The Mitchells vs. the Machines – Film Review

Posted on January 10, 2022 by ashleymanningwriter
The Mitchells vs the Machines (2021) - IMDb

Director: Mike Rianda

Writers: Mike Rianda and Jeff Rowe

Starring: Abbi Jacobson, Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph, Mike Rianda, Eric André, Olivia Colman, Fred Armisen, Beck Bennett, Chrissy Teigen, John Legend, Charlyne Yi, Blake Griffin, Conan O’Brien, and Doug the Pug

Rating: ★★★★★

Mike Rianda was approached by Sony Pictures Animation to pitch a film to them after the success he had as creative director on Gravity Falls for Disney. That film became The Mitchells vs. the Machines, which after delays thanks to Covid, finally saw a global release on Netflix in April 2021 to global acclaim. It’s a fantastic story that will appeal to people of all ages with some bizarre humour that works perfectly.

Katie Mitchell (Abbi Jacobson) is just about to set off to film school in California, which is causing a rift between her and her father, Rick (Danny McBride). To try and fix their relationship, Rick decides to surprise Katie and the rest of the family with a surprise road trip to see Katie off at film school. While they’re making their way cross-country an A.I system starts a revolution and starts to capture every screen-reliant human possible. The Mitchells are humanities final hope and have to work together to save the world.

At its heart this is a coming-of-age story about a father and daughter who don’t quite understand each other and that’s led to a division between them. Before the robots haven’t started their uprising there’s so much going on between Katie and Rick that you’re already invested. They are both incredibly well written and relatable characters, so even if this was just a road trip film with the usual plot points, then it would probably still be an excellent story thanks to the incredible writing. It’s not just a road trip though, it’s an end of the world road trip with robots and danger at every turn.

The comedy in this film is absolutely perfect. It works for all ages, with a blend of the bizarre and abstract, with visual gags, all the way through to dad jokes. Everything works, and there’s not a moment where you’re not laughing or smiling at the screen. The whole cast is great, making the most out of every gag and they all sound like they are having a great time.

There’s a some really gorgeous and polished modern computer animation. Every so often a different style, like something more hand drawn, is layered on top of it, mostly for a joke or two and it gives everything this intense high energy feel. There are so many moments where the animation just pops off the screen. It’s one of the best-looking animated films of recent years. Adding to the animation is the fast pacing of the film, it doesn’t slow down for a second just jumping through the plot, with jokes thrown out at every possible opportunity.

The Mitchells vs. the Machines is a perfect film for the whole family to watch. It will appeal to the kid in all of us. It’s produced by Lord and Miller, who directed The Lego Movie, and has a similar sense of humour. It’s an instant classic and something that will be rewatched by many a generation for the years to come.

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Gamera vs. Viras – Monster Mondays

Posted on January 10, 2022 by ashleymanningwriter
Prime Video: Gamera vs. Viras

The fourth entry into the Gamera series is Gamera vs Viras, and it’s my favourite of the series so far. The first three are quite similar to each other, following the same basic premise, with the first half introducing the monster, then the second half being the fighting. This one saves the monster for almost the end, the first hour is build up and the final ten minutes is the most brutal fight of the series so far. It’s epic.

Gamera vs Viras (Arrow Video) Blu-ray Review

It starts with an alien spaceship coming to Earth. The design is pretty nice, it’s five balls joined together in a circle, that are stripped like bees. Instead of a stinger, each ball has a dish that can shoot a laser. Gamera finds the ship and destroys it, with another one not far behind. The second one captures Gamera in a bubble. At the same time two children are in a submarine as part of being in the boy scouts, because 1960s boy scouts in Japan are allowed to take control of private submarines, no problem. The aliens capture the boy scouts, and uses them to turn Gamera against humanity. They discover that Gamera’s weakness is saving children, so using that they put a mind control device on him so he destroys Japan.

The moment when Gamera attacks the first ship is brilliant. He just flies up to it, headbutts one of the bee-like balls until it cracks, shoves his head inside and breathes fire over it. There’s no hesitation, it knows these are the bad guys and just attacks straight out. It’s funny and cool to watch.

Strangely enough, the footage of Gamera destroying Tokyo is in black and white, while the rest of the film is in colour. That’s because it’s reused footage from the first film, which was shot in black and white. The fourth film had a major budget cut, which explains the length being seventy minutes, and the reusing of old footage for almost all of Gamera’s rampaging. It’s not all bad though, there’s a moment where the aliens read Gamera’s mind to see his past, and it works as a recap for those that haven’t seen the previous films. It’s a clever technique and for the most part it’s not obvious they are reusing footage, except when it changes from colour to black and white.

Gamera vs. Viras (1968) - IMDb

The actual monster, which is a space squid named Viras, spends most of the film in the alien ship behind a cage. It looks, to me at least, as Squidward from Spongebob with a beak. The two boys find it, believing it to be a captured animal, and then it’s revealed later that it’s actually in control. The two boys running around on the ship is pure brilliance. It’s goofy and funny. They find they can ask for anything from the ship’s computer, asking for drinks and fruit, thinking they will get a knife to kill their captors.

Viras has also captured humans, using their bodies as shells for other squids. They are genuinely creepy, looking like blank slates until they go into attack mode, with glowing eyes. One of the human shells also detaches his arm at one point to pin the boys to the wall. It’s creepy and strange.

Gamera vs. Viras (1968) | MUBI

When it’s time for the big fight, Viras beheads all of the human shells, taking the squids underneath and turning into the big Viras. The following fight is then brutal. Gamera beats the hell out of Viras, who then uses the needle point-like head to impale himself into Gamera and stabs him a bunch of times. It’s bloody and violent. In the end Gamera may win, but it’s the closest to defeat so far in the series. I had a hell of a good time with this one, and I’m very excited for what comes next.

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The Devil to Pay – Film Review

Posted on January 9, 2022 by ashleymanningwriter

Director: Lane Skye and Ruckus Skye

Writers: Lane Skye and Ruckus Skye

Starring: Danielle Deadwyler, Ezra Haslam, Jayson Warner Smith, Brad Carter, Adam Boyer, and Catherine Dyer

Rating: ★★★★

The Devil to Pay (Also known as Reckoning in some countries) is the first film to be written and directed by Lane and Ruckus Skye, after a few shorts that the couple had worked on together. It tells a story about the bond between a mother and her son, and then lengths that she will go to protect him.

After her husband left without any sign of when he will return, Lemon Cassidy (Danielle Deadwyler, The Harder they Fall) is left to look after her farm and raise her son, Coy (Ezra Haslam). They live as part of a self-governed society in the Appalachian Mountains, and the head of one of the families, Tommy Runion (Catherine Dyer), reveals that Lemon’s husband had left on a job and hadn’t returned. Since his debt was left unpaid, it’s up to Lemon to pay the rest of it off.  

Lane and Ruckis Skye have masterfully crafted a moving and engrossing story from the opening frame to the moment the credit starts to roll. The whole thing flies by and you’re completed engaged with what’s happening. The first five minutes tells you everything that you need to know about the film. It starts with establishing shots of the mountain range with an overcast sky, with text on screen telling why people moved to the mountains in the 18th century. The score comes in, with an ominous banjo playing, telling you that this isn’t going to be a happy tale. The first scene of Lemon standing on her front porch, with the wind slowly rattling the windchimes. It perfectly sets a dark and downbeat tone, settling you in for the film.

Almost immediately it then picks up with upbeat music while Lemon and Coy rake up leaves and have fun together throughout their day. There’s still a sadness when Coy looks over at his mother sitting alone on the porch, he misses his father. The downbeat energy the first few times the porch is shown foreshadows what’s coming later when a knock at the door means that Lemon is summoned to Tommy for her task.

Danielle Deadwyler delivers a stunning performance as Lemon Cassidy. Especially when she’s on screen with Ezra Haslam, who play’s Lemon’s son. There’s a tenderness between them that’s authentic. The chemistry between them is so natural, you won’t be surprised to find out they are mother and son in real life. Within the first five minutes of them sharing the screen, you know everything about their relationship. You’re instantly invested in their lives, so when the inevitable happens and things start to get dark, then it’s heightened that much more.

Then you meet Tommy, who is played by Catherine Dyer perfectly. She’s a sinister and extremely menacing character. Lemon has to walk quite a distance to get to her house, and the first sign of who Tommy is, is a human ear nailed to a post. Tommy lives up to this by being a lovely and homely person who is always baking treats, before turning nasty. When she starts to intimidate Lemon, she drags a chair over to her, the scraping echoing, as the camera hangs on previous dragging marks, showing how often this tactic is used.

The script is really tight, not wasting a single moment. It runs at around eighty minutes, and genuinely flies by. Every story beat has a reason, building to something. Even scenes that seem pointless, come back around. There’s a moment where Lemon delivers a package in exchange to borrow a car to complete her mission, and at first it seems pointless. She’s delivering something to a cult-like group of people, and it feels like a side quest on her journey, but it comes round again towards the end.

The Devil to Pay is excellent. It keeps a fast pace, has some tense moments and at its heart is extremely excellent performances from Deadwyler, Haslam, and Dyer. It’s exciting to think what could come next from Lane and Ruckus Skye.  

Signature Entertainment presents The Devil to Pay on Digital Platforms 17th January

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Mother/Android – Film Review

Posted on January 9, 2022 by ashleymanningwriter
Mother/Android (2021) - IMDb

Director: Mattson Tomlin

Writer: Mattson Tomlin

Starring: Chloë Grace Moretz, Algee Smith, and Raúl Castillo

Rating: ★★★½

Mother/Android presents a world in the near future where androids are everywhere, acting as our servants. Georgia (Chloë Grace Moretz) has just found out that she’s pregnant, just before she and her boyfriend, Sam (Algee Smith), are due to go to a party. While they are at the party a momentary blackout leads to the androids rising up and attacking the humans that used to be there

Mattson Tomlin takes a simple and very real story and sets it against the backdrop of the end of the world. Georgia is shocked by her pregnancy, especially because she doesn’t know if she wants to be with Sam forever, it’s a shock that rocks her life. Before she’s even had time to let it sink in, the apocalypse starts around her, and then survival is the only objective. She’s forced to stay with Sam by the robot uprising, and the decisions about her future are taken out of her hands.

Fantastical events such as the end of the world always work better when there’s real human drama at the centre of it. Before the plot really kicks into gear you’re already invested in the characters and that’s a testament to both Chloë Grace Moretz and Algee Smith, who both give outstanding performances throughout the film. The unplanned pregnancy is reminiscent of Stephen King’s The Stand, which uses as similar plot thread to make you care about the main characters before the end of the world is upon them.

The event that sparks the revolution comes out of nowhere. There’s no warning it’s going to happen, and if you go into the film blind, then it’s genuinely shocking. The androids are brutal and quick, and unrelenting. They are like Terminators, just not as unstoppable. After the opening scene the film mixes an interesting balance between the small and personal moments, like when Georgia and Sam find a house they make their temporary home, and the extremely tense violence of the apocalypse, such as the trip through the woods where nowhere is safe. Both work really well and the two leads are so good in their roles that they pull off both the personal scenes and the action.  

Georgia is nine months pregnant, and actually past her due date, for most of the film, and yet manages to pull of some amazing feats. It passes beyond the limits of believability at points, but you can pass most of it of as pure adrenaline and a will to carry on. There are a few moments where it’s difficult to suspend your belief. The other issue is the ending, it’s incredibly dragged out. The last few scenes just didn’t need to be that long, the emotional impact is gone, because it doesn’t know when to stop, almost to a Return of the King extent.

Mother/Android is a really good film about a robot uprising. The characters are great, there’s some really tense moments. Its flaws can be completely overlooked, because everything else is just that good.

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Atomic Blonde – Film Review

Posted on January 8, 2022 by ashleymanningwriter
Atomic Blonde: David Percival (Short 2017) - IMDb

Director: David Leitch

Writer: Kurt Johnstad

Starring: Charlize Theron, James McAvoy, John Goodman, Til Schweiger, Eddie Marsan, Sofia Boutella, Roland Møller, and Toby Jones

Rating: ★★

Atomic Blonde from 2017 is based upon The Coldest City, a comic by Antony Johnston and Sam Hart. It feels like a comic with it’s flashy visuals and stylish action, but beyond that it’s missing an interesting story that keeps you engaged through its sluggish pacing and overly long runtime.

Days before the fall of the Berlin Wall an agent carrying a list of every undercover operative on both sides is killed. Lorraine Broughton (Charlize Theron) is sent into Berlin to reclaim the list, with the help of David Percival (James McAvoy). Her cover is blown almost immediately, and any plans of a stealthy mission go out of the window as soon as she gets of the plane.

The opening scene, which shows the original agent holding the list being killed is a shock to the senses. It’s brutal and quick with no warning it’s going to happen. It sets up the raw and personal action that continues throughout the film, almost immediately afterwards the film fails to live up to the greatness the opening suggests.

The action is great, with some impressive choreography and long shots that make you feel like your up close and personal with the fist fights and gun-fu that John Wick would be proud of. You can almost feel every bullet as it connects, every punch and kick lands with an energetic thwap that’s thrilling to watch.

It’s just whenever there’s no fighting, the film falls completely flat. The story just isn’t interesting in the slightest. There are a lot of twists and turns, but they don’t land, because it’s almost impossible to care. It’s espionage without any of the intrigue or excitement. Both Charlize Theron and James McAvoy do the best they can with the boring characters that were written, but they can’t save a dull script. They both are great at the action; it just takes too long between the fights.

The pacing is incredibly slow, so that the just under two hours runtime feels about double that. It’s going for a dark and gritty tone, with a splash of comic book style, but it just doesn’t work. There’s an incredible soundtrack, with so many classics, but it doesn’t do much to lift the film. Rather than being on the edge of your seat, apart from when there’s action happening, you’ll be laid back so far that you’re at risk of nodding off.

Shallow and unengaging, Atomic Blonde misses in almost every way. The soundtrack is great, and the action choreography is excellent, but everything else is poor and incredibly boring. There has been word of a sequel, and hopefully it can improve because Charlize Theron is a great action star, and the fight scenes are the best bits.

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