Kingsman: The Secret Service – Film Review

Posted on December 26, 2021 by ashleymanningwriter
Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014) - IMDb

Director: Matthew Vaughn

Writers: Jane Goldman and Matthew Vaughn

Starring: Colin Firth, Samuel L. Jackson, Mark Strong, Taron Egerton, Michael Caine, Mark Hamill, Sophie Cookson

Rating: ★★½

Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman have a very good track record together, starting with the incredible 2007 Stardust. Since then, they’ve adapted a fair few comic books to the big screen from X-Men to Kick-Ass. In 2015 they worked together to create Kingsman: The Secret Service, based on The Secret Service by Kick-Ass writer Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons. The film has led to a sequel and a prequel that’s currently in cinemas.

The Kingsman is a secret spy organisation that operates from a tailor’s shop in London on Savile Row. Seventeen years ago, Eggsy’s (Taron Egerton) father, an agent of the Kingsman sacrificed himself to save Harry Hart’s (Colin Firth) life. Now Eggsy has the opportunity to become one of the agents, taking his father’s place. First, he must survive the tough selection process. At the same time people are going missing around the world and it looks like there’s a mastermind at play. 

It’s a comic book version of James Bond. The flash gadgets, stylish suits and evil mastermind planning to destroy the world, combined with over-the-top humour and action. It never feels like it’s a parody of James Bond, but a tribute to the genre. Kingsman takes itself seriously enough to be a thrilling adventure while at the same time being funny and silly. It’s not as goofy as Johnny English, which is never a bad thing.

The action and fight sequences feel like something right out of a comic book. Matthew Vaughn has outdone himself with some incredibly stylish moments, especially the pub fight at the beginning and then the church fight towards the end. It’s entertaining, funny, and incredibly well shot. It’s not overdone either, so every time it happens it feels like a treat.

The film has one hell of a cast. Colin Firth is great, showing us that he could have been James Bond in another timeline. Taron Egerton is excellent as both the snarky chav and the international spy. Michael Caine is just doing what he does best, with style and ease. Mark Hamill is good in his very brief appearance. Mark Strong is excellent as Merlin, one of the agents of Kingsman. The cast are all on top form, bringing their characters to life.

It’s a real shame, but the film isn’t as perfect as it could have been. The story does feel like it should wrap up about twenty minutes before it actually does. The run time is a little over two hours and by the time you get to the end, it does feel it. The final action sequence doesn’t connect in the same way that earlier ones do, because it’s really running on tired legs by that point. There’s also some awkward humour at points that really doesn’t land, especially the final joke. It’s not funny and really leaves the film on a sour note.

Kingsman: The Secret Service, despite its flaws is a really good time. It feels like a punch and energetic comic book and the action is incredible. It’s a great over-the-top adventure. 

Posted in film reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Krampus – Film Review

Posted on December 25, 2021 by ashleymanningwriter
Krampus (2015) - IMDb

Director: Michael Dougherty

Writers: Todd Casey, Michael Dougherty, and Zach Shields

Starring: Adam Scott, Toni Collette, David Koechner, Allison Tolman, Conchata Ferrell, Emjay Anthony, Stefania LaVie Owen, Krista Stadler, Lolo Owen, Queenie Samuel, Maverick Flack, and Sage Hunefeld

Rating: ★★½

Krampus from 2015 takes the old folklore tale and turns it into an almost slasher comedy horror film. Max (Emjay Anthony) just wants his family to celebrate Christmas the way they used to. He writes a letter to Santa, wishing that everyone is simply happy, but after being mocked by his cousins, he rips up the letter and throws it out the window, and the next morning a snowstorm seems to be hiding something.

For the first fifteen or so minutes of the film you’d have no idea this was a horror. It feels like a typical family Christmas film with family arriving and causing friction, cousins not getting along, until there’s a big argument. After is lulls you into a false sense of security, it then almost instantly, the tone shifts from family friendly comedy, to a dark and twisted horror.  

The creature designs are great and feel like something that would feel right at home in a film from Guillermo Del Toro. They’re creepy and imaginative, especially Krampus himself and the giant Jack in the box with the predator style mouth. They all look unique and are instantly memorable. It’s one of the absolute highlights of the film.

While the creature designs may be great, the horror is very lacking. It’s not scary in the slightest, and while it’s billed as a comedy horror, it isn’t that funny once it really gets going. It’s great, right up to the point where all the creatures attack and slowly take the family one by one, and then it feels like it’s just running through the plot because it must. There are still good moments, like the gingerbread men attacking, but it does start to feel very long when it isn’t.

Krampus is a fine film. It’s really nothing special, although the creature designs can’t get enough credit. It’s not scary, not that funny, and largely forgettable.

Posted in film reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Don’t Look Up – A Depressing and too Close to Reality Satire – Film Review

Posted on December 25, 2021 by ashleymanningwriter
Don't Look Up (2021) - IMDb

Director: Adam McKay

Writer: Adam McKay

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Rob Morgan, Jonah Hill, Mary Rylance, Tyler Perry, Timothée Chalamet, Ron Perlman, Ariana Grande, Scott Mescudi, Himesh Patel, Melanie Lynskey, Cate Blanchett, and Meryl Streep

Rating: ★★★★

Don’t Look Up is a cynical satire that gives a depressing outlook on the world we live in, and Netflix has released it just in time for Christmas. Adam McKay’s latest film has some very high comedy moments while also leaving you in a sunken pit of despair. Critically it’s received a similar reaction to his previous film, Vice, a satirical look at the state of politics in America. Don’t Look Up has a much wider scope, but the same sense of humour. If you got along with Vice then this will probably be a safe bet for you, and vice versa.

When astronomy student Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence) discovers a comet that’s heading straight to Earth, she, and her professor Dr. Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio) are flown to meet President Orlean (Meryl Streep) to discuss the cataclysmic effect it will have. Orlean is less than concerned about the comet, which causes the frustrated Kate and Randall to leak the news to the press. It’s just everyone is more concerned about pop sensation Riley Bina (Ariana Grande) and her on/off relationship to recognise that everyone is going to die in about six months.

Adam McKay has a very cynical perspective on the world and how people would react to life shattering news like this. The script was before the pandemic was even imaginable, but it feels like it was written in reaction to it. There are people who don’t believe it’s going to affect them, money hungry businessmen who want to make a profit out of it, a president who is too slow to react to the situation, divisive politicising of science just because people don’t want to believe something bad could happen. The title comes from the group of people that are denying the comet’s existence, while Kate and Randall are telling people to just look up.

It’s a depressing outlook, especially since if that last two years have really shown us anything, McKay is a lot closer to the truth than we’d want to believe. It only takes a few minutes on Twitter to find some of the most ridiculous opinions from all sides being shared as facts. The stupidity of the world has been in full force. With how close Don’t Look Up hits to reality, it’s scary how little exaggeration is needed to make it funny.

You don’t need to worry for a second that it’s all doom and gloom, it is also incredibly funny. McKay’s dark sense of humour is in full force, and he pulls no punches. There’s a great running joke about a general who sold the main characters snacks, even though he got them for free and just didn’t tell them. The general way people are acting is great, it feels real, and it works. There is also a very thinly veiled parody of a certain world leader, as well as the owner of one of the biggest companies in the world. We all know who they are the moment they show up on screen.

The cast is amazing. It feels like every face that pops up is a massive name. DiCaprio is excellent, and who doesn’t want to see him go out of control, shouting about the end of days of TV. Lawrence gives one of her best performances to date. Streep is fantastic, but it’s impossible to name a role where she’s not. Then there’s just so many people who pop up throughout. It’s one of the biggest casts of recent years.

Don’t Look Up is going to be divisive. If you’ve liked McKay’s previous films, then it’s really worth a go, if you didn’t like then give it a miss. If you click with it, then it is genuinely funny and at the same time deeply depressing.  

Thanks for reading! If you liked my review, please subscribe below:

Posted in film reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Stagefright – Film Review

Posted on December 24, 2021 by ashleymanningwriter

Director: Michele Soavi

Writers: Lew Cooper and Sheila Goldberg

Starring: David Brandon, Barbara Cupisti, Mary Selleers, Giovanni Lombardo, Radice, Jo Ann Smith, Robert Gligorov, Piero Vida

Rating: ★★★½

Shameless Films is giving Michele Soavi’s gory slasher, Stagefright, the 4K treatment with a new Blu-ray release. It includes the classic slasher, as well as interviews with the director and actors. It’s a perfect end of year treat for old-school horror fans.

During rehearsals for a stage musical one of the actors, Betty (Ulrike Schwerk) is murdered outside, leading the director to lock everyone else in to keep them safe and to stop them from leaving so they continue their rehearsals. What they don’t realise, until it’s too late, that the killer is inside with them. One by one he hunts them down.

Stagefright is exactly what you’d expect from a slasher film. It’s full of brutal gory deaths, a large cast of characters that are little more than fodder for the killer. It’s not really doing anything special, but it’s got that 1980s charm that slasher fans will feel right at home with. The deaths are inventive and bloody. The characters are refreshingly smart for a slasher, they don’t act like complete idiots and the way they die is believable.

The director, Peter (David Brandon), is a controlling person who wants everything about his musical to be perfect. He sees Betty’s death as nothing more than an opportunity to make the musical an even bigger success. He changes the name of the villain to that of the suspected killer and out of fear that the cast will want to leave he asks his assistant to lock the place up and hide the key. While Peter is an extreme character, you know he has no reason to suspect the killer is inside with everyone else and everyone being locked in is completely believable. On paper it sounds like it shouldn’t work, but it really does.

The opening of the film is really strange, in the best way possible. It starts with a rehearsal of a scene from the musical, presenting it as if it’s the film you’re watching, but everything looks like a little fake. The buildings look like something from the stage, so when the owl faced villain jumps out and a full dance number starts it’s shocking, not entirely unexpected, but really grabs your attention. It’s one hell of a memorable opening, and really gets you ready for something special. The rest of the film doesn’t quite live up to the opening, but it’s still a lot of fun.  

Stagefright may not be the most well remembered slasher from the 1980s, but it’s a really good film and maybe a little bit of a hidden gem for horror fans. The new set is the perfect addition to any slasher fan’s collection.

Stagefright is on Blu-ray and digital on demand 27 December from Shameless Films

Pre-order: https://www.shameless-films.com/product/stagefright-blu-ray/

Posted in film reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

My Top 10 Films of 2021

Posted on December 24, 2021 by ashleymanningwriter

According to Letterboxd I’ve seen 140 films that were released in 2021. I know that number is a little off, because I think it goes by the year it was first released anywhere in the world. Monster Hunter isn’t on that list it brings up, as it’s listed as 2020, but in the UK, it was definitely 2021. I’ve still seen a fair amount of releases this year, with some more that I haven’t gotten around to just yet. It’s been an insanely good year for films and I’m going to share my top 10 of the year, this week starting with 10-6 and following it up next week with the top 5.

There are so many films that I didn’t include in this list, that were close. Things like Another Round, Dune, The Green Knight, Spider-Man: No Way Home, or Spencer. All so close to being included. Then there’s stuff I haven’t even seen that I know I should have. I’ve not seen Nomadland, Drive My Car, Minari, or I Care a Lot (among others) There’s too many films to see and not enough time. So, for what I have seen, these are my favourites. Let me know in the comments what your favourites are.  

10 – Asakusa Kid

Asakusa Kid' Review: Biography of Takeshi Kitano's Formative Years - Variety

This was a really surprising film for me. I had no idea what it was about going in, but I was so invested almost straight away. I felt like it was a perfect introduction to Takeshi Kitano and such a life affirming film. I thoroughly enjoyed it, can’t recommend it enough and will be spending a lot of next year watching Kitano’s films that he’s directed. It’s funny and moving and it really clicked with me.

9 – The Harder They Fall

The Harder They Fall' Is a Stylish, Magnetic Western | Vanity Fair

I really enjoyed this one. I feel like it was one of the most visually stylish films of the year, with the costumes, set designs and colours being perfect. Idris Elba is fantastic in it, as is everyone else. It has a really strong cast and some great action sequences. It’s something that I really enjoyed the style of the film and I’ve wanted to spend longer in the world it creates. The music and score is also exceptional.  

8 – The Last Duel

The Last Duel' Review: Intriguing but Overcooked Medieval Soap Opera - Variety

The Last Duel makes it to this list because of the final sequence, the duel itself. There was so much riding on it and sitting in the cinema I felt every single blow. My heart was racing, and I was literally on the edge of my seat. I can’t remember the last time something like that happened to me. It was a little too long, but the different version of events worked really well. The performances were incredible, but that duel was insanely tense.

7 – King Knight

King Knight (2021) - IMDb

I watched this as part of FrightFest this year and was really surprised. It’s not a horror in the slightest, but a comedy about facing your past and accepting who you are. It’s a really funny film that’s full of the wacky and bizarre. It’s a real underseen gem of 2021 and I can’t recommend it enough. Aubrey Plaza is a pinecone in it and that about sums up the style of the film.

6 – Last Night in Soho

Last Night in Soho Ending Explained | Den of Geek

I knew going in that I was going to like Last Night in Soho, it’s Edgar Wright, and I’m a big fan of his work, I didn’t realise how much I would like it. It’s dark and colourful at the same time. A tribute to London and the music of the 60s. It’s funny and scary. It’s wonderfully shot, especially the mirror world where you can see both Eloise and Sandie at the same time. Matt Smith is sinister. It’s a great film that has a lot of creepy moments. There are also a lot of jump scares, which usually I’m not a fan of, but I really liked it here.

Next week, I’ll be counting down 5 – 1. Thanks for reading and until next time,

Ashley

Posted in film reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment