I didn’t even know there was a new M. Night Shyamalan coming out this year until about two months ago when I watched the trailer in front of a different movie. But that trailer did everything right; it showed me just enough to interest me. Seeing M. Night’s name on the screen also added to my excitement, given he has redeemed himself from his… questionable period (2008 – 2013, you know what I am talking about). And even if not all of his recent films blew me away, I still appreciate them, as he is one of those few directors who always try for something new. Trap was just that, and that is what makes it my favourite movie of his since Split (2016).

What I loved the most was that simple premise. Dad and daughter go to a concert together; how wholesome is that? Except for the fact that he is a serial killer, and this entire concert is one big, deliberate trap for him, as the FBI knows he will be there. ‘How do they know?’ you might ask, and I won’t tell you because the movie answers that. And it is with this simple premise that M. Night puts us on the rollercoaster of emotions, hide and seek and the game of cat and ninja. Why not “cat and mouse”, you ask? I will get to that shortly.

I never thought I would write this, but I am so glad Josh Hartnett is back to starring in major movies and seems better than ever in this acting thing. It was so smart to make him our protagonist despite the fact he is, in fact, an antagonist. But just like in many films and TV shows of late, it is because we see everything through his eyes that we almost root for him. It’s more like I was intrigued about how he would get around this obstacle and how he escaped from this situation… and Josh plays his character so well. You believe he is a caring dad and husband, but you also see that animal inside him, ready to snap and chop you out. The fact he hovers over most (if not) all the people in this movie because of him being 191 cm (or 6′ 3″ for my US readers) also helped. He is as menacing as he appears and genuinely cares about his family.

I also liked Ariel Donoghue, who played his daughter, as she portrayed the teenager of today very well. That might be because she was only born in 2010, the fact I didn’t know while watching this movie, and now, I feel super old. Anyway, I thought she was great and never became annoying, which is super impressive, given all the yelling/fangirling her character does. I enjoyed Saleka Shyamalan, too, although you could argue this entire movie is just a big promo for her singing career, which is fine with me. You know what they say – nepotism starts at home. But I thought she was not just a good singer, but a decent enough actress, so I wouldn’t mind seeing her in other roles.

As I mentioned above, this movie is one giant thrill ride where you can sum it up by “bad guy sees a problem, he figures out a solution, moves on, just to stumble upon another problem”. My only major problem with it was that, especially in the last third, Cooper (Josh’s character) was in some situations he shouldn’t have escaped from. Or, let me phrase it differently – the only way he escapes is due to the power of editing. I don’t want to go into spoilers, but because of this, I started to refer to him as “bad ninja dad”. Because for you to enjoy Trap, you need to suspend your disbelief. And it’s gradual most things he does in the first two-thirds of this film; I could see how some could work, but once something happens, I don’t care how smart/nifty he is; he should have been caught a few times.

But besides this, I enjoyed Trap. I liked the push-and-pull aspect of this “chase”; I liked this film’s dark sense of humour at times, and I enjoyed the mid-credit scene… There’s a lot to like about this movie, and Josh Hartnett is, by far, the best thing. His performance is excellent, and I want to see him in more meatier roles like this.

Overall, Trap is an enjoyable thrill ride that will entertain you as long as you can suspend your disbelief in the last third. It’s a good old-fashioned “simple” movie with some M. Night elements sprinkled here and there, and he continues to prove that he is a fascinating director who had a period of bad movies in a row, but he’s long past it. I can’t wait to see what he does next because I am here for this kind of Shyamalan.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

Let’s get one thing straight – this movie is wild. It’s unhinged, all over the place tonally, and it’s definitely not what you would define as a “crowd pleaser”, as many ratings and reviews suggest. But I had fun with this movie for several reasons, the biggest one being this –Poolman told me more about Chris Pine as a person than any of his roles combined. If this is the kind of story he wanted to capture in his debut, I am intrigued and on board with whatever he does next.

I will not try to convince anybody that there is some deeper message or that this will be considered a masterpiece in 20 years. Although, I will say that the movie deals with much more than some reviews suggest. But, ultimately, no, I won’t try to convince you about anything like that, and instead, I will celebrate the quirkiness and playfulness with which Pine directs this movie. No matter what was happening on the screen, this film has a certain vibe; it doesn’t take itself seriously, and that is what won me over at the end.

On the surface, this is a clear homage to many noir movies and, of course, Chinatown (1974), which I would call a neo-noir. If I focus purely on the technical aspects of this film, it’s beautifully shot and paced well, and the costumes (mainly wardrobe for DeWanda Wise) were also on point. So when all of this adds up, this quirky story was told well on the directorial level, which makes it all the more impressive that this was Pine’s debut behind the camera. If I didn’t know that, I don’t know whether I would be able to tell because no matter what crazy or ludicrous thing was happening on the screen, I had fun, but most importantly, I felt “safe”. For lack of a better word, Pine’s direction seemed on point and given the pacing was right too, so I was never bored, never thought to myself: “I am not sure about this shot or this character.” No, everything felt right.

And again, a big part of “why” it felt right was that you could tell that, for some reason, this is what Chris Pine wanted to say with his directorial debut. This story felt weirdly personal, and despite all the craziness, the sincere moments worked for me. Poolman is one of those films I get why it wouldn’t work for many (as it currently has 4.1/10 on IMDb) because it is an unhinged film that you either vibe with, or not. Those films can also be a hit or miss for me as well, but given the pacing and reasonable runtime, I found myself enjoying this. I also gather that Pine doesn’t take himself too seriously, and he would be a fun chat.

The other big reason I enjoyed this film was the spectacular cast. Everyone from Jennifer Jason Leigh, Danny DeVito, Annette Bening, Ray Wise and John Ortiz was great and fun in their respective roles, and they each had a moment to shine. But if there were one person Pine won the lottery with, it would be already mentioned DeWanda Wise. She portrays the femme fatale, and even though you understand her purpose/endgame (given it’s a nod to noir movies), I was still mesmerised by her. From her piercing eyes to her wardrobe (every wardrobe change was like a new runway moment for her, as she looked amazing in everything) to how she portrayed her character, it was pristine. Also, she shines here much more than in what was supposed to be her breakthrough, Jurassic World: Dominion (2022, my review here), and I will remember her much more from this film than from that catastrophe. What I am trying to say is that she should be a much bigger name, and I hope we get to see her in more mainstream and better movies than Jurassic World.

Despite everything, I don’t know whether I would recommend this film as firstly I need to rewatch it to make sure I am not missing anything. But most importantly, it is “a bit” an all-over-the-place movie, especially with the tonal shifts Poolman goes through; it’s hard to recommend it to the general masses. However, if you are like me and like when directors take big swings and create something that tells you more about how they see the world, and by the end of it, you feel like you understand them more as people, then I would recommend this movie. Just brace yourself for some quirkiness.

Overall, Poolman is the vibe movie I didn’t know I needed. I appreciate Chris Pine as an actor, but now I hope he gets more chances to direct because even if this isn’t a perfect movie, it intrigued me enough and now I want to see more of what Pine will do. Give him some money and let him cook, as the young people say, as this was something that hit me just right. And I will always support original films over any sequel, remake, or universe-building movie. Yes, I enjoy those films too, and they have their place, but nothing beats seeing a new, fresh perspective on stuff, and by the looks of it, Pine has that. I hope to see more.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

I can’t lie; when I agreed to watch this movie (Happy Girlfriend, Happy Life); I wasn’t expecting much due to the generic title and even more generic-looking trailer. I had hoped that at least Anne Hathaway (who refuses to age and looks as stunning as ever) would keep my attention. Not only did she do that, but she reminded me why I could never hate her, as she gives everything to this film, and without her, The Idea of You would become “just another” rom-com.

And sure enough, this film starts as your generic rom-com – divorced parents, a dead-beat dad who breaks all the promises and a mum who must pull her weight to make up for him… Not breaking any new ground here. However, if we put Anne’s performance aside for a second, the film quickly devolves into something more intriguing. It has many things to say about celebrity lifestyle, relationships with a significant age gap and how the Internet (respectively, obsessive fans on the Internet) can shout everything at you without thinking about the fact that they are not screaming at the wall but at a person on the other side of that smartphone. And, as it is in the case of Anne’s character, that person is a “civilian” who didn’t knowingly sign up for this shit.

This discourse happens mainly in the second half. Therefore, for us to be in this until that happens, we must be pulled into the movie by the performances. I thought Nicholas Galitzine was fine. Despite him being the second lead, his character wasn’t as interesting to me, but I thought he did the best he could with it. But as I mentioned above, this is Anne Hathaway’s one-woman show. There were at least three separate moments she showed such sincerity and understanding for her character; I was in this movie because of her. I believed her every word, and she yet again proved that she was a great actress and should be a leading lady for some time to come. There are many great actresses, but I can’t think of anyone I would rather see in this role as Anne made it her own.

The second half, when we delve deeper into the double standard of older woman/younger man relationship and how society still treats it… let’s say poorly, was something I didn’t expect from a rom-com like this one. Especially, how this movie treats this topic with the nuance it deserves, rather than coming off as preachy. The more I thought about this film afterwards, the more I managed to convince myself that The Idea of You has a chance of becoming a classic of this genre and in 10/15 years, people will still remember this movie. Only time will tell, but I would honestly not be surprised.

The only thing (except for the rocky beginning) I had an issue with was the ending, and I mean the last few minutes. Without going into spoilers, the movie does everything to end, and then, it decides not to do that and adds something that feels very Hollywood-y. From what I understand, the book ends where the film logically should have ended, so the end is on the filmmakers, and although I understand why they thought they had to do it, I wish they hadn’t. I don’t want to write anything more, but once you see it, you will know what I mean.

Besides those few things, though, I enjoyed The Idea of You much more than I thought I would. This film is paced well; I was never bored, the movie addresses a few important issues we deal with nowadays, but, most importantly, Anne Hathaway carries it on her shoulders and makes it into something much better than it had any right to be. Even if you are not into rom-coms, I think it’s worth watching this one for her performance alone to see how I wish more actors approached rom-coms.

Overall, The Idea of You surprised and entertained me with little to no cringe, which is rare for modern-day rom-coms. It has a reasonable runtime, young hot people doing young hot things (like travelling across multiple countries and living their lives), but, most importantly, it has Anne Hathaway reminding you why she has been a star for over two decades and counting. Quite honestly, I didn’t think I would recommend it, but I am recommending this film because, as far as rom-coms go, you can do much worse.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

Ever since the first trailer, this looked fun. David Leitch (ex-stuntman turned director) continues to establish himself as the guy who will make fun action movies with a bit of twist and is mostly succeeding. His film before The Fall Guy, Bullet Train (2022, my review here), was one of my favourites of 2022 (which was a great year for movies), and although The Fall Guy never reached those heights on my first viewing, I can’t wait to see it again.

First and foremost, this film is an open love letter to action movies and, most importantly, stunt people working on them. You could feel this comes from a guy who knows this industry well and has years of experience under his belt. Everything rings true from the stunt perspective, at least from the stories and interviews I have seen and heard. Yes, this is an action comedy, so you will mostly laugh; nevertheless, The Fall Guy shows you the nitty-gritty of all the action, from the planning to the numerous takes and how this is a job that takes a special kind of person who needs to be very versatile, fit and ready for anything that gets thrown their way. We see how much pain Ryan Gosling‘s character goes through, although we see it through a comedic lens.

What I appreciated the most is that it’s not too “inside baseball”. Yes, as with many “movies about making movies”, the more you know about this industry, the more little things you catch, but this movie never goes too much into it. It is more focused on the mystery of the main actor (portrayed by Aaron Taylor-Johnson) disappearing and Gosling being “hired” to not only take his place in the film but find him as well. We also have the romantic subplot regarding Gosling and Emily Blunt, and that gets intertwined during the making of this epic space movie that is definitely not Dune.

Let’s be honest, if you have ever seen a movie, the central piece of this film, aka “mystery”, isn’t really a mystery, as you could tell from miles away what is happening. Sure, maybe you don’t get all the details right, but you know the general gist, who is involved, and all that jazz. But I didn’t mind that, as for the majority of this movie, it’s fun to be in this world and with these characters. Both Ryan and Emily are excellent actors, and in this film, they can lean more into their comedic chops, and they both worked for me. The beginning and the batshit insane ending worked wonderfully.

It is the middle part of this film I had issues with. And by “issues”, I mean mainly pacing. The movie starts strong, and then it comes to a halt for some time. Don’t get me wrong, something is always happening on the screen, and I wasn’t ever “bored”, but in the second act of this film, you can feel the runtime more than you should have. It almost felt like Leitch had a problem “killing its darlings” in the assembly and didn’t cut out enough. There were a couple of scenes that ran for several minutes too long. You know how modern movies do one joke three or four times, and only then do we move on? That’s how most of the second act felt for most of those scenes; they seemed to go on for a bit too long. There is an excellent 100-minute movie hidden in this 126-minute film, and had we just shortened a few scenes (mainly in the second act), I would have had a blast.

The way the movie is now, I still enjoyed my time because the passion is palpable. This movie shines a light on people who are still, for the most part, ignored and not recognised enough. There’s the endless debate about why there are no Oscars for “Best Stunt” or “Best Stunt Performer”, and the main argument against it (from the industry) is they don’t want to push stunt people to do something dangerous to try and outdo each other, just so they can get that Oscar next year. And as much as I would love for stunts to get the recognition they badly need, I think that is a valid point. Does that mean we shouldn’t change anything? No, it just means we need to reconsider this issue; maybe don’t nominate specific people, but rather have “Best Stunts” for the ensemble cast…? Maybe that’s one way to do it, maybe not. Back to The Fall Guy – the passion is there, and I can’t fault it on a technical level either. Regarding the stunt work, there is no discussion, as some of the things you see in this are insane. I wonder how well this film will play on repeat viewings, for as it stands, I wanted to love this movie so much. After all, it has so much going for it. And I “just” liked it.

Overall, The Fall Guy is an action love ode to stunts, stunt performers and, via that lens, movies themselves. It has a very likeable leading duo, a couple of stunning stunt sequences (like that 8.5 car roll that actually is a world record, by the way) and intriguing enough mystery. The film’s only issue is the second act, where you get reminded that “less is more”. But other than that, The Fall Guy is worth seeing in the cinemas, if you can.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

I will be honest; I lost any interest in this franchise a long time ago. And even when the studio tried to do something new and “fresh” with Spiral (2021), I thought it was okay but nothing to write home about. So, imagine my surprise when Saw X came out in late 2023 and was getting positive reviews, many calling it the best Saw film since Saw II (2005), and some went as far as to say the best since the original Saw (2004)! Needless to say, my expectations were slightly higher, and I knew I wanted to see this, so when it came to streaming, my night was sorted. The result just shows how often less is more.

The biggest problem with this franchise was that it became a parody of itself to the point many were calling it “torture porn”. Each new movie tried to top the previous one with more gruesome traps that can spill the most blood, and given they killed off their main protagonist, who is also an antagonist, in Saw III (2006), they had to get messy and needlessly convoluted with each new story too, trying desperately hard to tie him with this franchise when he was supposed to be dead. It was just a series of bad decisions pilling on top of each other until that house of cards collapsed, and nobody cared about this franchise. That was until this movie came out and seemingly revived the franchise by positioning itself between Saw and Saw II while giving Tobin Bell the lead role for the first time in this franchise. I am not sure whether I have learned anything new about his character per se; however, we see more of him and his dynamic with Shawnee Smith (Amanda), and I liked that aspect.

I thought the idea to make this more drama rather than “let’s see how we can brutalise the next batch of humans” also worked. At this point, I don’t think there is anything this franchise can do but gross me out, so I liked that there were fewer traps, and we focused on John’s journey and his revenge on people who scammed him. Don’t get me wrong, there are some brutal traps we get to expect and love (?) from this franchise; however, if that is all you look for in your Saw film, you will be disappointed. Besides one dream sequence where John imagines a trap, it takes a while for this movie to do what we signed up for. For the first half of this movie, we focus on John, his battle with cancer, and his latching onto this new hope these scammers give him, only for him to realise he was scammed, and that is when he goes back to being Jigsaw again.

I was enjoying this movie until the last act. I will try to talk about it without spoilers, so I ask for forgiveness if some of what I am about to write is too vague. My first and biggest issue is the “big twist” this franchise became known for. I would still argue we haven’t had a better twist since the original film, and I am talking about all the films, not just horror movies. I tried to think of whether we have had a movie twist so mindblowing and iconic since 2004, and honestly, I came up short. Some movies came close, but I still remember how blown away I was by that ending of the first Saw movie. Back to Saw X, because this franchise taught you well, you can see this twist coming from a mile away. On top of that, if you remember that this movie takes place in the past, you understand neither of our protagonists is in any real danger because they must survive. But even if I tried to move past that, it seemed a bit more convoluted than necessary, with a few things John couldn’t plan for, no matter how smart he was.

My second problem is a tinier one because it is a bit more complex. It is not really a problem, as logically, it fits with Jigsaw’s philosophy. But narratively, it pissed me off. Thinking about it, I can’t talk around it without twisting myself in knots; so I will spoil this part a bit, so…

BEWARE, SPOILERS ARE COMING!!!

This movie has a phenomenal villain in Synnøve Macody Lund. The more this movie progresses, the more you realise how truly evil and despicable she is, and you love to hate her. That is what makes it all the more painful to see her survive. I was looking forward to seeing her die for everything she’s done wrong, only for her to prevail. Part of me hoped that the final trap would be impossible to survive, but when she survived, I realised that it would go against the logic of not just this film but the entire franchise. Well, at least the better sequels. The twisted logic has always been that nobody is beyond redemption, and all traps should be survivable if you sacrifice enough. And she did. So even though I couldn’t fault the movie’s logic for her surviving, part of me was furious that she did, and that is what made her a great villain. This complaint is, admittedly, a lesser one, but I still thought it was worth pointing out.

But other than these two things, I had a good time with Saw X. This movie is (as the title suggests) the tenth movie in this franchise and had no right to be as good as it was. Luckily, the people behind this film decided to take a step back from all the nonsense of “we need to out-torture the previous movie” and grounded this sequel. For the majority of Saw X, we are in one singular location. And when we aren’t there, there is no blood, traps or horror stuff happening, but I was invested in this story because finally, we got to see Tobin Bell take the lead (legend he is), and they gave him an awesome opponent to go up against. I know we are getting Saw XI (2025), and I can only hope the people behind this film will remember what made this one so good and won’t lose themselves (again). However, I don’t know where and whether they can take this further, especially if they want to keep John Kramer around. Let’s hope the history won’t repeat itself and all the lessons have been learned already.

Overall, Saw X is probably the most unique Saw sequel we have gotten up until now. It scaled everything back without seeming cheap, built the world with characters we recognised in a timeline that made sense and gave us a group of (mostly) unlikeable people, so when they would eventually lose the game, we wouldn’t be too sad about that. On top of that, we’ve gotten probably the strongest villain ever. I will agree with the majority here and say this is the best Saw film since Saw II. If you are like me and haven’t enjoyed any of these movies in a while, give this one a chance.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

I think the biggest enemy of Joy Ride was the trailers that were trying so hard to sell this movie as “What if Road Trip but with Asians”. Is Joy Ride that? Sure, but there is so much more to it, and the trailers never showed that side. On one side, I respect it because at least there was some surprise left for me to experience, but on the other hand, it made this movie seem quite generic. Although it couldn’t escape from some generic twists and turns, I liked it much more than I thought I would.

When this movie started, I was getting ready to see yet another comedy, where the jokes are either “WE ARE SHOUTING THE PUNCHLINE, YOU BETTER LAUGH!” or “Look, women/black people/Asian people/<insert your underrepresented group here> can be nasty and risqué too!” Lately, when people mention comedy, these are the movies we seem to be getting, and I am not saying there aren’t some that have been good, but some variety would be nice. By variety, I mean it would be cool to get more stories and make them comedies rather than go with the generic road trip formula mixed in with shouting. For some of it, this movie is that, but it’s much easier to tolerate it due to its cast.

This is where I must shout out all four protagonists. Ashley Park, Sherry Cola, Stephanie Hsu and Sabrina Wu have all been great. They all had their moment to shine, complemented each other well, and their overall chemistry felt real. They didn’t click straight away because they weren’t supposed to be friends instantly, but, in the end, you could see them becoming friends. Also, Joy Ride is a perfect example of an ensemble movie. I usually highlight one actor or actress that stood out; however, I can’t choose just one character in this movie. They all contributed to my enjoyment of this film, and more importantly, they understood their assignment. Their characters never felt too samey. That is one of the biggest issues I have had with modern comedies lately – when everyone wants to have all the jokes, making all characters feel identical. This movie avoids it well by giving us four unique people who play to their strengths throughout it.

When this movie grabbed my attention was in the second half. Because the first half is fine, and I chuckled a few times, but again, there were many “Hey, I have seen this scene before!” generic situations, as with most comedies. However, the second half surprised me because their being “stranded” in China was never a big deal, the way the trailers seemed to imply. Every time something happened to them, the movie resolved it a few minutes later, so this was my first surprise, given I expected a comedy about four almost friends being stuck in China.

The real turn came with Audrey’s character searching for her mum and how that storyline went. Again, we have seen that main payoff before, but some things before that surprised me. The scene where her search culminates is done very well without giving anything away. I was also surprised how the movie suddenly became a bit more original, for example, Audrey’s job and Kat’s (Stephanie Hsu) career… Now, I am not saying this movie strays away completely, and you will be shocked with the ending, no. It’s a comedy, after all, so of course there is a happy ending. What I am trying to say is that the path towards it is thorny, and the movie decided to accept the consequences and deal with them rather than the “the hero makes a moving speech and saves her job/project/family” scene we have come to expect from modern comedies.

The identity plotline added the much-needed gravitas to this otherwise unhinged film, and the best part was it never felt wrong or forced. Whether it was about Audrey looking for her mum and then having to accept that she knew much less than she thought or the movie’s view of how it is growing up in the USA and being different, those were the layers I appreciated and enjoyed the most. For her feature debut, Adele Lim (the director and co-writer of the film) did a great job bringing everything and everyone together. I hope she gets another shot at directing, given this movie absolutely bombed in the theatres. I would blame that on the marketing and mainly the people/company behind those generic trailers that failed to communicate what made this movie unique rather than any performers or the people behind the camera.

Overall, Joy Ride was a fun ride indeed. Although the movie couldn’t avoid some generic pitfalls, it eventually managed to make its mark and landed the finale. I think it will be a great movie to rewatch because of the four main protagonists and their chemistry. Also, more movies should have a five minute scene featuring Daniel Dae Kim; I wish he would be in more movies. The moment he showed up, I knew he would deliver, and he did and then disappeared. If you are looking for a raunchy fun with some genuine heart, Joy Ride may be for you.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

When I first saw the trailer for this movie, I thought it looked great, mainly due to the “Spider-Versication” of it all. Just like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023, my review here), this movie looks unique; the animation isn’t “flawless”, but that is what makes it stand out, and I am happy that studios started to take chances and some animated movies look differently than what we’ve been used to for a while now. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is a fun time with our beloved teenage turtles who just happen to be ninjas too, and I thought the movie did many things right.

The main thing is the voice casting and how all the main guys voicing the turtles recorded their lines in a group at the same time, which is something that’s not common at all in this industry because you can’t manipulate/edit the audio as well when you have other people in the room. But that risky choice paid off and created this feeling that our heroes have chemistry. They often talk over each other, just like teenagers; they talk about new stuff relevant to this generation… This might be the first feature film with turtles set in the current time, with all the smartphones, apps, lingo, and it feels different from any other TMNT movie I have seen. Combine that with that unique animation style, and those two facts make two big plusses in my book.

What I also liked was the main crux of the story and how these teenagers are forced to make a tough moral choice that feels contradictory to their experience. From the start of the movie, we can see our heroes hiding in the shadows because they were taught to be afraid of humans, so when other mutants show up and plan to make all the animals into mutants, they would become the dominant species, and that would result in no more hiding… I will tell you, I would be tempted by that offer, just as our heroes are. So, despite them acting and talking like teenagers, the movie has our heroes dealing with tough decisions and making them learn lessons along the way, without feeling forced or out of place.

The only thing that stopped me from being immersed fully in this film was that nothing surprises you. Yes, I was surprised by the main story and the themes a bit, but then everything goes precisely as you would expect, which is fair; it’s a “kids’ movie”. But then, we take a look at the action sequences, and although the animation style was unique, I didn’t think the action scenes were all that entertaining. That will be the main issue for many animated movies following the success of Spider-Verse movies; no matter where you stand on those, the action is immaculate, and the blend of different animation styles looks effortless. Here, the action was messy at times, and some scenes were a bit darker than I would have liked, making it harder to see what was happening.

But, I would like to say that I have enjoyed my time, and I would love to get a sequel. I liked everything else about this movie, and I think as far as world-building is concerned, the movie set up most, if not all, characters well where I can imagine the sequel being even better than the original since now we are over the introduction part and we could get “wild”. We could jump into the next adventure with a few more characters (no spoilers) that intrigued me, and I can see this becoming a trilogy even as long as all the creative people are back; I would have no issues with that.

Overall, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is a fun time with the characters you might know, but updated for the modern-day audience of teenagers today. The animation style is quirky, the story is surprisingly rich, and I had fun with it despite it not presenting anything new and some action not being up to par. Nevertheless, I would still recommend this movie, and I hope a sequel or two is coming our way because I can easily imagine more good stuff coming out of this world.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

I am not going to lie; this was the biggest surprise of the 96th Academy Awards for me, as I hadn’t heard much about Nyad before this at all. And when I say at all, I mean I wasn’t aware of Diana Nyad either. This meant I was the perfect audience for this movie, given my lack of knowledge about her and whether she would actually succeed. Yes, given there is a movie made about her, it wasn’t hard to assume she would be successful, but this movie doesn’t focus on that; it is more about what it takes to do something like this and what kind of person you must be.

In that sense, Nyad doesn’t bring anything new because we’ve seen these “how far are you willing to go” stories before. On top of that, we seem to have a new trend of humanizing these extraordinary people and looking at them not as heroes but through more of a critical lens. I don’t think it’s weird to say that Nyad and Whiplash (2014) have many things in common, thematically. Both movies are about extraordinary people willing to go further than most people are, who are so sure of themselves that they come across as abrupt or downright rude. One of the big themes of Nyad is her pushing everyone around to the point of alienation because she has such high standards for herself that she can’t see past herself and how she comes across. And more importantly, this is the only way she believes will help her to achieve her big dream.

When the movie started, I thought I would struggle with it because there was something about it I had to get used to. I don’t know whether it was the characters, how nothing much got established, and we were just thrown into Diana’s world, but I didn’t think I would like this movie. But the more time I spent with Diana and her crew, the more I saw her fail and understood her, and the more I started to root for her. To the point that even if I could predict that she would eventually achieve her goal, I was still rooting for her and was invested in her story, all her losses, her trauma, and everything that led to that one big moment. Annette Bening was great in this role; she wasn’t afraid to be unlikeable and get down and dirty. You could feel her every failure, bruise and chapped lips. Now, was it an Oscar-worthy performance? My preference would be somewhere else (cough, May December (2023, my review here) cough); however, I am not mad at Annette for getting recognition because her performance was challenging, both mentally and physically.

The same goes for Jodie Foster. As with Annette, both belong to these Hollywood legends, it’s hard to argue against. And she has some great moments in this movie, too. I specifically liked how you could tell how complex their relationship was, but you understood that they would always be there for each other at the end. No matter what, she had Diana’s back even though, as the film shows us, it wasn’t always easy. And Foster’s performance was great. Again, my preference would be somewhere different (in her category, Penélope Cruz in Ferrari (2023, my review here) comes to mind), but, as I stated at the beginning of this paragraph, it’s tough to argue against these Hollywood legends.

But as mentioned above, it’s the movie itself that surprised me the most, rather than the fact that two Hollywood giants gave great performances. I thought Nyad did a great job portraying someone on the verge of madness, as they believe they can achieve something so extraordinary that nobody else believes in them. It’s always fascinating to me to watch “based on a true story” events that don’t portray the main individual as this flawless hero; they would rather show them as human. Often irritating assholey human, who’s had it tough. And this is how I like my heroes flawed because I have no issues rooting for someone who isn’t “100% great”, as that just rings false.

The only thing with Nyad that dragged it down was that this film felt a bit disjointed, mainly at the start. I know many have had issues with how this film displayed Diana’s childhood and the trauma that she’s been through, but I am the odd one out and say that aspect didn’t bother me. What also knocks this film down, albeit a tiny bit, is the fact that this is still a pretty standard biopic with all its peaks and valleys. Even I, who had no idea who Diana Nyad was, understood why I watched a movie about her (read: that she achieves her goal). Therefore, this movie is truly about a journey rather than the destination, and once you get through the first 20 minutes or so, the journey is worth it.

Overall, Nyad is a solid inspirational film about one dedicated woman who just didn’t know when to give up. Diana Nyad has managed to do something nobody has done before, and if we take her age into account, it just makes it all the more impressive. I also appreciated the “warts and all” approach by the filmmakers and how they weren’t afraid to show Diana in some unflattering scenes. If you are looking for an inspirational movie that clearly tells you that you are never too old to do anything, you just need to be stubborn as fuck; look no further. Nyad also has two great performances on top of that.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke