April 2023
All movies I saw in the cinema for first time during the month of April 2023 ranked from worst to best.
(SPOILER WARNING FOR ALL 4 FILMS PICTURED ABOVE)
#4. Renfield
With the likes of the beautiful 'Pig' and hilarious 'Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent', Nicolas Cage seemed to have had a semi-career resurgence after quite a few years of b-list film mediocrity (excluding Into The Spider-Verse, ofcourse, he was amazing in that!). Cage in this film, is going all out with the campiness, evident by the trailers showing him as Dracula comically hovering sorta akin to 'What We Do In The Shadows' (the Taika film, not Matt Berry show).
Cage and Nicholas Hoult reunite theatrically for the first time since 'The Weatherman'
The visuals from the trailers were very interesting with the grungy neon colour grading.
*
This was okay, reminded me alot of last year's 'Violent Night' (perhaps it's set in the same universe?) just somewhat less entertaining. The action and fight scenes were perhaps the highlight of the whole runtime.
Decent performances from Cage, Hoult and surprisingly Awkwafina.
Throughout the film, I was thinking "Why the Hell are they being so extreme on the gore/blood splashes?" But once the end credits rolled, it started to make complete sense. Robert Kirkman, the creator of the 'Invincible' comic, was a producer for 'Renfield'.
I didn't mind the film, but it got tiresome near instantly.
6.3/10
Cage and Nicholas Hoult reunite theatrically for the first time since 'The Weatherman'
The visuals from the trailers were very interesting with the grungy neon colour grading.
*
This was okay, reminded me alot of last year's 'Violent Night' (perhaps it's set in the same universe?) just somewhat less entertaining. The action and fight scenes were perhaps the highlight of the whole runtime.
Decent performances from Cage, Hoult and surprisingly Awkwafina.
Throughout the film, I was thinking "Why the Hell are they being so extreme on the gore/blood splashes?" But once the end credits rolled, it started to make complete sense. Robert Kirkman, the creator of the 'Invincible' comic, was a producer for 'Renfield'.
I didn't mind the film, but it got tiresome near instantly.
6.3/10
#3. Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves
This was my first film of April 2023, which I saw on April Fool's day.
I primarily wanted to see this just for Michelle Rodriguez. Everything else about the film just looked fake (and not in a good way), like it's the type of fantasy movie characters in TV shows or films would be watching in the background of scenes, I can not explain why. Not sure if that's just down to my taste or the source material itself.
*
Honestly, it was surprisingly enjoyable. I was wrong to think negatively about the film. Could've done with a slightly shorter runtime though.
Michelle was by far the only major highlight of the film for me, radiating "Mother" energy throughout the 2hour runtime, with her exposed muscles etc. Loved the scene where Holga visited her ex-husband, for...reasons 👀. Nearly teared up, thinking they were gonna kill her off.
The funniest scene in the film was undoubtedly the corpse grave scene. Holy shit! I've never popped so hard in the cinema in either quite sometime or even EVER! and I've already knew about the scene beforehand through clips/ads. Just wish the rest of the film was that silly and comical.
The VFX and action were pretty good, definetley felt worth it to see on the big screen. Every big scene felt like a crazy, over the top set piece.
Hugh Grant's villainous performance chewed up the scenery everytime he appeared, liked seeing him.
The film wasn't insanely good, nor was it astronomically boring. I would't say it warrants the 90+% on RT though.
6/10
#2. AIR
I saw this on Easter Sunday.
I'm not that knowledgeable about NBA, Michael Jordan or Nike but this film did seem (somewhat) intriguing. The most I've saw of the NBA mainly comes from the likes of the 2K games story modes or ESPN 30for30 documentaries. I loved Ben Affleck's intense rescue film 'Argo'.
*
'Air' did not feel two hours long (which is a big positive), though it did have a few ending points. That chilling monologue by Matt Damon genuinely felt like there was only a few minutes left of the film, it was that good, with it weaving in archival footage of Michael Jordan's life events (e.g his dad's untimely passing), between the dialogue. I half expected MJ to agree right after that and the credits would've rolled.
Stellar directing by Affleck, the script, cinematography and production design were great also. I did not expect to really enjoy the office scenes, which is nearly 95% of the film, thoroughly surprised me. Before going into it, I was expecting to be like 'Spotlight' (albeit significantly less depressing).
The shoe lab scenes were very cool, seeing their thought process going into making the iconic sneaker. Standing up against the NBA's 50% white colour rule.
It was great they kept "Michael's" face obscured, must've made the casting a whole lot easier, not having to mimic his mannerisms that much.
The chemistry between Damon, Bateman, Affleck and Tucker was exceptional.
While I wasn't too hyped to see a basketball showcasing just the corporate behind the scenes history, I remained fully invested throughout!
8/10
I'm not that knowledgeable about NBA, Michael Jordan or Nike but this film did seem (somewhat) intriguing. The most I've saw of the NBA mainly comes from the likes of the 2K games story modes or ESPN 30for30 documentaries. I loved Ben Affleck's intense rescue film 'Argo'.
*
'Air' did not feel two hours long (which is a big positive), though it did have a few ending points. That chilling monologue by Matt Damon genuinely felt like there was only a few minutes left of the film, it was that good, with it weaving in archival footage of Michael Jordan's life events (e.g his dad's untimely passing), between the dialogue. I half expected MJ to agree right after that and the credits would've rolled.
Stellar directing by Affleck, the script, cinematography and production design were great also. I did not expect to really enjoy the office scenes, which is nearly 95% of the film, thoroughly surprised me. Before going into it, I was expecting to be like 'Spotlight' (albeit significantly less depressing).
The shoe lab scenes were very cool, seeing their thought process going into making the iconic sneaker. Standing up against the NBA's 50% white colour rule.
It was great they kept "Michael's" face obscured, must've made the casting a whole lot easier, not having to mimic his mannerisms that much.
The chemistry between Damon, Bateman, Affleck and Tucker was exceptional.
While I wasn't too hyped to see a basketball showcasing just the corporate behind the scenes history, I remained fully invested throughout!
8/10
#1. Super Mario Bros Movie
This was my last cinema trip of April 2023, which just so happened to land on Queen Anya Taylor-Joy's birthday, April 16th.
I've been looking forward to this ever since the teaser trailer released last year.
I wish I could say I "grew up as a Mario fan, played most of the games" but I didn't and haven't. The only game I played in my youth from the franchise was Mario v Donkey on the Gameboy Advance, which I didn't get that far in (only got up to the jungle section). I, just today, saw the painfully dull and incredibly unfaithful Bob Hoskin/John Leguizamo film.
Perhaps the biggest controversy this film has endured is the casting of Chris Pratt as the titular plumber. I, personally, wasn't that fussed about it because while a film with the original Mario voice actor (Charles Martinet) would've been ideal, it also would've gotten old/annoying quite fast. Films are 90+ minutes long and listening to a near constant energetic Mario for that runtime without gameplay segments woven in between scenes, would seem like a chore to get through.
Illumination does not miss when it comes to creating colourful, vibrant, nice looking animation (Despicable Me franchise, Sing also Secret Life of Pets duologies plus Grinch) and from the trailers to Super Mario movie alone, this is no different.
*
I can't believe I managed to go two weeks with minimal spoilers and got a screening all to myself, YESSIR! Would've saw it earlier, but Sonic 2 from last year taught me to NOT see a family film during the half term school breaks.
WOW, Nintendo must've gave Illumination ALOT of money, the amount of recognisable licensed songs was friggin' crazy. They didn't feel too out of place tbf, so they were definetley warranted.
The animation was well worth leaving the house for. Vivid colours, great detail, which isn't surprising coming from Illumination. The stitching on both Mario and Lugi's hats was quite incredible, imo.
The set pieces were great, I loved the construction site sequence where it replicated the game only with smooth and natural motions.
Everyone in the cast was enjoyable. Pratt, Day, Joy, Black and Key all done a great job bringing the characters to life.
I would REALLY love a sequel and perhaps even more Nintendo characters getting their feature film from Illumination!
7.5/10
I've been looking forward to this ever since the teaser trailer released last year.
I wish I could say I "grew up as a Mario fan, played most of the games" but I didn't and haven't. The only game I played in my youth from the franchise was Mario v Donkey on the Gameboy Advance, which I didn't get that far in (only got up to the jungle section). I, just today, saw the painfully dull and incredibly unfaithful Bob Hoskin/John Leguizamo film.
Perhaps the biggest controversy this film has endured is the casting of Chris Pratt as the titular plumber. I, personally, wasn't that fussed about it because while a film with the original Mario voice actor (Charles Martinet) would've been ideal, it also would've gotten old/annoying quite fast. Films are 90+ minutes long and listening to a near constant energetic Mario for that runtime without gameplay segments woven in between scenes, would seem like a chore to get through.
Illumination does not miss when it comes to creating colourful, vibrant, nice looking animation (Despicable Me franchise, Sing also Secret Life of Pets duologies plus Grinch) and from the trailers to Super Mario movie alone, this is no different.
*
I can't believe I managed to go two weeks with minimal spoilers and got a screening all to myself, YESSIR! Would've saw it earlier, but Sonic 2 from last year taught me to NOT see a family film during the half term school breaks.
WOW, Nintendo must've gave Illumination ALOT of money, the amount of recognisable licensed songs was friggin' crazy. They didn't feel too out of place tbf, so they were definetley warranted.
The animation was well worth leaving the house for. Vivid colours, great detail, which isn't surprising coming from Illumination. The stitching on both Mario and Lugi's hats was quite incredible, imo.
The set pieces were great, I loved the construction site sequence where it replicated the game only with smooth and natural motions.
Everyone in the cast was enjoyable. Pratt, Day, Joy, Black and Key all done a great job bringing the characters to life.
I would REALLY love a sequel and perhaps even more Nintendo characters getting their feature film from Illumination!
7.5/10
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