March 2022

All movies I saw in the cinema for first time during the month of March 2022 ranked from worst to best.

(SPOILER WARNING FOR ALL FILMS PICTURED ABOVE!)

#6: The Nan Movie

I literally only found out about this like a month before it's March 18th release date.

*

Man, this was incredibly dull and immensely boring. But, this film, surprisingly had the loudest and most consistent laughter from the audience I've ever experienced in the cinema.

The twist of Mick being a bomber got the biggest reaction, which was really surprising as it was so obvious during the radio news announcement something bad was gonna happen. Personally, I didn't even laugh once, throughout the entire runtime.

It probably would've helped if I actually liked the show this was based off.

The only scenes I was slightly invested in were with Kathrine Parkinson and Niky Wardley, which were very few and far between.

The shoddy animation sequences were somewhat clever, furthering the "plot", though completely random.

I'll probably end up forgetting about this film, but not the audience reaction.

3/10

#5: Morbius

This was my final cinema and film of March 2022.

I wasn't that hyped for this ever since it was announced. Morbius should honestly just be a side character in a Spider-Man film, instead of having a full fledged live-action theatrical film.

The reviews and rating scores were an immensely bad sign to what I was getting myself in to, not to mention the film's director outright spoiling the story Twitter Q&A. I also found it a little weird that the post-credits scene leaked prior to the release date and even the reviews from popular sites.

*

I can't believe this got delayed alot of times. This was quite bad, wasn't worth the wair. The dialogue was perhaps the worst part of it all, very atrocious. There were a few cool scenes/shots and Jared Leto definitely done his best, but that could not save this film.

Having seen the leaked final scenes prior to the screening, I left immediately once the credits came up. I like the idea of Michael Keaton's Vulture returning, just not this way. It goes against Homecoming's mid-credits scene, where he refused to give Peter Parker's name to Scorpion.

The CGI was incredibly hit/miss at times. Sometimes it looks great, like when Morbius uses echo-location. The other times, the vampire version of Matt Smith's face looked it was put on by shoddy Deepfake technology or Snapchat filter.

4/10

#4: The Duke

(My second trip to the cinema of March 2022)

The concept to this film did seem quite intriguing to me. A story about a taxi driver who stole a painting from an art gallery in plan to get the government to make TV licenses free for O.A.Ps.

Dame Helen Mirren was probably the only reason I wanted to see this. She was great in 'The Good Liar' acting alongside Sir Ian McKellen.

*

Jim Broadbent and Helen Mirren were excellent together.

The greenscreen segments where Jim Broadbendt was superimposed into archival footage of '60s London reminded me alot of the Rhys Ifans film 'Mr. Nice'. Sometimes it's subtle and works, the othertimes, not so much.

The costume and set design work was amazing and fit the time period immensely.

Went in not expecting much and left thoroughly okay, the runtime passed by very quickly. Definetly worth a watch, if it comes to any streaming service.

6.3/10

#3: Ambulance

I've been anticipating this film since the trailer dropped back in October of last year. I'm not a fan of most of Michael Bay's film, I at the very least moderately enjoyed his TMNT duology.

The pairing of Jake Gyllenhaal and Yahyah Abdul Mateen II was interesting, I loved their roles in 'Prisoners' and 'Candyman' respectively.

*

This was fun also quite intense. The constant sweeping and diving drone shots did become really tiresome very quickly however.

With the film's runtime being over 90+ minutes, Bay definitely padded out the duration by having the main characters drive past famous Los Angeles locations such as the Staples Center and the Olympic Blvd Bridge. It pretty much went from a heist movie to an action-packed tour of L.A.

The cinematography and score were excellent.

The chemistry between Yahyah and Jake was solid and completely carried the film.

It did drag at times, but I still felt 100% invested in the story and characters.

7.4/10

#2: The Phantom Of The Open

The trailer to this film played in almost every screening I've been in since late November of last year, which I honestly don't have a problem with. I loved hearing Steve Harley's 'Make Me Smile' song during it.

*

(My second empty screening of this year since 'A Journal For Jordan' back in January)

This was incredibly funny and immensely heartwarming. Mark Rylance's performance as Maurice Flitcroft was really endearing.

The funniest part, for me, was Flitcroft's reaction to the first professional shot of the '76 Open. Most of the film up until that point, he censored himself (using phrases like "Bloody Hell" and "Blumming heck"). So, it was absolutely hilarious when he suddenly belted out "F***ing Hell!"

I loved the stylistic choices to some of the scenes. Like when he went to a humongous and dream-like version of a golf course when his passion for the sport was born.

This was such an enjoyable film and was worth waiting the extra 30-ish minutes during the trailer and adverts for.

8/10

#1: The Batman

This was my first film/cinema trip of March 2022.

I'm upset that my favourite live actor of The Dark Knight, Ben Affleck never got to have his solo Batman film. This very film came about because Affleck stepped down from directing/starring, and handed the reins over to 'Planet of The Apes' trilogy director Matt Reeves and eventually actor Robert Pattinson, as the titular character.

I initially wasn't sold on Robert Pattinson being "The Caped Crusader" until I saw the test footage back in early 2020. He looked really great, not keen on the cowl though. But, from the neck down, the suit is amazing.

Even before I saw the any footage, I knew Jeffrey Wright was a good pick to play Detective Jim Gordon. I loved him in 'The Goldfinch' and 'MONSTER'.

I was immensely hyped to see Greig Fraser's stunning cinematography for 'The Batman'. His work on 'Foxcatcher', 'Rogue One', 'LION' and 'Dune Pt.1' is absolutely jaw dropping.

*

I'm at a loss for words, this was really incredible, a top-tier peak Batman film. The cinematography and score was second to none, excellent work as always by Greig Fraser and Michael Giachino.

Robert Pattinson blew me away with his performance. The ominous and intimidating entrance he does in the opening was amazing, akin to Darth Vader in 'Rogue One'. I loved the powerful and chilling shot of Batman looking at the mayor's son, he saw a version of his younger self from the tragic night Thomas & Martha Wayne were gunned down.

This film finally portrays the detective side in a very comic book manner, similar to the Arkham games and Kevin Conroy films. The action scenes also rival the video game series, the fight scene in Gotham Square Garden officially tops the warehouse scene from 'BvS'.

I do wish Alfred was killed off. Nothing against Andy Serkis, he was great. But, the buildup and reveal of the bomb explosion was quite sobering and would've packed even more of a punch if he did die. It also would've added more weight and intensity to the finale with Bruce having nothing left to lose. The conversation between Alfred and Bruce at the hopsital was superb though. Powerful stuff when Bruce said his the only thing he's afraid of is losing the ones he cares about.

My opinion on the cowl hasn't changed that much, but I will say it works best in shadowy and dark environments, which this film has a boat load of.

The use of red in the advertisements was great and it slightly alluded to the beautifully somber scene of Batman helping the citizens of Gotham escape from the flooded arena, being a literal beacon of hope in the darkness.

The film may have been 3 hours, but that did not hinder my investment and left me absolutely floored throughout the entire runtime.

9.7/10