February 2023

All movies I saw in the cinema for first time during the month of February 2023 ranked from worst to best.

(SPOILER WARNING FOR ALL 4 FILMS PICTURED ABOVE)

#3. Cocaine Bear

This was my final cinema trip of February 2023.

I wasn't particularly hyped to see this in all honesty. The only redeemable part of Elizabeth Banks' previous film, the 2019 Charlies Angels, was Kristen Stewart (as well as Ronda and Hailee showing up during the credits). So when it was revealed she was going to make a film based on a crazy true story, I was quite skeptical.

The concept of the story would've made for a brilliant Coen Brothers film, akin to Fargo or The Big Lebowski. Or even Guy Richie, like 'Snatch'.

The trailer was somewhat intriguing, showcasing exactly what the title is a 'Cocaine Bear'. I guess the only things that drew me to watch this was Keri Russell's and Isaiah Whitlock Jr.'s involvement as well as this being the late Ray Liotta's final role.

*

How the Hell do you have Isaiah Whitlock Jr. play a role in your film and NOT have him spurt out his infamous "Shiiiiiiiiiiit"?! I was waiting for it to happen SO MANY times, like when he finds the cocaine (similar to Spike Lee's '24th Hour') when he saw the bear, the moment he got betrayed/died. Nothing but disappointment.

Outside of the emission of Whitlock's classic line, the film itself was pretty decent. The CGI of the bear was quite okay, on par with the likes of the Baboon from the Brad Pitt space film 'AD ASTRA'.

The cast was entertaining for the most part, no one felt like they were doing it primarily for money. Keri, Isaiah and Ray were definite standouts for me, alongside Alden Erineich and O'Shea as slightly more grounded version of Tangerine/Lemon from last year's 'Bullet Train'.

While Charlie's Angels was quite drab and boring, Cocaine Bear was relatively entertaining and a massive improvement. Elizabeth Banks would be amazing going forward as a "shlocky" action horror/comedy director. I think a heist film would be an interesting next project for her! I don't know how I'd fit horror into it though.

6.5/10

#2. Antman: Quantumania

The first film in the MCU's fifth Phase.

I've been anticipating this since the first trailer released late last year.

Jonathon Majors, who previously starred as "He Who Remains" in the season one finale of 'Loki' returns, now as the live-action debuting Kang The Conqueror, at least one of his Variants. Majors has had an absolutely great filmography despite only starting his career back in 2017, 'Last Black Man in San Francisco', 'Harder They Fall' and 'Da 5 Bloods' all come to mind when I think of him. All feature great performances by him.

*

This was the most Robert Rodriguez-esque film not to be directed by him. Mad Max meets Sci-fi.

Majors as Kang was definitely the highlight of the film, he absolutely stole the show with his stoic and almost tormented performance, each scene he was in felt BIG and important. The first post-credits sequence must've been inspired by Spy Kids 3, there's no way it wasn't at least. Three Kangs with unique personalities, akin to the "We're you" scene with Sylvester Stallone

Great visuals, perhaps my favourite scene was the tower of possibility Scott Langs and Paul Rudd carries that scene so effortlessly.

This film definetley could've been shorter, as for the first hour or so all you hear is "He's coming" "Get ready for him!" which got alittle repetitive after a while, already knowing who it was. Also, ALOT of mentions of the Quantum Realm prior to Kang's grand entrance.

While M.O.D.O.K isn't 1:1 as the comics/games/TV, I honestly enjoyed him, it made sense for Yellow Jacket to be "The Weapon". Though, it was a little weird how he looked like he had a big, dumb cheesy grin no matter his mood.

The ending narration was pretty cool, with the warm colour slowly becoming more and more desaturated as Scott realises what Kang might be able to do now that he's out of the Quantumrealm.

The film, though very monotonous and drawn out for the most part, does not deserve the harsh 47% on RT, making it the second lowest rated MCU film, especially with Thor: Love & Thunder which somehow scored higher.

6.8/10

#1. Puss In Boots: Last Wish

This was my first cinema trip of February 2023.

Man, for the past 2 months or so, all I've saw on my Tiktok FYP is constant PiB: Last Wish videos. Whether that be the whistle noise with the death wolf, "Who's your favourite fearless hero?" or clips of the film in general.

I hate when films have drastically different release dates. The film originally released in the US during December of last year, but the UK had to wait 2 extra months.

While I've not really been anticipating the film, I like that it's current sitting at a 96% on RT, eclisping Avatar 2's 77%.

*

Damn, this was pretty great! I love the " Bad Guys-ification" of the Shrek universe DreamWorks is hopefully continuing.

Such a mature tale, especially for a kids film, about accepting mortality and chosen family. I was a little surprised how dark it did get, showing someone's skeleton after get vaporised and the occasional censored swearing.

Jiminy Crickett as well as Goldilocks (voiced by Florence Pugh, who's amazing, reagrdless of the film she's in) and The Three Bears were perhaps my favourite characters. Having Goldi and the The Bears be cockney was such an inspired choice!

Even after the endless amount of Tiktoks I saw of The Wolf prior to the release, I still got chills everytime he made his entrance. The echoing whistles (very reminiscent of WWE's Undertaker bell gongs) were so chill-inducing and the way takes up most of the frame was really intimidating with the glowing red eyes.

Thrilling action, excellent choice to reduce the frame rate during the chaotic scenes, almost mirroring Sony's amazing 'Into The Spider-Verse'.

While I could've easily have saw the film at home a few weeks earlier, I'm glad I chose to see it in the cinema!

8/10