Dan Says its Alright

 Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3, and to some extent the whole trilogy, shows what a Marvel movie can be when it's allowed to be it's own thing and not beholden to furthering other projects. It has its flaws but  the focus on character and satisfying resolutions make this one of the MCU's best efforts in years. In fact, one of its best ever. The film begins with an attack on The Guardians by Adam Warlock, teased at the end of volume 2 and played brilliantly by Will Poulter as a gold dusted himbo, leading to Rocket being critically injured. This leaves the rest of the team in a race against time to track down a cure and brings them into conflict with the racoon's creator, The High Evolutionary. They say that if you want the audience to hate a character just show the character kicking a puppy. By that metric The High Evolutionary will go down as one of the most despised villians in cinematic history. He's a full on animal abuser who's frustrations with life's...

  There has always been an air of mystery around the Dracula novel as a result of Bram Stoker swearing parts of the story are real. The mystery with this modern take on the vampires assistant is how a film with Nick Cage dialing it up to 11 as a megalomaniac undead lord and a bunch of blood soaked over the top action can be anything but a complete slam dunk. Which Renfield is not. While some of it misses the mark there is plenty to enjoy over the hour and a half you spend with Nicholas Hoults's increasingly rebellious lackey. The film begins with a beautiful recreation of Renfield's first encounter with Dracula in the classic 1931 Universal monster flick and gives a quick summary of their relationship since, Renfield being the dutiful stooge that brings Drac his victims and even passes up the chance at freedom to bail his master out when he's trapped by vampire hunters. Cut to present day where a downbeaten Renfield and depleted Dracula set up shop in New Orleans. The mov...

 By mixing modern characters with over the top violence that maintains a wicked sense of slapstick, Evil Dead Rise is a blood drenched example of how good an update to a classic franchise can be. The setting has changed and preceedings centre around a pair of semi estranged sisters and some kids but most other things remain. The feeling of isolation and growing terror is still there, playing a sinister recording you find hidden away is still a terrible idea and a boomstick and chainsaw are still a survivor's best friend. The change of setting proves no problem as it turns out all you need to recreate the isolation of a log cabin is a high rise apartment with a broken lift and some collapsed stairs. A family home also opens up opportunities for all sorts of home applience nastiness and director Lee Cronin doesn't hold back when it comes to gruesome violence, although those traumatised by the trailer will be relieved to know he stops short of that needle puncturing an eyeball. ...