June 2023



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

(SPOILER WARNING FOR ALL 5 FILMS PICTURED ABOVE)

#5. Sisu


I honestly did not know much about this film going into it, outside of it being set during WWII.

I was intrigued to see it as it looked like it was set mostly outdoors (according to the trailer).

*

The action was good for the most part and I really appreciated the lack of spoken dialogue. But, man. I was surprisingly bored during most of the film's sometimes pretentious 90 minute runtime.

5.5/10


#4. The Flash


Man, in the span of 2-ish years, this film's hype aged like already stale milk (to me anyway).

Pre-2021, 'The Flash' did seem quite intriguing, potentially just being a film with Cyborg and Barry (no now trendy Multi-Verse shenanigans). With Ray Fisher's incredibly unfair firing (for wanting a safe working enviroment) by WarnerBros, Cyborg was scrapped.

It's a little worrying that most people prior to release have just gushed over the cameos and Michael Keaton's Batman in a 2 hour 25 minute film about The Flash. The CGI that was featured in the trailers looked absolutely terrible and insanely disappointing for the current DCEU's magnum opus before James Gunn's reboot next year.

I was quite dreading seeing this. Due to the discourse and allegations surrounding the lead actor as well it seemingly being the swan song for my favourite live-action Batman, Ben Affleck.

*

WB should've delayed this a few more months. Wow, the CGI was horrendous for pretty much all of the film. I don't want to hear anything about the MCU's occasionally spotty CG sequences when this visually painful film exists. People (like Tom Cruise etc) must've been paid to say this was a great film. Though I will admit it was surprisingly mature and emotional during the final act with Barry taking the tin out of his mother's shopping trolley, accepting her unfortunate fate, that was my favourite scene in the entire film. It immensely reminded me of the video game Life Is Strange 1, with Max choosing not to save Chloe from being shot. I was just waiting for the opening instrumental to 'Spanish Saharra' to start playing as he hugged her.

Honestly, even as a fan of his portrayal, Ben Affleck's cameo in Aquaman 2 should be scrapped. His final scene in this film featured perhaps the most moving Batman line I've ever heard and I'd hate for it to be ruined. The suit was still friggin' terrible though. How could they butcher so bad the grey or metal rugged beauty that Zack Snyder helped put to screen back in BvS and ZSJL. His cowl was TOO smooth.

I really hope Sasha Calle ends up being Supergirl in JG's DC reboot, and that's coming from someone who had an insane bias towards Melissa Benoist when Sasha was cast back in 2021. Sasha was really great and perhaps my personal highlight of the 2 hours 25 minute runtime.

For a multi-verse film, it was greatly disappointing. Outside of the minute long sequence near the end featuring Reeve and Cage (could WB not get the actual Nic Cage?) , not much seemed shocking. I was really wanting to see Lynda Carter's Wonder Woman to show up, spotty young Deepfake or just as she is now (could've even just be a elder Amazonian, maybe Asteria from the WW84 post-credits scene). Or even a shot of Melissa Benoist and Henry Cavill together, that would've instantly brought the film from 2 and a half stars to 4. But, unfortunately not.

4/10


#3. No Hard Feelings



This was my final cinema trip of June 2023 and I primarily wanted to see this just for Jennifer Lawrence. Personally, I'm not a huge enjoyer of rom-coms.

*

Surprisingly enjoyable, also quite mature and wholesome towards the end.

The chemistry between Jennifer and Andrew Feldman was really endearing and felt quite real at times.

It was actually quite depressing how much I related to Percy during his introductory sequence. Games, uses VR and cycles, then later starts simping for JLaw. He's literally me!

Perhaps the most funny part to me was the former police dog constantly getting agressive whenever "C-O-C-A-I-N-E" is mentioned. Everything else was okay to somewhat funny.

6/10


#2. Greatest Days



I'm not a huge fan of Take That, I do like a few of their songs. The real reason that drove me to seek out and see this film was Aisling Bea and Alice Lowe.

*

Damn, this was a surprisingly moving story about loss, guilt and honesty, with the Take That song catalog acting as an incredibly dynamic soundtrack at times.

The constant foreshadowing of the traumatic event about the 5th friend was quite powerful, whether that be the car speeding across the screen or when one of the friends became sad after getting reminders like Aisling stopping at the steps of the plane. The reminders made the build-up to the death so uncomfortable, almost like a horror jumpscare, just waiting for the moment.

Bea and Lowe were exceptional (As I expected) and definetley the highlight of the near 2 hour runtime. I was extremely blown away by Aisling's singing during the more emotional sections of the film. She's 100% got a singing career outside of comedy and TV/Film, if she wanted to.

While it was not the greatest musical film not centred around the performer(s) (Akin to 'Blinded By The Light'). I still had an "Absolutely fantastic" time watching this, though I could've waited a few weeks to it on Prime Video.


7/10


#1. Across The Spider-Verse



This was my first cinema trip of June 2023 and needless to say it has accuired close to 5 WHOLE years of anticipation for. I do wish Sony kept it to releasing in December like the previous Spider-Verse film, don't entirely know why though.

The 2018 film is among my absolute favourite films of all-time, live-action and animated. Sony's Animation Studio really knocked it out of the park back then, by establishing the now highly influential flickering animation (Puss In Boots: Last Wish, Entergalactic and the upcoming TMNT film from the Mitchells v Machines director) and putting a humongous mainstream spotlight on one Miles Morales.

It's absolutely incredible to see how far Miles Morales as a franchise has come in just 12 years. From his comic debut in 2011, to 2018, featuring in Insomniac's videogame plus headlining a feature film months later. Now, since then, he's had a video game all to himself (which is really, REALLY great!) and this very sequel I'm writing a review of.

As I said as the top of the review, I've been anticipating this film for nearly 5 years and you best believe I awaited every teaser and trailer (tried my best to avoid official clips however).

*

HO.......LY SHIT! THIS WAS WORTH THE WAIT AND THEN SOME.

Sony Animation were cooking with everything and the inter-dimensional kitchen sink, the animation was even more mind-blowing than the previous film. Spider-Punk alone allegedly took 2 years-worth to render and I 100% believe that.

It was friggin' crazy seeing the actual Insomniac Games Spider-Man (not just a cartoon version this time) and THE Donald Glover FINALLY appear in The Prowler attire (got an audible "HOLY SHIT" from me).

Oscar Isaac as Miguel was amazing, great to finally see Spider-Man 2099 on the big-screen after years of having the year in my social media handles. Hailee as Gwen, Kalluuya as Spider-Punk and Andy Samberg as Scarlet Spider were also great (loved how comically emo and angsty he Ben Reilly was portrayed).

I can't believe how they REALLY made a potential C-List character like The Spot into such a physically imposing and incredibly nightmarish villain in the span of 2 hours. So friggin' scary. His whole angle with Miles reminded me alot of that between Harry and Voldemort for some strange reason.

The cliffhanger twist was SO chill-inducing, seeing Aaron Davis alive with a Prowler version of Miles. Also the reveal he was in a universe where his dad passed instead of his uncle dropped like an astronomical bombshell, I would've cut to credits right at that point personally.

I can not wait for March next year!

10/10

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