Venom: The Last Dance (2024)

I am fairly new to the Venom series having ignored the first one in 2018 and never getting round to watching the sequel. Here we have the final part of a trilogy which only time will tell whether it will be the final part. The film sees Eddie and Venom on the run from multiple people whilst Area 51 is being shut down. They are on the run because apparently Eddie/Venom have a key that someone is after and thats pretty much it but its clear throughout that they are trying to make this the final film.

GOOD POINTS

Tom Hardy

It’s hard to dislike Tom Hardy as an actor. He is always able to deliver a solid performance even if the film isn’t the strongest (Bikeriders jumps to mind) but he manages to make Eddie seem like a likeable person and Tom Hardy can do comedy quite well which is surprising considering some of the roles he has played over the years. Tom Hardy has carried this series of films which is another surprising thing and its hard to imagine someone else pulling these off quite as well as Hardy did.

The Moon Family

On the face of it, a family where the dad wants to go on a road trip to Area 51. I didn’t even realise it was Rhys Ifans who played Martin. I knew he looked familiar but it wasn't until the credits started that I made this discovery. The family work so well because even though the daughter is clearly sceptical and the son is almost blindly believing in his dads beliefs, they still feel like a lovely family and almost made me wish we followed the Martin family. It doesnt mean Sony that I want a Martin spin-off movie. 

The ‘weird’ bromance

To say that there is a bromance between Eddie and Venom is one of the weirdest points I have made in a review. They do a lot of bickering like they have done for most of this trilogy but when it was time to say goodbye, there was some sadness as if they didn’t want to say goodbye especially until they had seen the Statue of Liberty which became a weird sub-plot in this movie. Tom Hardy is creating a bromance which a CGI creation that is voiced by himself and it works very well as it has done throughout the three films.

Well Directed

This is Kelly Marcel’s debut feature as a director although she is familiar with the series having written the first two as well as this instalment and she handles in pretty well. The pacing is what it needs to be in the first half (a little slow) but then picks up when it has to (when they get to Area 51). There are a lot of effect scenes and they are entertaining and more importantly I could tell what was happening as there was very little shakey cam and thus hard to see what I was suppose to be paying attention to. Hopefully this is the start of a long career behind the camera because if she can handle this type of film then she can handle pretty much whatever she wants.

BAD POINTS

Tonally all over the place

Tonally the film is a bit of a mess. The film seems to want to be a comedy, then it wants to be dark but then it wants to have emotional moments and sometimes it his doesn't work. Things seem to be thrown in for the sake of it such as Mrs. Chen who pops up in Vegas for some reason and doesn't add anything to the story.

The General and Dr Teddy (also Stephen Graham)

I take no pleasure in saying that Chiwetel Ejiofor is not great in this film. It’s been a rocky year for actors not being their best (Megalopolis) and whilst this isn’t a terrible performance from him, it’s just an average performance from him. It’s a general that can be a bit unlikeable which we have seen a hundred times. I also thought that Stephen Graham's character could have been given a lot more to do because he was wasted in this film. I also thought the Juno Temple's character wasnt the greatest because the whole thing about her living her brother's dream by working for NASA is not very well fleshed out so just feels like a second thought.

OVERALL

The Venom trilogy wont go down as the best in movie history but for what they are they are quite a bit of fun. I would maintain that the second one is the best one and this would be a close runner up. Tom Hardy is the best part of each film and gets the send off he deserves in this film which has a lot off good stuff going on.  The action scenes are well done and the time flies by which isnt something that has been the case for a lot of Marvel films over the last couple of years (yes I know its a Sony film).

Smile 2 (2024)

Smile became a surprise success when it came out in 2022. When I first watched it I really didn’t think it was that good but in preparation for this film, I decided to rewatch the first film and was surprised how much more I liked it. So I went into this film feeling a lot more optimistic about this film. The film follows Skye Riley (Naomi Scott) who starts seeing people with smiles on their faces just as she is about to launch her tour a year after nearly dying in a car accident. 

GOOD POINTS

VERY GOOD OPENING SCENE

There is no real reason to watch the first film except for the first few minutes of the film. It takes place six days after the first film and we follow Joel (Kyle Gallner) as he forces his way into some drug dealers house and attempts to kill one in front of the other to pass on the ‘curse’ but things go wrong and I like it simply because it appears to be one continuous take. 

NAOMI SCOTT IS THE BEST PART OF THE FILM

You would expect this to be a given really as she is all over the film but I thought that she was likeable despite the fact that Skye does not appear to be a nice person. Admittedly she admits that she isn’t a nice person but it's fair to say that despite this, I still found myself wanting Skye to get through to the end. The rest of the cast is perfectly fine but the film relies on Scott to do a lot of the work in this film and she does it quite easily. 

INTERESTING CAMERA ANGLES

The camera work in this film is very good. As mentioned, the opening scene was a good use of camera work because it's one single shot but there are countless other moments where the camera is moving along like a slow Wes Anderson. I kept thinking that Wes Anderson must have been an influence for Parker Finn because he does it a lot. It’s only because it's done when needed that it gets a good point. There are plenty of moments where the camera follows action and there is no shakey cam which I appreciated.

DOESNT RELY ON THE FIRST FILM

Normally sequels rely on the previous instalment but this film didn’t. I honestly don’t think you need to have seen the first film as this one doesn't really have anything to do with the first and if they hadn’t stuck 2 in the title then you would have been none the wiser (although the six days later caption might be confusing). To have nothing to do with the first was a brave choice and yet it worked. 

GOOD GORE

Normally I am not great with gore although I am getting better but will never be at the stage where I could watch Saw or Hostel but the gore was sporadic and was done very well and effectively. Despite the fact that the trailer shows a lot of good stuff that would have been better had we not known it was coming, the best gore moment occurs when Lewis smashes his head three times with the weight from the weightlifting thing. The squishy noises used throughout help make the gore even more effective.

BAD POINTS

JUMP SCARES DON'T ALWAYS WORK

There were a couple of moments where the jump scares worked but for the most part the jump scars felt a bit lazy and the sort of dumb scares that you would see in a Blumhouse film. No effort seemed to be used in making most of these scars effective which made the ones that did work all the more confusing. It was like they were thought of by a different person. 

FINAL ACT IS A WASTE OF TIME

Perhaps the biggest issue I have with the film is the final act of the film. The film relies on the false narrative plot device because it shows us Skye killing her mom, driving to Staten Island to meet us with Morris who says that if she basically fakes her death then that will defeat the demon, he then walks out and never returns and then Skye appears on stage and kills herself infront of 15,000 people and then the film ends. This raises many questions such as ‘is the mom really dead?’ and ‘What was the point in that whole section?’. 

LACK OF A CONCLUSION

The fact that the film doesn't have a clear ending means that this could be strung out for several films and become the new version of the Insidious series. I understood why the ending of the first film happened the way it did but this film felt like a cop-out and everything that led to the ending was slightly eye-rolling.

OVERALL

There is a lot to like about Smile 2. It manages to avoid the traps that a sequel normally falls into but the lack of the clear ending means that it comes very close to being a frustrating film. It wasn't Trap level of frustrating but it was very similar to Civil War which was good for 80% of its running time before it completely went off the boil and this film was 90% before it went off the boil for me which is pretty good.  

Never Let Go (2024)

Sometimes not knowing anything about a film is a good thing. The only thing I knew about this film going in was that it started Halle Berry and there was suppose to be something in the woods. 

GOOD POINTS

Central Performances

This film is basically a three parter with Halle Berry (Momma), Anthony B. Jenkins (Samuel) and Percy Daggs IV (Nolan). There are other people in but they are only in it briefly and the three central performances are all really good. They felt like a family and that they cared for each other. Berry’s performance is intense at times. Jennings and Daggs IV are particularly impressive because for a large chunk of the movie they are carrying the film and they work well enough together that I found myself not missing Berry

Atmospheric 

It might seem easy to make a house in the woods seem atmospheric but its harder than it looks and Alexandre Aja does a good of making it feel like there was something in the woods even though we see very little. If you have seen enough B-Movies where they film in the woods then you know that its can easily be done badly.

Interesting Setup

All we know at the beginning of the film is that something happened and Momma, Samuel & Nolan might be the only people left and they have limited resources. We don't know too much and the film works on the plausible idea that less is more. You don't need to spell it out for the audience. Leaving some blanks can work well and the set up is enough to make the story interesting and it allows the characters to get on with it.

Good Pace

The film is 1 hour and 40 minutes long and its the perfect running time. Even five minutes more might have slowed things down and ruined it. The story gets in, tells us what it needs to tell us and then ends. It was a very satisfying pace. There are a lot of films that seem to thing more is better but find the right duration is not that difficult and this film proves it. 

BAD POINTS

Predictable Twist

Normally I can’t predict things that might be obvious to most people but I guessed fairly early on that this was all in the head of Momma but it wasn't until the grandmother appears and it cuts to another shot and she’s gone. This is being harsh on the film to put this in the bad points section but I often thing that its a fault of the film that make it so obvious that I can pick up on it

Ambiguous Ending

I think that the ending was too up in the air with not having a clear answer as to whether its all their heads or there really is an evil force. Just when I thought that it was clear this was all happening in Mama's head and then Samuel's before we see the helicopter with Nolan and Samuel on before the last shot being of the polaroid with Samuel and a hand on his shoulder. I would have like a more clearcut ending.

OVERALL

I enjoyed this film overall. Not knowing too much was the right way to go into this film. It's probably not going to work for everybody because it doesn't  explain what's going on and there arent explosions or excessive gore but I think that works in the film's favour. I like Aja as a film maker having been a fan of Crawl and really like Oxygen and this continues his good run. Defintley worth your time and worth seeing at the cinema.

Joker: Folie à Deux (2024)

Joker: Folie à Deux was already a film that had garnered a certain amount of negative response from reviewers similar to Megalopolis. Similar to that film I went to see if it was as bad as the reviewers were saying and unlike Megalopolis I can say that I don't agree with them. I understand why they don't like it but I left the cinema feeling good about it. Set two years after the events of the first, Arthur is being put on trial for killing 5 people and is being 'supported' by Lee Quinzel (Lady Gaga).

HONOURABLE MENTION

Continuity Issue

Fleck is charged with killing five people but admits killing his mother which would make it six but in fact it should be seven as the woman he speaks to at the end is implied to have died because of the blood footprints. I took it to mean that she died so that would make seven murders but if it isn't a continuity error then she's just been injured in which its slightly undermines the ending.

GOOD POINTS

Lady Gaga is quite good

Bearing in mind that Gaga isn't known for her acting and also isn't the Academy Award Winner (as well as the Movie Addict Award Winner), she was surprisingly good. I say surprisingly because she has shown in A Star is Born and House of Gucci that she can act and she does well as Lee. It would have been nice to have her in a bit more of this so the character could grow a bit more than she did. 

Phoenix & Gaga have good chemistry

The partnership of Phoenix and Gaga was a big selling point of the trailers and considering they spend a large chunk of the movie together, the chemistry is there and they work very well together. The chemistry between Phoenix & Gaga is as strong as it is for Quinn & Fleck. 

Nice redemption for Fleck

By the end of the film, Fleck has pretty much got Joker out of his system. In his scene in front of the jurors he says as much and Fleck has undergone a nice contrast to the anger he felt when he shot Murray Franklin. It was subtle and it wasn't until the very end when he is dying that it occurred to me that this is what they were doing. It was very clever writing and hats off to the writers.

Was never bored of the film

At 2 hours and 18 minutes, this film is exactly the same running time as Megalopolis. One felt a lot longer than the other and this film did not feel long. The story was interesting, the performances were strong and when those two things come together time flies. Six days since Megalopolis and both are great examples of how to utilise a decent running time.

Brendan Gleeson and Steve Coogan

I knew Steve Coogan was in this film as he featured in the trailer and whilst I would have liked him to be in it more, it was a good performance and it was in a nice scene where Arthur basically calls out the media for only being interested in the headlines and not the actual story. Brendan Gleeson is always great in whatever he is in and he continues that in this  as Jackie the guard who is your typical scumbag guard but when Gleeson does it, he does is to the degree that you still like him despite what he does.

BAD POINTS

Felt very disjointed

Despite the fact I was never bored, the musical moments did make the whole film feel disjointed and makes the fact that I enjoyed it as much all the more remarkable. The film is a musical although the people involved seemed reluctant to call it a musical its not structured like a musical because normally scenes build up to a song whereas the songs seem to be chucked in whenever it suited the director.

Songs felt amateurish

Musicals have songs that are created specially for a film and flow in nicely with the film but they didn't sound professional even the Lady Gaga songs didn't come across as particularly great. I think that using songs in films have been made popular because of Guardians of the Galaxy but they have to be used well and they didn't in this case.

Phoenix cant sing

Joaquin Phoenix cant sing at all and is a far better actor than singer. He is bad when is sings on his own but when he is next to a professional Grammy Award winner then he sounds like he is doing karaoke at a bar. I applaud the fact they didn't try and get someone else to sing for him but it did remind me of Russell Crowe in Les Miserables.

Not enough Gaga

Even though we get a good amount of Lady Gaga, due to how good her performance it would have been nice to her more of Gaga. Never thought I would write that but its true and it may have meant that we got less of Phoenix singing. She seems to be in it a lot in the first half of the film but as the court scenes take over then we seemed to see less of Gaga.

OVERALL

This was a good film. Not a perfect one but one that I thought was generally very good. It's clear that they didn't really want to make this sequel but when the first made so much money and won an Oscar, then it was either do it yourself or get someone else to make it and hope for the best. Phillips was at least smart enough to do it himself and that is why it was better than it probably had any right to be. If this is the last time that Joaquin Phoenix plays this character then that's fine but if they carry on with someone else (like they hinted at the end) then that would be fine too. Joker 2 isnt as bad as some people would have you beleive but I think there is enough to like about it and would be happy to watch again.

Megalopolis (2024)

This film has gained a bit of a reputation because it was suppose to be really bad and I wanted to go and see it because I was intrigued by it and also wanted to see a Francis Ford Coppola film at the cinema. I had read in trivia about this film that he had to sell his winery to pay for this film because he didn’t want any studio interference and never has a film needed more studio interference as much as this film did.

GOOD POINT

Esposito, Emmanuel and Fishburne

Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel and Laurence Fishburne are the ONLY three that give good performances. They seem to somehow make sense of this madness and deliver some good performances. Emmanuel is the weaker of the three but that's because the character wasn't the best written and I think to make her as good as she was is down entirely to Emmanuel herself and not Coppola. 

BAD POINTS

Terrible Performances

I don’t think i have seen a film waste a cast as badly as this since Cats. 

Jon Voigt looks like he was woken up from his afternoon nap and told to say lines into the camera. Dustin Hoffman looks like he was dug up from a cemetery which is ironic as he replaced James Caan who had passed away before filming. Aubrey Plaza is normally very good in what she is in even if the film itself is not and yet she was totally terrible as the terribly named Wow Platinum which must seem like a amusing name to Coppola but to me it was eye rolling and showed that the film isn't as smart as it thinks it is. Adam Driver is another who normally gives a good performance even when the film isn't great and he delivers one of the worst performances ever. If I didn't know better then I would say it was cry for help aimed at Disney.

Shia LaBeouf

No one is as bad as LaBeouf. I don’t think a word exists for how bad he is. I think he had an idea of what he wanted to do and the director just said yes because there is no other explanation that makes sense for why he did what he did. The Madison Square Garden scene is by far the worst part of a terrible outing and was the point where I thought the film had lost the literal and figurative plot. Even by his low standards, LaBeouf excels himself in being terrible and utterly slappable. 

Looked Cheap

This film reportedly had a budget of $120 million dollars and looks like it cost about $20 million. Most scenes seemed to be filmed in front of a green screen and looks terrible. According to IMDB trivia, Coppola fired most of his visual effects team cause Coppola wanted to use technology similar to what was used in The Mandalorian TV series. I was reminded of The Creator which has a budget of $80 million and yet looks like it cost $200 million.

Two People walked Out

There were five people in this screening (including me) at 7:15 on a Monday evening and two people walked out. I was considering it for a good 20 minutes but decided to persevere. I have never walked out of a film before but came pretty close. I had given up on the film after 15 minutes which was bad for me because I still had another TWO HOURS left.

Weird Directing & Editing

It’s a shame that the director of The Godfather directed this. This film has so many weird directing choices and also some poor editing choices. Scenes just happen out of nowhere then end and move onto something else. Normally this is so that the audience doesnt have time to think about what was happening but in this case I think it’s because they didn’t know what they were doing.

The Worst Vanity Project

This film has being in production hell since the 1980’s and Coppola has been trying to get it financed and struggled and to be honest, it wasn't worth the wait. I think vanity projects are fine if they cost less than $10 million but $120 million shows that he doesn't really value money because he wouldn't have spent that much money and be so lacking in quality control.

OVERALL

This is one of the worst films I have seen at the cinema since I started keeping track in 2016. Fantasy Island was the worst film that I had seen but this easily beats it. The reason is that it’s longer than Fantasy Island and at least I could see what they were aiming for in that film. This film doesn't know what its doing, the director doesn't seem to be giving his cast any instruction. This film isn't so bad its good, its so bad that it should be avoided at all cost. I spent £5 and still felt like I was robbed. Had I paid the full £12 then I would have been fuming.