Change Your Image
glyn-jackson
Reviews
Trap (2024)
Had potential, but became unbelievable very quickly
The poster says... 30,000 fans, 300 cops, one serial killer... well 10,000 of those fans never made it into arena and I think it was more like 3,000 cops... this film had potential but falls apart straight away from the total unbelievability of almost every scene.
So dad takes daughter to a pop concert which we later find out is a trap to catch a serial killer (the dad).... so far so good... we see a large number of cops in the area which may/may not be true to life following recent terrorist attacks at concerts.
The whole thing starts to fall apart once the concert is underway and the killer goes out of the area... there are thousands of people just milling around int he corridors, entrance, toilets. He and his daughter then seem to pop in and out of the concert at random, even though she is apparently a massive fan... who does that?
We then have a whole series of yeah - right !! Moments as he finds out that the trap has been set and he tries to escape - obtaining a code word, pass, radio, wallet, and access to secure areas at will... gets his daughter on stage, back stage and so it goes on... every time he seems to have no where to go he manages to get away up to the point where you know full well it's going to happen... i'm not going to go on as others have already pointed out further gaffs nut will just finish up by saying the final scene (after the end) was the best bit of the film - when the T-Shirt guy is watching the news and sees who the killer is made me laugh out loud - that bit was brilliant.
Challengers (2024)
Was I watching a different movie?
Seems like I watched a different film to everyone giving it 9 or 10... In a nutshell I found it a very weird film... there are some awful 'arty' shots, uncomfortable and unnecessary scenes and the timeline jumping all over the place which I found annoying... It's basically the story of a very ugly woman who uses two men who were once best friends... the only likeable character is Art who plays the husband who his wife cheats one with his smarmy detestable ex best friend..
The ending - if you can call it that - was very disappointing. Just when you think that he's going to smash his ex mate in the head with a racquet and leave the two vile creatures to each other it just stops...
4/10 was being generous - certainly not a film I'll ever watch again... I wasted too much time on it as it was.
Extortion (2017)
Unbelievable Entertainment
If you want to watch a rather entertaining, simple thriller then this is certainly a very watchable movie that I must say, I quite enjoyed. The plot on the whole is a good one.. family go on holiday and fall into the hands of some nasty local who thinks he can get money out of them but the major problem is the totally unbelievable more detailed sub story and numerous holes in the plot.
He goes to rent a jet ski but they are all out - rather than book one for another day he rents a boat with no radio, no flares, no maps etc and the whole family head off into the middle of the ocean out of sight of land and find a tiny desert island. At this point you think OK so he's a bit of a dumb city slicker and go with it - it's just a film after all.
Once the fisherman shows up it all turns nasty and he realises they are in deep trouble but that's when the story starts to get rather silly... I'm not going to list the many holes - that's already been done but as long as you can either laugh out loud or simply let all the ridiculous moments wash over you in the name of artistic license then you'll enjoy it.
Nope (2022)
Nope - very apt title
I saw the trailer and my first thought was - Nope - that just looks too weird. However my wife wanted to go and see it so i tagged along.
On the plus side, I will say that it was better than I thought it would be and it was entertaining with a few good scenes.
On the down side, I found the characters unlikeable - especially the selfish sister who i wanted to punch and certainly wouldn't have cared if she'd been sacrificed mid film.
Throughout, I found it very inconsistent - for example at the start when the father is killed by falling objects, there's no sign of the 'UFO' or any clouds - just a clear blue sky, but later on when it is above the house, the items are pouring down on mass along with blood while the 'craft' and cloud sits above with thunder, lightning and pouring rain...
The 'craft' supposidly takes anyone that looks at it but on several occasions chooses to ignore the lead actor when he looks at it.
Another goof is after the audience is taken from the Cowboy show - the place is left deserted with the tannoys blaring out that the place is closing etc... later on we hear reports of the missing audience so the cops and authorities must have visited. I'm sure they would have closed the site down - turning off the power or broadcasts but then at the end when the craft is destroyed the power is respored and the broadcasts start up again.
I didn't get the whole chimp thing - apart from it being related to the Asian Cowboy's past - the whole thing could have been taken out and the story wouldn't have been affected in the slightest.
I've read in other revews that it's supposed to have been a horror film - the only slightly scary bit was the neighbours kids pranking OJ in the barn. The bit at the end when the 'craft' turns into a big kite and for it to be destroyed by 'eating' a large inflatable cowboy is laughable. I gave it a generous 4/10 for a few good scenes and for not being as bad as i thought it was going to be.
The Railway Children Return (2022)
Disappointing
We were really looking forward to this film but were left very dissapointed.
Even the posters featuring Spitfires and the children running towards a steam train seem to be totally missleading as neither feature in the film.
The film is almost totally focused on a young black GI on the run because he has been a victim of racism with MP's and the charm of the original film where the kids spend their time watching the trains go by - sadly they seem to spend all their time hanging around in a railyard full of empty freight.
It was a watchable film but not one i would rush out to see again - not like the original which I can watch over and over again.
Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
Worth the wait
Awesome sequel and well worth the wait of 36 years. Brilliant storyline and some amazing flight sequences which you can tell are real rather than cgi.
Yes, there are a few bits that stretch reality, but overall I really, really enjoyed it and will probably be heading back to the cinema next week for another watch.
Death on the Nile (2022)
The 1930's - 2022 Style
Yet again we have a period drama, this time from the 1930's, distorting its originality because the casting has to meet the ridiculous box ticking, diversity targets of 2022.
Capone (2020)
Terrible waste of talent
The only good thing I can say about this film is that there were some very good performances by a talented cast. Tom Hardy came across as scarily good in his portrayal as Al Capone which is totaly wasted as the film itself is truly awful.
What could have been quite an interesting look at the final year(s) of this legendary gangster was just a series of bizarre nightmare dream sequences that left you feeling like the last two hours had been a complete waste of time.
Angel of Mine (2019)
Totally Unbelievable Storyline
We thought this would be worth a watch and to begin with it wasn't too bad but as the story develops you realise that it is completly unbelievable.
Unlike other 'missing child' films theres a scrap of evidence that leads the person to believe the child is theirs but in this one it's just a hunch. She lost her BABY who would have been days old and now recognises her at the age of 7. Also, we are expected to believe that of all the 7 year old kids in an entire country, her daughter, who has been travelling around with this couple, suddenly ends up at a party back in the same city as her real mother... they may as well have made a film about someone winning the lottery 3 weeks running - the odds must be about the same.
High-Rise (2015)
Great Idea but went downhill fast
I watched the first 20 minutes or so and thought this was going to be a good film... everything was building towards a suspense type thriller with a successful doctor moving into a tower block with some 'interesting' neighbours. Sadly after that the film went downhill very fast descending into a series of bizarre clips featuring lots of random acts - scenes of sex, orgies, violence, drunken or drug fueled parties that were as another reviewer put it - like the ramblings of a mad man.
This film had a great cast and was well filmed - it had all the hallmarks of a film i'd happily have given a 10/10 rating but in the end it was only a 2 for the first 20 minutes.