Five Nights At Freddy's 2 (2025)

I didn’t like Five Nights At Freddy’s. I knew I would still watch the sequel though. And I will watch any other instalment that comes along. I have started, my k mind won’t allow me to stop.

Set some time after the events of the first film, this has Mike (Josh Hutcherson) worrying about his little sister, Abby (Piper Rubio), as she spends her time wishing to be back with some of her friends. Those friends being dead children trapped in a restaurant is a bit of a problem, but maybe some supernatural force can help them wander further afield. And maybe more animatronic mayhem can ensue. Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail) is also dealing with spirits, but that is often specifically tied to the dark legacy of her father (Matthew Lillard).

Director Emma Tammi returns, but has left the screenplay fully in the hands of Scott Cawthon this time around. That might have been a bad decision. I am sure there are a lot of details and imagery here that will please fans of the game series, which (lest we forget) was created by Cawthon, but there’s not enough here to please anyone else. Despite my dislike for the first film, it at least felt like a decent enough gateway horror for younger movie viewers who had already been experiencing a number of the scares via the games. This, on the other hand, is just a mess. It often needs the characters to act like idiots. And, worst of all, it’s horrible dull.

Even the cast seem resigned to the fact that their presence is only getting in the way of the animatronics that everyone paid to see. Hutcherson has no energy in his performance, Lail feels one eye-roll away from just sidling her way towards the exit, and it’s only Rubio who does decent work, benefiting from the fact that she is a young child who doesn’t necessarily recognise the danger in her actions. Lillard isn’t used enough, which is understandable, but Freddy Carter, Wayne Knight, and McKenna Grace also feel sorely wasted.

I assume that those who loved the first film will at least enjoy this, but I wouldn’t be surprised if even the most die-hard FNAFers didn’t at least wonder why they were given something that feels so lazy and more like a place-holder than a fully-developed feature. This doesn’t even feel like a videogame, which might not have been so bad. It feels like a hurried trial/patch, thrown out to keep the IP at the forefront of gamers who might soon start to outgrow the series, if they haven’t already.

3/10

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Punisher: War Zone (2008)

It's been a while since I saw the first cinematic incarnation of this character, played by Dolph Lundgren, but I have more recently enjoyed both the film starring Thomas Jane and the series, with Jon Bernthal in the main role. The latter is the better portrayal of the character, but I still enjoy the film too, as maligned as it often is.

And now I have finally watched Punisher: War Zone, and I have a new favourite. Time will tell whether or not that remains the case but that's how things are for now.

Ray Stevenson plays Frank Castle, and the plot is fairly simple. He's taking out villains and one of them ends up in a nasty accident that leads to him renaming himself Jigsaw (Dominic West). Making a move for more power and money, Jigsaw and his cohorts end up setting themselves up for a confrontation with The Punisher, but our hero may be held back by the police officers who want him cuffed and off the streets.

Directed by Lexi Alexander, I really cannot see why more people don't love this one. Having spoken to fans of the comic, I am led to understand that a number of the onscreen characters are twisted a bit too far from their comic counterparts, and I can understand that being an issue, but the rest of the film is so gloriously entertaining and insanely violent that it would seem to be absolutely perfect for fans of The Punisher.

Written by Matt Holloway, Art Marcum, and Nick Santora, there's a fine blending of the grim and the darkly comedic throughout. It works really well, and is helped by pacing which means you're never too far away from either an action set-piece (some more over the top than others), a fun character moment, or a bit of ultraviolence. This thing barrels along. Stevenson may not get too much dialogue, The Punisher is a man of few words, but that doesn't stop the script from crackling elsewhere with amusing dialogue and entertaining statements of menacing intent.

Perhaps thanks to his relative lack of dialogue, but that may be unfair to say, Stevenson is fantastic in the main role. Seriously, he IS the best version of The Punisher I have seen onscreen. Lundgren was always fun, but also always Lundgren, Jane was okay (points for trying), and Bernthal is fantastic. Stevenson, however, just edges ahead. The size, the moves, the attitude, he's on point. West has a blast as Jigsaw, helped in a number of scenes by his crazy brother, played by Doug Hutchison. Wayne Knight is just fine as Micro, Mark Camacho and Keram Malicki-Sanchez are a decent couple of henchmen, Colin Salmon is fine and upstanding as the cop wanting to arrest Frank Castle, and Dash Mihok is enjoyable as the cop actually helping Frank when he can. Julie Benz is one of the few main actresses, and she does well as the widow of someone caught up in the crossfire between Frank and the gangsters.

I highly recommend this to fans of the character, to action movie fans, and to those who want some comic book fun that is far from family-friendly.

8/10

Buy it here.
Americans, buy it here.

Dead Again (1991)

Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson star in this enjoyable thriller/neo-noir that stars the former as a private detective, named Mike Church, trying to help the latter after she has lost her memory and voice. That's not all, however, as both stars also play characters who have shared a tragic event in the past. Has the trauma that occurred many years ago in the lives of Roman (Branagh) and Margaret Strauss (Thompson) somehow affected the mental state of the woman who needs help in the here and now? Perhaps a hypnotist (Derek Jacobi) can help. As revelations start to come to the surface, the young woman starts feeling more afraid, worried that the past will repeat itself.

As well as starring in one of the main roles, Branagh also directs the movie, and a fine job he does of it too. The script, by Scott Frank, is pretty well put together, with a number of very enjoyable twists en route to the grand finale and nice, easy transitions between the present and the past (although it helps that the past scenes are in black and white - a choice made after filming had been completed).

The cast are great, with Branagh and Thompson both enjoyable in the lead roles, despite affecting some horrible accents (a bit of a distraction). Jacobi is wonderful in his role, Wayne Knight gets to play someone likable, which is a rarity, Andy Garcia is very good as a reporter who covered the Strauss incident, and Robin Williams has a small, but highly entertaining role, as an ex-psychiatrist who can offer a second opinion on the condition of the leading lady. Campbell Scott appears onscreen for a moment or two, long enough to make quite an impression with his smooth, too good to be true, persona.

Dead Again is a fun film. It's enjoyably old-fashioned and full of many nice details. The more I think about it, the more I like and appreciate it, even with those horrible accents being used by Branagh and Thompson. I'm not sure if it all holds together perfectly, but I can't think of any huge plot holes that pulled me out of the viewing experience, and it develops the narrative strands - past and present - in a way that keeps things interesting, and surprisingly fresh, without getting too smug.

It may not be AS essential viewing as many other movies from this category, but it turns out to be well worth your time.

7/10

Available to buy here, but do NOT read the spoilerific product description if you haven't seen the movie - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dead-Again-Dvd-Kenneth-Branagh/dp/B00005UO5G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1383844678&sr=8-1&keywords=dead+again