released it was given very little promotion and those who stumbled upon it expecting a standard action comedy would have been understandably bemused.

Big Trouble In Little China is far from your standard action comedy. Instead, it takes great delight in taking the conventions of the action movie and turning them upside down. The most obvious, and most amusing, way in which this is done is with the hero, Jack Burton. He's not really a hero. Jack Burton goes through most of the movie either being ignorant of just what's going on or ineffective when needed most. Wang Chi is the man of action, but the film focuses on Burton, to great effect.

Russell is hilarious in the role, which is one of his best performances in a filmography chock full of great performances. Just listen to him talking on the phone after he loses his truck and tries to make an insurance claim - a lot of the dialogue is slightly faded as if it's just background noise, but almost every line is hilarious, mainly thanks to the delivery from Russell. Dennis Dun somehow keeps a straight face throughout and his character works well alongside Burton. What can I say about the Kim Cattrall of the 1980s that hasn't already been transcribed and kept forever in the legal documents that insist I stay at least two miles away from the woman? James Hong is great fun as David Lo Pan, Victor Wong adds to the entertainment as Egg Shen and Kate Burton, Suzee Pai and Donald Li all seem to enjoy themselves as they get caught up in the madness.

Gary Goldman and David Z. Weinstein wrote the script, but W. D. Richter is the man who extensively adapted the material into what audiences finally saw (it was originally envisioned as a western), and everyone involved in crafting the dialogue deserves praise for putting together something that makes people laugh so often, despite never going for easy gags. The movie is all about the characters, especially Burton, and that's where the humour comes from.

Despite the comedic nature of the material and the influences from Chinese culture and action movies of the past, this is still, undeniably, a John Carpenter film. The framing of each scene, the set designs, the music that he composed to accompany the visuals, the presence of Kurt Russell - this is classic Carpenter in every respect. The fact that the whole thing can be interpreted as an allegory for America and the way its foreign policy has affected so many countries over the years is just a bonus. I don't know if Carpenter ever intended that layer to be there, but there it is.

As cliched as it sounds, Big Trouble In Little China is a film that just seems to get better with age. I think if/when I rewatch it next year I may have to come back here to bump up the rating.

9/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews
Or Amazon is nice at this time of year - https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/Y1ZUCB13HLJD?ref_=wl_share