Netflix And Chill: Bumblebee (2018)

While it has certainly happened before, mainly in horror franchises, I wish more people would take the opportunity to use familiar IP in a way that still allows for films that feel more fresh and fun than whatever formula has been decided upon throughout a number of previous movies. Bumblebee not only does just that, but it does so brilliantly.

The story is quite simple. It's the second half of the 1980s, and transforming robot Bumblebee ends up on Earth. While in the guise of a Volkswagen Beetle car, Bumblebee is taken to the home of Charlie (Hailee Steinfeld). He eventually reveals his true form, and the two bond as it becomes clear that some danger is heading their way. That may be in the shape of other robots, and it may also be in the shape of a military man named Agent Burns (John Cena).

The first live-action feature from director Travis Knight, who also helmed the superb Kubo And The Two Strings, this is exactly the kind of enjoyable entertainment that you should expect from a film that has a young woman befriending a big robot. Writer Christina Hodson may not always attach herself to the best projects, but she has proven throughout her career that she can often write witty and satisfying blockbuster fare. This is her best work yet, mainly thanks to the whole load of heart that is allowed to take up so much of the screentime. A lot of the plot points may be obvious (Charlie missing a dead parent, Bumblebee figuring out just what is needed to complete an important mission, angry military types threatened by powerful tech), but they're mixed together well enough around characters that viewers should enjoy spending time with.

Steinfeld is great in the lead role, as she has been in pretty much everything that she's done so far, and she's given great support from Pamela Adlon and Stephen Schneider (playing her mother and stepfather, respectively), as well as Jorge Lendeborg Jr. (a guy with a crush on her, which leads him to also finding out about Bumblebee). John Ortiz has a small role, one that benefits from having his familiar face there, and Cena is good value as the determined man out to deal with what he perceives to be a major threat.

The 114-minute runtime, like everything else here, feels relatively bright and breezy in comparison to other Transformers movies, and there's a great pop soundtrack, as well as references to a number of iconic 1980s movies, whether in recreated moments or just film posters hung on the walls of our main character's bedroom.

Every set-up is paid off, there are a good selection of running gags (one of the best being about Bumblebee's inability to hide), and it's all just a genuinely heart-warming and fun teen movie that happens to have one of the awkward teens being played by a Transformer. I can imagine most people choosing to watch this again ahead of so many other entries in the franchise, and I don't blame them. In fact, I include myself amongst them.

9/10

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Nobody 2 (2025)

I had an absolute blast with Nobody when it was released. The fact that I haven't rushed to rewatch it in the intervening years is just a sad reminder of how packed my viewing schedule is for the foreseeable few decades (at the very least). I couldn't bring myself to rush to the cinema to see Nobody 2, but I knew I'd want to give it a whirl when it came to home viewing platforms.

All of the main characters are back, with the main plot concerning Hutch Mansell (Bob Odenkirk) trying to enjoy some family holiday time with his wife, Becca (Connie Nielsen), and children (Brady, played by Gage Munroe, and Sammy, played by Paisley Cadorath). The holiday is soon soured, unfortunately, when Hutch stumbles into the middle of the best-laid plans of the dodgy Sheriff Abel (Colin Hanks), who does a lot of dirty work for the powerful and ruthless Lendina (Sharon Stone). As Hutch tries to keep his family safe and aims for a showdown, he once again has to utilise the talents of a couple of family members (played by Christopher Lloyd and RZA). 

With all of the main players returning in front of the camera, it's comforting to see that Derek Kolstad has also returned for the writing duties (joined this time by Aaron Rabin). The only main change is Timo Tjahjanto taking over the directorial duties, and that feels like a big plus, considering the fantastic and savage action that he's delivered throughout his career.

Let's start with the good stuff. Odenkirk and co. are all still great in their roles, and the film feels better for keeping the family all in the loop this time around. RZA and Lloyd still get to shine in third act moments that super-charge their presence, but Nielsen must have been very happy to see that the screenplay made her capable of handling the unexpected pressure, as well as a gun. Hanks is a pretty good villain, John Ortiz is a middle man who could go either way, depending on who he trusts to protect him and his son (played by Lucious Hoyos), and Stone is enjoyably willing to chew some scenery in her few scenes. It's just a shame that she isn't in the film for longer. I would have liked more of her, even if that meant just watching the growing shadow of her character looming over everything from the earliest scenes.

There are decent fights throughout, and the runtime is a zippy 89 minutes. I also quite liked the humour, largely tied to the exasperation of Odenkirk's character when forced to do what he does best.

That's about it for the good stuff though. Tjahjanto really falters when it comes to the fights, disappointing with repeated moves and numerous coincidences ensuring that our lead survives until the big final battle. It also doesn't help that, despite the family holiday premise, Kolstad and Rabin are happy to have written a screenplay that comes very close to just rehashing everything from the first movie. The wrong people get upset, assets are destroyed, and the third act is full of booby traps, even more overwhelming odds, and some vital support from other experienced killers. 

I could watch this again, Odenkirk almost ensures that I could rewatch pretty much anything he's involved with, but I doubt I would ever pick it if it was sitting right alongside the original. That's a much better film, and this suffers in comparison to it. It should have been much better, and it's easy to see where improvements should have been made (giving Stone more screentime, making better use of the amusement park, varying the fights more). There's still some fun to be had with it though.

6/10

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American Fiction (2023)

I remember a time, back in high school, when I had to write a book report. I thought I did a great job, I worked on it for a long time, and I felt happy with the end result. The teacher handed the report back to me and told ne I had to redo it. Now, I cannot recall how well my original piece was then (I vaguely remember citing specific examples from the text and trying hard to write a proper report, as opposed to a plot summary, but maybe it wasn’t good), but I can tell you what happened next. I felt that I had already put enough time and effort into something I had to completely rewrite. I decided to multi-task during my lunch break, delivering a page or so of what I considered to be absolute twaddle, phrases that my friends and I were laughing about as  I wrote them down. That second incarnation of my book report received depressingly positive feedback, and that is when I realised that you sometimes need to write what people are expecting from you, rather than your absolute truth. It may have also started me on the path away from academia, and the conformity required until you make a unique impact that cannot be ignored.

While this may not seem connected to American Fiction, it really is. This is the tale of a black American writer (Thelonious “Monk” Ellison, played by Jeffrey Wright) who finds himself struggling to sell books in a market that he doesn’t want to be a part of. Resenting the label of “black literature”, with the stereotypes and “trauma porn” often contained within it, Monk seems destined to maintain his integrity at the expense of any major sales opportunities. Until he plays a big hole on everyone, writing a novel full of the kind of garbage that he hates to read, and using the pseudonym Stagg R. Leigh. It is, of course, a huge success, and it just gets more and more praise as Monk tries to make it, and his character, more and more like the content he is mocking.

Based on a book, “Erasure”, by Percival Everett, this is a hell of a directorial debut from Cord Jefferson, who also adapted the source material into screenplay form. Picking at the frayed strands that have been woven together over centuries to make the mixed and vibrant quilt of the USA, nobody here is looking to offer easy answers to things like racial profiling, white guilt, the intersection of art and commerce, and the permission to use the lives of others as inspiration for creative endeavours, among other topics broached. But sometimes you don’t need, and may never get, definitive answers, especially from art. Sometimes it is enough to ask the questions.

Wright is brilliant in a lead role that feels like just the thing he has been long overdue. His character is bitter and acerbic throughout, but he has extra pressures on him, as well as a number of valid points about what he sees going on around him (all underlined by the fact that his joke starts to look like it will be an unstoppable success). There’s a great supporting cast, all holding their own alongside Wright, but other highlights include Sterling K. Brown (a gay sibling working through his feelings in a very different way), Erika Alexander (as Coraline, a potential love interest, but also a reader who has enjoyed previous books written by Monk), John Ortiz (an agent who disapproves of the new book until it gains major traction and sales interest), and Issa Rae (as a successful author, Sintara Golden, who seems to write the exact kind of material that Monk cannot stand). There are also excellent turns from Leslie Uggams (an ailing mother), Myra Lucretia Taylor, Raymond Anthony Thomas, Tracee Ellis Ross, Keith David (basically a cameo, but some Keith David is better than no Keith David), and Adam Brody.

Funny, thought-provoking, moving, and somehow galvanized by the fact that it springboards from a very observable reality all around us, American Fiction is a superb blend of satire and pathos, and I am all the happier if it gives a well-earned boost to the profiles of everyone involved, especially Wright.

8/10

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Fast & Furious (2009)

New Model. Original Parts. That was the way Fast & Furious was advertised, heavily pushing the fact that Vin Diesel was back, as were Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, and Jordana Brewster. It's apparently what fans of the series wanted. And it's hard to argue with the decision, considering the enduring success of the series across two decades.

Let me try to keep things very simple. After an intro that shows Dominic Toretto (Diesel) and co. pulling off a dangerous heist, Dom knows that he's bringing down too much heat on those close to him. So he decides that it's time to leave. Then Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) is killed. It may have something to do with a major criminal named Campos, which leads to Dom crossing paths once again with Brian (Paul Walker), the famously criminal-friendly cop who is somehow back in the bosom of the FBI workplace. The way to get to Campos is to, obviously, show off your driving skills, and that means Dom and Brian race against one another, and others, to get closer to their target.

You know what, I liked this a little more this time around than I did when I first saw it. I think it has an enjoyable simplicity to it, even as it starts to put the pieces in place for what would define the shape of the series for the next few films. It's more overtly showing Vin Diesel as the smartest and toughest and most desirable male in any situation, which is also irritating, but even that is nowhere as bothersome as it is in other Diesel-fulled cinematic engines.

With director Justin Lin and writer Chris Morgan once again along for the ride, Fast & Furious is a film that shows everyone being very comfortable with the format, with delivering what people expect, and with the chemistry between the leads (the frisson between Dom and Brian is something we haven't experienced this strongly since Tom Hanks started side-eyeing Wilson the volleyball).

I'm not the biggest fan of either Diesel or Walker, but they're both pretty perfect in their main roles here. Diesel gets to do all of his usual stuff, but Walker has a bit more variety and fun, especially in his running "war" with one main colleague (played by the great Shea Wigham). Rodriguez gets taken offscreen very early on, but at least she doesn't have to spend the rest of the film fawning over Diesel, with those moments now taken by Gal Gadot. Brewster, on the other hand, has to split her time between looking lovingly at her brother and looking ready to forgive and fall back in love with the cop who lied to her before. John Ortiz and Laz Alonso are both good fun, playing a couple of main villains, and fans of the third film will be pleased to see a small role for Sung Kang.

It's a different level of ridiculousness than the films that would come along after it, but this is all still quite ridiculous. Fortunately, it's done with an emphasis on sheer entertainment and thrills, with a decent smattering of lively car races and some bruising fights. The more of these films I rewatch, the easier it is to see why the series has developed into the massive success it is.

7/10

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Netflix And Chill: The Drop (2014)

Dennis Lehane adapts his own short story, "Animal Rescue", into screenplay form for a feature that allows for a number of the main actors to deliver performances to rank up there with their very best. Although it's sad to remember that this was the last film completed by James Gandolfini, it's a bittersweet pleasure to see him go out on such a high, delivering the kind of stellar supporting turn he could so effortlessly pull out from his back pocket.

He's not the focus of the film, however. The person who is front and centre is Tom Hardy, playing Bob Saginowski. Bob works in a bar that belongs to his cousin, Marv AKA . . . Cousin Marv (Gandolfini). Well, I should say that it used to belong to Marv. He lost it some time ago, and now makes money for the owners while his name remains up on display. A number of things happen in a short space of time that threaten the relatively content situation Bob and Marv have made for themselves. Bob finds a dog dumped in a bin, and meets a woman (Nadia, played by Noomi Rapace) at the same time. The bar is robbed, with the stolen money being something tbat the criminal bar owners cannot let go without someone being responsible for it. And Bob starts to be harassed by Eric Deeds (Matthias Schoenaerts), who claims to be the owner of the ditched dog. Meanwhile, a Detective Torres (John Ortiz) is investigating the robbery, which makes everyone slightly edgy and looking as if they have even more to hide.

Directed by Michaël R. Roskam, as trite as this might sound, The Drop is a film that excels simply because it has a quality cast working with a solid script. Lehane doesn't do anything exceptional here (there's nothin on a par with some of the dialogue in Mystic River, for example), but he has taken the time to craft a quintet of characters who feel fully-formed, and who make you care about the cinematic journey in varying ways. Roskam puts his faith in these characters, and rightly so, which allows him to concentrate on simple and unfussy shot choices throughout. The emphasis is always on the geography and proximity of various characters, and every scene works within that remit.

Although I started this review by mentioning, and praising, Gandolfini, that's slightly unfair to his co-stars. Hardy gives a performance that, even for him, counts as one of his absolute best. And his scenes with Rapace work brilliantly, largely thanks to the fact that she is also on top form. She's arguably playing the most innocent character of the main group, but even she has a darkness in her past that is revealed in due course. Schoenaerts is an excellent pain in the ass, Ortiz does well as the familiar kind of cop who just knows that there's more going on than he can see, even if he suspects he also may never see it. Even the much smaller roles are cast perfectly, with fine little turns from people who at least completely look the part.

Is there anything that doesn't work? Very little. Perhaps Roskam could have done a bit more to make this feel a bit more cinematic (it's not hard to envision this being adapted into a stage play) and things come together in the finale in a way that isn't at all surprising. There's a chance that it's not meant to be, considering how large and unsubtle the signposting is, but things play out as if viewers are supposed to need to take a moment to process the information they have been fed, which most will have already figured out for themselves by the end of the first act.

Overall, this is a great piece of work. I especially recommend it to anyone who likes ANY of the main stars, but also just to anyone who likes a flawless acting ensemble.

8/10

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

Replicas (2018)

It's a familiar tale. A scientist tries to figure out how to breathe proper life into a creation. It's just not happening. Then his loved ones die in a car accident. The scientist uses all of the resources at his disposal to bring them back to life, with the exception of one (because he doesn't have enough equipment). Everyone seems moderately happy while we wait for the inevitable trouble to start.

That's everything you need to know about this sci-fi movie starring Keanu Reeves in the main role. He plays Will Foster, a man who will go to great lengths to have more time with his family. He's helped in his secret mission by Ed (Thomas Middleditch), and the two men have to avoid piquing the curiosity of their boss, Jones (John Ortiz).

The screenplay by Chad St. John, building on a story by Stephen Hamel, sets up an interesting premise in the first half that is then wasted, with no consideration given to some of the more complex ideas that could have been the focus of a sharper and smarter movie. And that's before I start commenting on the actual dialogue, which is pretty awful.

Director Jeffrey Nachmanoff adds nothing to the material, in terms of skill or style. Looking at his filmography, which is mainly made up of a couple of movies and then intermittent TV work, it seems that this is his usual level. In fact, given his career path, I am amazed that he had a chance to helm this. Considering the many ways in which the plot could have been steered, this would seem to be an obvious fit for a director with a proven track record. I could name a dozen directors who may have made something more of this, which just makes me slightly sadder for what we ended up with.

Reeves seems to be going along on autopilot in his role, unsurprisingly, and Ortiz is the same, perhaps even slightly worse at times. Alice Eve is a bit better, but given a lot less to do, in the role of the deceased wife/mother. Middleditch is the only one doing something that livens up a few scenes, however, and it's a shame that his role couldn't be expanded.

Annoyingly, there's STILL almost enough here to allow me to enjoy this. The first act poses some interesting questions, most of which it fails to answer, but then it plods along for the middle section, and even most of the finale. Fortunately, there are one or two moments in the very last scenes that are entertaining enough to almost fool you into thinking that you've enjoyed the movie by the time the end credits roll.

Anyone not as obsessed with Keanu Reeves as I am can feel free to remove a point from my rating.

4/10

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

The Cloverfield Paradox (2018)

It has long been the case that if a movie was released with very little marketing and/or no advance screenings for critics then everyone could safely assume that it wasn't going to be very good. A lot of stinkers have been dumped into cinemas this way, making a cash grab before the word starts to spread on just how bad it is. But the times they are a changing, as a popular song will tell you. And that is how so many people ended up spending their time after the recent Super Bowl watching The Cloverfield Paradox. Very few people knew it was being released so soon, and even less expected the trailer from Netflix advertising it as being available to watch right after the game. Well played, Netflix, well played indeed.

Now let's get to the film itself. Tenuously linked to the previous two films, The Cloverfield Paradox shows us an Earth that is limping through a dire energy crisis, which is the perfect time to develop and build a huge space station thingummybob that will head upwards into the stars and fire a big beam down on our planet with probably no long-lasting negative effects to us or the universe, obviously. The crew are impressively multi-cultural, with Hamilton (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) being the one we are kept alongside the most, and they take turns at working together and fighting one another when things go wrong and Earth seems to disappear. If they can ever make it back there, and if some strange force will actually let them, becomes the focus of the film, with occasional diversions to show us what is going on back on Earth itself (which you should already be aware of if you've seen the previous two films).

You have a few things working very well here. The cast, for one, are a great mix; as well as Mbatha-Raw, there's Daniel Bruhl, Aksel Hennie,  Zhang Ziyi, David Oyelowo, Chris O'Dowd, and more. The production values are good, with some impressive special effects throughout. And fans of the previous movies will enjoy scouring each scene for small connections and references to other events.

Julius Onah directs well enough, showing especially good instincts when it comes to the scares and surprises, which are just a bit too few and far between. One moment features some squirm-inducing eyeball freakery that perked me right up again just as my interest had started to wane.

The biggest problem lies with the script, written by Oren Uziel. Hampered by a lack of logic, even movie-based logic, and possibly also hampered by having to shoehorn in those Cloverfield connections, the script falls completely flat in between the better set-pieces. Worst of all, it undermines the decent acting on display by making most of the characters very hard to care about. There's also no attempt to give us a decent hint at an explanation for certain events. I don't need everything spelled out for me, most people don't, but that doesn't mean a film can just be made up of various moments thrown together with no real idea of the cause and effect. That way lies anarchy and a lack of satisfaction for viewers.

Everything else makes up for the poor script, but only just (and I have already heard from a LOT of people who disagree with me). The weakest of the series so far, I can still see this being a big, even monster, hit for Netflix, thanks to the (lack of) marketing and the curiosity that fans will have. I just hope that whatever we get next is a bit better.

6/10

Get the previous two movies here.
Or, in America, get them here.