Wakanda (feels like it goes on) Forever

Wakanda Forever somehow manages to be far too long while simultaneously leaving the world building, plot and some characters underbaked. Given Ryan Coogler is an excellent director and how much experience Marvel has with these films by now its hard to believe real world events haven't played some part in the patchiness.

You feel that real world intrusion right from the off, with Shuri, played by (reported anti-vaxxer) Letitia Wright scrambling to devise a cure for her brothers illness. While I'm sure Disney would really not like you to ponder the potential irony of this scene they most definitely do want you to feel the real life loss of Chadwick Boseman and you would need a heart of stone not to be kicked in the feels by images and mentions of the much missed former star. Backing up the emotion are some great performances, particularly a barn storming showing from Angela Barnes who really should have had more screen time. The film is more of an ensemble piece than most Marvel movies but Shuri is definitely the main character and, whatever problems her beliefs may or may not have caused during filming, Letica Wright is excellent. She sells her grief and anger, creating a much more rounded character than the usual college fratboy MCU heroes. Tenoch Huerta is decent as newcomer Namor but really could have done with more time to flesh out a character that is supposed to be both antagonist and noble defender of his people.

Its that issue of timing that is Wakanda Forever's biggest issue. Its too long but many elements are undercooked as the film is more interested in setting up a Disney + show than fleshing out Namor's world and charcters don't get the screen time they need due to a completely superfluous side plot involving Martin Freeman's CIA agent. The inclusion of Freeman's Everett Ross is particularly egregious as we would really be better served exploring the new underwater world than watching him flirt and squabble with his boss/ex partner and his inclusion seems to be part of the film makers dissapionting reluctance to shift the focus too far from America. Not a great move when your films biggest strength is its cultural diversity.

When you weight some great performances and decent set pieces against the messy plotting and lack of focus you're left with a standard quality Marvel film which, at this length at least, is becoming harder to recommend.

6 respectful epitaphs out of 10 cynical cash grabs.

Comments

Its Guys Like You Mickey

The title character of Mickey 17 is the 17th iteration of Mickey Barnes, a failed entrepreneur played by Robert Pattinson who has fled Earth (and a particularly unpleasant loan shark) by signing up to be an "expendable" on a voyage to colonise a new planet. This means he takes on all the most dangerous jobs and simply has his personality and memories uploaded to a newly printed body upon his inevitable death. By the time we meet him, lying at the bottom of a frozen ravine waiting to die, the four year space journey is over and and the ship's inhabitance are trying to get a foothold on the frozen hellscape of planet Niflheim. The first portion of the film sees Mickey recount the events that led to him being in such a situation, fleeing Earth after the collapse of his and dubious best friend Steven Yuen's macaron business, beeing manipulated into becoming an expendable, his relationship with security officer Nasha (Naomi Ackie) and the deaths of many of the proceeding ...

Same Old World?

By the time the credits roll you might be wondering if the title Captain America : Brave New World is ironic. This may be the MCU's big return after over a year on hiatus (I don't care about technicalities, Deadpool and Wolverine is a Fox movie through and through) but there is precious little new on display here and it would be a Reed Richards level stretch to describe a would be political thriller that is so afraid of politics as brave. On the one hand, Marvel are in a bit of a bind. Pillared for continuously dishing up more of the same but when they do try something a little fresh, a la The Eternals, long time fans shy away from it. Still, even in creative paralysis, such an experienced studio should be able to produce a higher quality product than this. The Captain America of the title is of course no longer Steve Rogers. The shield has passed to his wingman Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), formerly know as Falcon. He has not been dosed with the "Super Serum" of h...

The Show Won't Go On

The Last Showgirl opens with Pamela Anderson's Shelly Gardner standing awkward and alone on stage, lying about her age as she attempts a dance audition for the first time in decades. We then cut to the hustle and bustle of the dressing room of "The Razzle Dazzle", the Vegas show Shelly has been a part of for thirty years. Full of warmth and camaraderie, the life she is used to presents a stark contrast to the future she is facing. Outdated and playing to empty seats, the Razzle Dazzle is set to close in two weeks, prompting Shelly to contemplate life without the thing she has based her entire existence around. This is an understated and sombre character study, presenting a far less glamorous view of Sin City than we are used to seeing. The glory days of the Vegas showgirl have long passed and despite her being one of the scenes biggest stars, have left Shelly with precious little to show for her life beyond glorious memories. Here home is modest to say the least and estr...

2024 at the Cinema

Bye bye 2024, time to put your ducks in a row. If ducks are films I saw in the cinema. As ever, ranking is purely my opinion (although my opinion is obviously correct), a movie needs to have been released in the UK during calendar year 2024 and I have to have seen it on the big screen for it to be eligible. 60. The Strangers: Chapter 1 Unrelentingly tedious reboot of an already mediocre home invasion thriller that ramps up nothing but the banality. If your idea of entertainment is watching an insufferable couple hide while a man and a woman in stupid masks walk about slowly then this is the film for you. Otherwise the only scary thing here is the fact they have already filmed chapters two and three. 59. In a Violent Nature You don't need to make people drink curdled milk to know it would taste awful. Similarly, you shouldn't need to make people watch a slasher film that follows the killer for the whole runtime to know it's a terrible idea. Dialogue is replaced by endless...

Papa's Got a Brand New Black Bag

Black Bag lays its cards on the table early on. A sumptuous follow shot tracks Micheal Fassbender from the street, down to the depths of a trendy London club and back out again where his colleague informs him a nasty mcguffin has been stolen from the intelligence agency they work at and there are five possible suspects, including Fassbender's wife. He has one week to find the traitor or lives will be lost, setting the scene for cat and mouse spy antics. Don't be holding out for some James Bond style action though (even if Pierce Brosnan is present as the man in charge), director Steven Soderbergh is here to deliver a talky espionage thriller based around beautiful and very intelligent people looking cool and acting smart. An "Ocean's 11" set in the world of British spies. If you think that sounds pretty great, then you are correct. The film is an ensemble piece but Fassbender is more or less the lead as spy catcher George, known for being ice cold even amongst h...

The Greatest Songman

Given the current climate it's no surprise that cult of personality movies are coming thick and fast. Opus isn't one of the best but there is enough of interest to worth a glance if black comedy and celebrity parody are your bag. Ayo Edebiri plays young music journalist Ariel, desperate to write something meaningful which seams a long way away thanks to her "old fashioned" editor (Murray Bartlett), who treats her as a glorified note taker while giving all the juicy assignments to the lads. An opportunity presents itself when reclusive music genius Alfred Morreti (John Malkovich) surfaces after thirty years and she is one of the select few people invited to his compound for a weekend celebration and exclusive first listen. On the downside, her editor is also invited ("obviously I'll write the piece") and on arrival there is the small matter of Morreti clearly being involved in a cult. There are some other guests; a radio DJ, a paparazzi and Juliet Lew...

Am I Talking to Me?

The Alto Knights is everything you would expect from the teaming of respected veteran director Barry Levinson, the writer of classics like Goodfellas and Casino (Nicholas Pileggi) and screen icon Robert De Niro, a beautifully shot and supremely well acted gangster movie with a script that brings the characters to life via razor sharp dialogue. It is precisely that and absolutely nothing more, meaning your milage with it will depend on how much you enjoy watching snazzily dressed, older Italian-Americans sitting around clubs and mansions while the sword of Damocles hangs over their head. That isn't to say the film doesn't have a stab at trying to forge its own identity, the USP being that De Nero plays both lead roles. This isn't a "Legend" situation where the characters are brothers, he plays real life mafia friends turned rivals Frank Costello and Vito Genovese. Costello is more recognisably De Nero, the suave and composed man about town with only minor chang...

For Whom The Drum Beats

The tagline for The Monkey is, "Everybody Dies, And That's Fucked Up". Seldom has a slogan summed up a film so succinctly. While director Osgood Perkins may have spent his career to date crafting slow burn phycological horrors he turns the volume up to eleven this time round with a gonzo and completely over the top, abyssal black, comedy featuring flying limbs and a ledger filling bodycount. Based very loosely on the Stephen King short story of the same name, the titular simian is an old wind up toy that plays a drum. Wind it at your peril however as every time the drum strikes, someone dies, usually in an excessively gruesome way. There is no influencing who it decides to take and no destroying it. The film opens with a father desperately trying to get rid of the unwanted toy and then switches to his twin sons, Hal and his placenta hogging bully of a "big" brother Bill. We spend a little time with them as youths in 1999, as the monkey reeks havoc on their ch...

Well Charted Path

Being a game that apes cinema to begin with Uncharted has always been simultaneously one of the most requested and most pointless feeling video game adaptations. Realistically, the best an Uncharted film was ever going to be was pretty good and yeah it is pretty good. This is another step along the way on Tom Hollands journey to being a full on leading action man (he works out topless and everything) but in case he can't carry a movie solo he is teamed with Mark Wahlberg and the pairing works well. They both have an easy charisma that makes them watchable and it wasn't much of a stretch to see them as two side of an older/younger and more/less cynical coin. Everyone else plays there parts well with Tati Gabrielle making a suitably intimidating nemesis. The pacing isn't always spot on and boy did the trailers give a lot of the movie away but it's fun enough, with one action set piece in particular standing out, that the inevitable sequel announcement should draw many gr...

It Sure Does

Love Hurts is Ke Huy Quan's first ever lead role. After decades out the game and struggling to keep his insurance prior to his Oscar winning turn in "Everything Everywhere, All At Once", you can hardly blame him for taking the chance to front a movie. Unfortunately, in Jonathan Eusabio's directorial debut, he has landed in a misfire. Quan plays Marvin Gable, a cheery real estate agent living his best life as he crushes the sales game and keeps everyone in the office (except for his depressed assistant) happy with his home baking. Unbeknownst to his colleagues he used to be a gangland hitman for his mob boss brother "Knuckles" and when the mysterious Rose, who Marvin was supposed to have killed, remerges, big brother dispatches the goons to get some answers from him. Cue high jinks as Marvin battles henchmen kung fu style while trying to keep his current and past lives from colliding. It's a fun idea but nothing quite comes together in the execution. Th...

Dan Says its Alright

Search This Blog