BIRDS OF PREY: or The Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn
A spin-off (of a sort) following the cinematic adventures of DC Comics character Harley Quinn and introducing the Birds of Prey characters. Margot Robbie reprises her performance from the Suicide Squad feature film. While attempting to somewhat crib from Marvel/Sony success with the Deadpool character, Quinn constantly breaks the fourth wall and the film stretches for an R rating in the over-saturated "Super Hero" genre that will certainly please some audiences. Creative set designs, some funny gags, and a charismatic performance from the film's starring attraction are not enough to distance itself from the hackneyed script (Noted "Bumblebee writer: Christina Hodson, who is capable of SO MUCH BETTER!!!) and poor character choices.
Mockingbird (Jurney Smollet-Bell) has the most to do as the driver and part time singer for noted crime boss, Black MAsk (Ewan McGregor, hamming it up WAY over the top). Her Hypersonic Scream became almost an after thought and she was often struggling to find a real purpose in the film itself. Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) was largely lost in the shuffle and was often treated like the punchline of a running joke. Renee Montoya (Capably handled by Rosie Perez) was a total mystery in that she was never really a Bird of Prey in the comics AND she didn't really become one in this movie either. But the film REALLY drops the ball when introducing Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco), a fairly standard "Street Urchin" who needs to be saved by Quinn and the other Birds when she mistakenly pickpockets the Plot Device.
Cassandra Cain, as a comic book character, is one of the deadliest assassins in the world and would wear the Batgirl cowl for a time. She would later take the Orphan moniker and, while serving as a Bird of PRey at one point, is largely wasted in this film as a damsel in distress for the other characters to rally around.
If you are not fans of the comic book, you are likely to enjoy far more of this film than those who are familiar with the comics themselves.
5.5 out of 10 and not really a recommend unless you've seen everything else.
A spin-off (of a sort) following the cinematic adventures of DC Comics character Harley Quinn and introducing the Birds of Prey characters. Margot Robbie reprises her performance from the Suicide Squad feature film. While attempting to somewhat crib from Marvel/Sony success with the Deadpool character, Quinn constantly breaks the fourth wall and the film stretches for an R rating in the over-saturated "Super Hero" genre that will certainly please some audiences. Creative set designs, some funny gags, and a charismatic performance from the film's starring attraction are not enough to distance itself from the hackneyed script (Noted "Bumblebee writer: Christina Hodson, who is capable of SO MUCH BETTER!!!) and poor character choices.
Mockingbird (Jurney Smollet-Bell) has the most to do as the driver and part time singer for noted crime boss, Black MAsk (Ewan McGregor, hamming it up WAY over the top). Her Hypersonic Scream became almost an after thought and she was often struggling to find a real purpose in the film itself. Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) was largely lost in the shuffle and was often treated like the punchline of a running joke. Renee Montoya (Capably handled by Rosie Perez) was a total mystery in that she was never really a Bird of Prey in the comics AND she didn't really become one in this movie either. But the film REALLY drops the ball when introducing Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco), a fairly standard "Street Urchin" who needs to be saved by Quinn and the other Birds when she mistakenly pickpockets the Plot Device.
Cassandra Cain, as a comic book character, is one of the deadliest assassins in the world and would wear the Batgirl cowl for a time. She would later take the Orphan moniker and, while serving as a Bird of PRey at one point, is largely wasted in this film as a damsel in distress for the other characters to rally around.
If you are not fans of the comic book, you are likely to enjoy far more of this film than those who are familiar with the comics themselves.
5.5 out of 10 and not really a recommend unless you've seen everything else.
THE MARSHES
Released by Shudder in the US market, The Marshes tells the story of a trio of scientists head off on a research project in a maze-like marshland. Originally released in 2018 in it's native Australia, it manages to feel like a murkier and more confusing take on the joint Stephen King/Joe Hill project "In the Tall Grass", complete with a psychopathic killer and all the other reality distortions found in the original short story.
Pria (Dafna Kronental), Ben (Matthew Cooper), and their undergraduate assistant Will (Sam Delich) are collecting specimens out in the marsh. There they encounter a pair of poachers hunting boar, worry about malaria, and taunt one another about the mysterious "Swag Man" killer that lurks in the deep dark murk. The film tries, at various points, to suggest everything may be a fever dream concocted by Pria or that there is something supernatural at hand here. All of it becomes muddled and the tension doesn't exactly fit quite right here.
There are some pretty gruesome scenes once the actual Swag Man enters the scene, but we're already several tropes involved in two different horror stories and the third just feels forced and confusing.
5 out of 10
HUMAN LANTERNS
I have seen much better films from Shaw Brothers, but probably nothing quite as strange, gruesome, and sadistic. When a famous swordsman visits a small town, he is shocked when he is embarrassed by a local noble man named Tan. He vows revenge and turns to a former rival who is now a lantern maker in the same village. But the Lantern Maker as scores of his own to settle, and it isn't long before the village is terrifid by a recent spat of disappearances. The choreography is great, as we come to expect with Shaw Brothers- but it's the creepy vibe the killer sets off that really captures the imagination!
Chia Tang (Shaolin Intruders and Return of the Sentimental Swordsman) handles the fight choreography in this film, which is notable for the absolutely insane "monkey" style movement of the masked killer. The set design of the Killer's lair uses shadows and gruesome color contrasts. Skin is torn from a living victim in one scene, the flesh draped in a horrifying menagerie throughout the caves.
5.5 and a recommend.
No comments:
Post a Comment