March 2020

#9: The Invisible Man

I was sort of keen on seeing this because it was from Blumhouse Studios.

Other than that, it seemed quite cliche(from the trailers).

Also, I saw reviews stating that the whole story was shown during the trailers.

This was 30 minutes longer than it should've been.

The CONSTANT slow pans around a room just got tedious to watch. It did not fit a film like this. In other horror films it makes sense because there's a chance that there'll be a visible creature or scary person.

This film, you know for a fact that there isn't gonna be anyone there.

Elizabeth Moss' performance was by far the best part of the film. She seemed very believable, as if she actually lost her mind.

Weirdly, I think the only jumpscare I jumped at was when the dog food bowl was kicked.

Literally every other jumpscare was in the trailer, so I saw them coming a mile away.

The song that repeats throughout this film reminded me alot of The Prowler's theme from Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse.

The fight scenes where the suit was malfunctioning although they were decent, also looked very fake as if the suit was made completely of CGI. Especially when the guy collapsed after getting shot in James' house.

The ending was okay, with Cecilia finally getting "revenge" on Adrian.

I wasn't expecting much from this film, it was mediocre at best. The 90% on Rotten Tomatoes seems a little exaggerated, it was an okay film, nothing spectacular.

5.9/10

#8: Misbehavior

I wasn't overly keen on seeing this film. Probably the only reason I wanted to see it was because of GuGu-Mbatha Raw and Keely Hawes.

This was some-what boring.

I was surprised that the original people behind the Liberation showed up prior to the credits.

I loved GuGu and Keely's performances.

Rhys Ifans' performance was hilarious, even though he was playing a depiction of a person who objectified women rather than caring for them and giving a damn about them.

This film could've been really interesting if Keira Knightley's character shot Bob Hope with an actual gun instead of a water pistol when she got on stage. But, with it being based on the 1970 Women Liberation, it sorta restricted that kind of ending.

I gotta give promps to the costume design as well as the set design. Replicated the '70s TV broadcasting perfectly.

6.4/10

#7: Call Of The Wild

I wasn't too keen on seeing this. The CG on the dog just looked unbelievably fake.

I'd much rather watch Togo(I will, once Disney+ launches in the UK).

This was okay, the CG wasn't as bad it was in the trailers. I think the best use of the CGI was with the dark wolf with the golden eyes, that looked Incredible.

The green screen in some scenes was painfully obvious, especially during the mailing bobsled sequences.

The story was a little cliche and predictable.

The soundtrack was decent, I did like that!

Harrison Ford's performance was excellent, although I knew he was acting towards a man in mo-cap suit (obviously in the place of Buck, the dog).

This was sort of a chore to get through, I look forward to seeing Togo.

6.7/10

#6: My Spy

This was originally supposed to come out last year, August 2019. But got pulled from STX's release schedule.

I guess because a sort-of similar Dave Bautista film(Stuber) came out around that time, so they[STX] didn't want to confuse movie-goers.

Bautista is definitely this movie's biggest selling-point. He is absolutely hilarious in comedy films.

I think Batista is trying to copy the success that Dwayne Johnson, John Cena and Vin Diesel achieved, in terms of films they starred in.

Vin starred in The Pacifier, Dwayne then starred in The Game Plan, finally Cena starred in Playing With Fire. All 3 films based around a serious professional (insert job title here) who slowly becomes kind-hearted and loving by the end of the film.

The best out of the 3 films, in my opinion, is definitely The Game Plan.

This was no different to any of them

My Spy was okay, probably forgettable.

There were some funny scenes. For example the scene where he is telling Sophie and her mother about his past experiences with eating in the armed forces.

I did enjoy this, but comparing it to Batista's predecessors. It certainly isn't the best.

6.2/10

#5: DownHill

I saw the trailer to this numerous times during previous screenings. The previews did look decent. Seeing a comedy-icon like Will Ferrell in a semi-serious film did seem quite interesting.

I did like that the film was only 90 minutes.

This was quite excellent.

The story was sort of predictable, easily knew the relationship would be mended by the end. Although it was still very enjoyable.

Both Will Ferrell's and Julia Dreyfus' performances were amazing. Definetley believed them being husband and wife.

I loved the scenery shots of the Alps.

There was a genuine lack of background music during most of this film, which I think kinda sucks, especially during the emotionally intense scenes.

7.6/10

#4: Military Wives

I honestly didn't really want to see this. It seemed quite predictable just from the trailers about a group that starts off dysfunctional, then at the very end, work together and perform in front a large audience.

This was okay.

Certainly a emotional and moving film, I will give it that. But I mainly just got chills, no tears rolled down whatsoever.

Gaby French's performance was was the best out of all the choir ladies.

Upon writing the review I found out Gaby was in series 5 of Inside No.9(Episode: "Love's Great Adventure"), one of my favourite TV shows.

The market performance did seem a little more comedic than upsetting with everything distracting them from people on motorbikes to streetsweeper vans.

I'd have to say that the best group performance was the one that was repeated in the trailers constantly. That being 'Time After Time'. I felt more emotional during that than the final performance singing their unique song.

7/10

#3: The Hunt

Since Finding The Way Back(starring Ben Affleck, a film I was extremely looking forward to seeing) has been delayed until the 10th of April, this film has took it's place in my films for March.

I mainly wanted to see this because of Emma Roberts and Betty Gilpin. 

It had a decent concept, humans being hunted like animals. 

The trailer, weirdly, reminded me of Queen & Slim, people who are on the run so they don't get gunned down.

This was over-the-top in every possible way.

The opening body count definitely took me by surprise. Emma Robert's character was there one second and gone the next.

I did not expect it to be so mindlessly gorey, especially during the opening seqeunce. I was expecting to be centred more on just fighting, like the trailers depicted.

The film reminded me alot of Ready or Not(2019). Which featured a heavy amount of gore/violence/gruesome imagery and also quite a bit of dark humour.

Not the best film Blumhouse has done, but certainly not the worst.

7.7/10

#2: Dark Waters

This was my first film of March. 

The trailers did seem quite intriguing, about one man trying to uncover a 'Dark' secret hidden within a state's water system. 

It was also interesting knowing that this was Mark Ruffalo's first role post Avengers: Endgame.

In comparison to Robert Downey Jr., whose first role post-Endgame was Dolittle.

I think it's safe to say Mark certainly got the higher praised film from critics and reviewers than Robert.

This was excellent! By far one of the best films based on a true story I have saw.

Ruffalo's performance was superb.

The scene that was teased at the end of the trailer was really intense. Not knowing if someone had tampered with Robert Bilott's car during the meeting at DuPont headquarters.

The best scenes were when Ruffalo's character detailed DuPont's villain-esque scheme, poisoning innocent civilians and their own employees. Also, when he received the medical results from the 60,000+ people, 7 years after the intial blood test.

I was quite surprised at the end of the film when it was revealed during the credits that the real people who were affected by the Tenant case actually starred in this film, including Bucky.

Excellent exterior cinematography of both Ohio and Virginia.

I loved the OST, especially toward the end with the film journeying to it's emotional peak with the blood results finally being reported.

I went into this film intrigued and left fairly satisfied and very informed of the history behind Dupont.

7.8/10

#1: Onward

I've been looking forward to seeing this since the first trailer was released. 

I didn't go to the Leap Day advanced screening back on the 29th February.

At a brief glance, it honestly seems like a kid-friendly version of the Netflix Original film, Bright, starring Will Smith.

But leans more heavily on the fantasy side than Bright did, which I see as a good thing.

This was fucking amazing!

I loved the 'Disney welcomes The Simpsons' short at the start of this. The tribute/homage to the classic Disney silent films was an excellent choice for the short. What better character to have in a short film like that than Maggie, who's known for not speaking a single word(in most episodes).

I honestly did not expect to cry so much during Onward. The tears started rolling down when Ian was crossing off his list, realising his brother was always there for him, HE was his father-figure all his life. 

Also, when Barley told Ian about what his dad said when he was resurrected.

The film was visually spectacular! The textures, the lighting, everything, I was completely in awe of the CGI shown.

Pixar is the king of 3D animation, this film is just further proof of that statement.

The voice chemistry between Tom Holland and Chris Pratt was excellent!

I know this might not get a sequel, which is a shame, but excluding that fact, this was really enjoyable! Possibly, it will be my #1 favourite animated film of 2020

9.6/10