Ink of Blood

So, I have seen this movie twice now at the cinema. And both times, I did thoroughly enjoy the movie.

There are a lot of issues with Ezra Miller as a person, but I have to say that they truly are Barry Allen. They capture the feel of the character especially well. I felt for Barry when he was in the sandwich shop, waiting for his sandwich, knowing he had to get to work three minutes ago…only to get a call from Alfred that he was needed. And unlike a lot of the superheroes (even Batman), I really liked the fact that Barry has a weakness directly related to his energy levels and, it seemed, related to his blood sugar levels. As long as he had enough, he was virtually unstoppable…but it was touch and go there for a while, right at the beginning of this movie.

I did like seeing the fact that Barry had to juggle his job along with being an on-call superhero, as well as trying to prove his dad’s innocence. The struggle to get his dad out of prison added an extra element to his character, and I especially liked how Henry tried to talk his son out of spending his whole life proving his innocence. It made me like and respect Henry a lot more than I did already.

There were a lot of good elements of humour, especially when Barry went back in time and met his younger self. However, I felt like the younger version of Barry was dumbed down in a way that didn’t really fit with the fact that Barry was clearly highly intelligent…and probably even a genius, based on the amount of calculations he was trying to fit on the page. I thought there was one scene that was played only for laughs, rather than staying true to the character, despite the changes the younger one experienced compared to his older counterpart.

I really did love Kara in this movie. Yes, she was much darker than any other version of Supergirl. At the same time, it made sense with what she’d been through and what she’d seen. I particularly liked her interactions with the older Barry…and to be honest, I would have liked to see more scenes with her in.

I also really liked Michael Keaton’s Batman and the contrast between his original appearance and when he put the suit on again. There were a couple of scenes where it seemed like Bruce was nearly indestructible, which stretched my suspension of disbelief a little…but then he was shown treating his injuries, so that fit with the character.

All in all, this movie was very engaging and I enjoyed watching it both times. I’d love to see more of the version of Kara shown, along with the different versions of Batman. And there were a lot of nice Easter eggs for those familiar with the different versions of the DC characters.

If you enjoy DC, I would suggest giving this movie a try. It was a lot more enjoyable than I was expecting…and made me seriously rethink my stance of, ‘Marvel makes the best movies. DC makes the best TV shows.’

So. I have watched most of the Transformers movies by now, so I was pretty interested in seeing this movie…and was able to see it only one day ago.

The opening scene of this movie did a really good job of setting up the tension. I was really confused about why there was an ape transformer called Optimus Primal, since I know that Optimus Prime is an autobot who changes into a large vehicle…but things did make sense towards the end of the movie.

I liked the initial scene that showed Noah and his family. The relationship he had with his brother, Kris, was especially sweet…and I liked the fact that Kris insisted on using the codenames of Sonic and Tails from them.

It was good to see Noah and Elena’s characters developed outside of their interactions with the Autobots. I didn’t know as much about Elena’s history as I did about Noah, since I only saw her interacting with her boss and not any of her family members. However, I did see enough to feel that Elena was clearly being used by her boss in identifying items in the museum. It just wasn’t clear why Elena, as an intern, had that knowledge that her boss claimed for her own.

One of my favourite characters in this movie was Mirage. I loved his interactions with Noah and the friendship that formed between them, along with how Mirage later interacted with Kris. I have to say, though, I’m a bit confused by the fact that Optimus Prime keeps on reverting back to his ‘humans aren’t to be trusted’ phase. It seems like there’s little development each time Optimus Prime appears in a Transformers movie. It has been a while since I saw the other ones, though, so I could be misremembering a good reason for this.

There were a lot of really good action scenes in this movie, and I really liked the fact that both Elena and Noah had different motivations and reasons for what they were doing.

I also really liked the Maximals, especally Airazor. I would have liked to see more of her history, especially as it’s made clear she’s the only one of her group of Maximals left. I would have liked more details about the Maximals all round, to be honest. No one seemed very surprised to see them, but what was their history with the Autobots?

This movie is really good for an action science fiction movie that includes the Transformers and Autobots, but it’s definitely not a complicated storyline. It was a lot of fun to watch and I did really like the friendship between Mirage and Noah. Plus, I always think Bumblebee is a really great character…despite only being able to communicate by using different voices through his radio.

So yeah. If you enjoy Transformers and lots of action, you will definitely enjoy this movie. It was a lot of fun and easy to watch.

This is probably my favourite movie of 2023, not gonna lie.

I was 100% looking forward to seeing this movie. I’d seen and thoroughly enjoyed Into The Spider-Verse; it was so much fun and so different to anything I’d ever expected it to be. I’e actually seen it twice now!

One of the great things about this movie was being able to see more of Gwen and her history. I knew some details of her story from the comic books, but it was great to see her conflicts within her relationship and herself. I was really sad to see how, in the opening scene, she revealed her identity to her father and he couldn’t accept her.

I absolutely loved seeing Miles trying to juggle being Spider-Man along with dealing with his personal and school life. His interactions with the Spot were pretty amusing, and I loved the fact that he had interactions with his father as Spider-Man. It was actually really nice and wholesome to see a Spider-Man who had a good relationship with the police.

I also really loved being able to see the different versions of Spider-Man, although I’ve got to be honest that it did get a little ridiculous after a while. The Lego version of Spider-Man was cool to see, but a cat version? And a T-Rex? Very difficult to suspend my disbelief at those points. And speaking of suspending my disbelief…Gwen was with the group ‘for a few months’, in her own words. Yet Jessica Drew seems to have a noticeable baby bump still by the time she appears later in the film. So how long was she actually pregnant for?

Speaking of baby bumps…it was pretty awesome, if very irresponsible, to see Peter from the first movie with his own daughter. And while I did feel bad that he and Gwen (not to mention the others) left Miles alone for so long…I really liked how Peter mentioned that Miles was the reason he had his baby. Basically, I enjoyed his interactions with Miles – even though I felt that both him and Gwen did abandon Miles.

There was a lot of tension in this movie, along with the moments of humour. One of my favourite parts of this movie was right at the beginning, where Gwen and Miguel are fighting together against the Vulture. I loved the silent communication; the nod when Gwen rescued the officers from the helicopter and Miguel grabbed them. It was a scene that really showed how good the characters were, in my opinion.

On the whole, I loved this movie. I truly enjoyed seeing how Miles interacted with the different versions of Spider-Man. This movie was a lot of fun, while also dealing with some serious issues. I definitely intend to watch the third movie in this trilogy – I need to, since this one ended on a cliffhanger.

So. Once again, I have to be honest – as much as I love going to see horror movies, I was actually quite disappointed in this film.

From the trailers, this movie had a lot of potential. It looked like it might be more of a psychological horror, where the main threat isn’t actually seen, and that’s something I don’t see very often…and would love to see more of in horror, where what you don’t see is infinitely more scary than what you do see.

Sadly, that was not the case here.

Okay, so a positive in this movie was the relationship between the two sisters: Sadie and Sawyer. It very much felt like Sadie had stepped up to parent Sawyer after their mother’s death. Will was clearly making an effort with his youngest daughter, but he did ignore Sadie’s needs…even when she tried to talk to him about how she was feeling after her mother’s death. I mean, I know that he was grieving his wife’s death, but come on!

Unfortunately, the majority of the characters in this movie (apart from Sadie and Sawyer) were either really unlikable, or just felt like they were there as filler. I thought perhaps there’d be something of a relationship shown between Sadie and Bethany, but instead, the movie seemed more focused on the conflicts between Sadie and Natalie. And to be quite honest, her entire ‘friend’ group (minus Bethany, but she really wasn’t a very good friend) just seemed to hate her. And to be honest – as the viewer, it definitely seemed to me that the group slammed the door shut on Sadie when she was showing them where Lester hung himself. She was clearly traumatised and grieving and none of them saw a problem with Natalie telling her she shouldn’t be wearing her mother’s dress, that clearly had a lot of meaning to her? Yeah, with friends like that, who needs enemies?

Unfortunately, the rest of the secondary characters in this movie were just as disappointing. The whole movie seemed to be about tormenting Sawyer. She was the one the boogeyman was mainly after (although it did target Sadie as well)…and the police officer, instead of showing some small measure of compassion, decided to question Sadie about a man’s supposed suicide while Sadie is holding her frightened sister. And Will just stands there and lets it happen? I take back what I said about him making an effort with his youngest daughter. Just because her mother died, that doesn’t mean it’s suddenly okay to talk about whether or not a man really did kill himself in front of her. Oh…and don’t get me started on the psychiatrist, who exposed Sawyer to her fear so much, the girl actually wet herself!

On the whole, the only good thing about this movie was Sadie and Sawyer’s relationship. The horror was just cheap jump scares and as soon as the monster was shown, it removed the fear.

Come on, filmmakers! Give me something really good, with characters I’ll actually root for and a monster that’s actually scary!

I can’t recommend watching this movie. Even if you like horror you can just switch off for…this movie isn’t that good.

So. I have to be honest. I was a little hesitant about going to see this movie at the cinema. Not because of any particular dislike of Disney (I grew up watching Disney movies, including the animated Little Mermaid), or of the actors, but because I was worried I’d just be watching a shot for shot remake like when I went to see The Lion King. Still. I did end up going to see it, because the trailer made me think it would be visually appealing, at the very least. Again, just like The Lion King – which was beautifully made and shot, but added nothing to the actual story.

I wasn’t wrong. At least, not about the visual beauty. The film was absolutely stunning, especially the under the sea parts. Yes, it was obviously CGI; but it was still all very pretty to look at.

I was wrong about the movie basically being the same as the original animated classic. Yes, the core storyline was the same. It’s still a Disney movie, after all. But it was different enough that I didn’t feel bored while watching it.

One of the things I really liked about this movie was the fact that Eric’s character was really well developed. It was really good to see him as more than just the Disney prince who Ariel happens to fall in love with. I also really loved Halle Bailey as Ariel. When she sang Part of Your World, I got goosebumps.

I also particularly liked Scuttle in this movie, although a lot of that is probably because I truly love Awkwafina in whatever role I see her in, whether it’s live action or voice acting. I did find it a little bit weird that Scuttle could apparently breathe (and talk!) under the water to Ariel, but although I was wondering how that was possible, it didn’t really detract from my enjoyment of the movie.

I also really loved being able to see more of the island that was Eric’s home. And considering that Ariel sings she wants to see people dancing in Part of Your World, it was great to see her getting to do that…as well as the culture shock that was to be expected, since Scuttle wasn’t nearly the expert on humans she believed she was.

All in all, I really did enjoy this movie. It was visually beautiful and I loved the songs, especially Part of Your World and Kiss The Girl. I would definitely recommend going to see this movie, particularly if you’re a Disney fan, and especially if you’re a fan of The Little Mermaid.

So, this movie was the fourth of the two weeks of Unlimited showings at Cineworld. And I’d had a bit of a mentally draining day, so I did hesitate over going ahead and seeing this. But in the end, I’m glad that I did watch themovie.

The idea of a comedian who’s famous because he tears his shirt off and yells, “I’m the Machine!” is one that just seems absolutely ridiculous on paper. Of course, the whole movie makes it clear that the whole thing became a viral sensation – which did make a certain kind of sense.

One of the good things about this movie was seeing the impact of Bert’s (aka the Machine) actions on the rest of his family. Even though he was going to therapy and trying to a certain extent, it seemed clear – at least to me – that he hadn’t taken full responsibility for his actions. While there were some hints about exactly what had gone on, it wasn’t until much later in the movie that it was revealed exactly what had happened with his oldest daughter and that he finally took responsibility for what his own actions had caused.

There were quite a lot of moments of humour in this movie and it definitely didn’t take itself too seriously. One of my favourite parts of the movie was the use of the flashbacks, and the gradual reveal of what had really happened in Bert’s past. I thought it was particularly interesting to see how the glamour and excitement of going to a new country changed to something much darker and more sinister. By the end of the movie, I felt like I had a much better understanding of Bert’s character and motivations.

I also really liked Irina, even though I really didn’t expect to when she first appeared. I enjoyed the bonding experiences she shared with Bert…and although it was a bit disappointing to see her bonding with Albert glossed over (while Bert was unconscious), I still thought she was a really great character, with motives that gave her more depth…unlike her brothers, both of whom just seemed like carbon copies of each other.

All told, I really did enjoy this movie. It was a lot of fun and didn’t require a lot of thought to watch. I don’t think it’s a movie I’d get anything out of watching a second time, but it was definitely entertaining and worth watching a first time, in my opinion.

The Fast and Furious franchise is definitely one that doesn’t need to be thought too hard about while watching…and Fast X definitely fits that bill.

Some of the events that occurred had been spoiled in the trailer. For instance, Cipher’s reappearance – but then again, she was always going to come back, being one of the few villains who was shown to still be alive at the end of the movie she appeared in.

There were some nice nods to the characters in the previous movies. For instance, it was good to see Elena’s younger sister…how she was affected by her older sister’s death and her interactions with Dom.

Dom is quite an intriguing character, since he started off as one of the bad guys in the first Fast and Furious…only to have an almost complete turnaround, from antihero to full hero. One of the other characters mentioned that he’s forever running back into the burning building to save others, heedless of the danger of the building collapsing onto him…and if that doesn’t describe Dom so completely, I don’t know what does.

So. Jason Momoa plays a psychopath so incredibly well in this movie. And he was even described as such by my nine-year-old nephew, Freddie, who saw the movie literally a day after I did. It is a little predictable to have yet another enemy crawl out of the woodwork to come after Dom and his family…but Dante is an unhinged enemy and the danger does feel pretty real; at least to innocent bystanders, given that the main family seem to be protected by plot armour, something that’s even mentioned by one of the characters in the ninth movie!

There was obviously going to be a confrontation between Han and Shaw in this movie. I didn’t realise that the extra scene in Hobbs and Shaw was actually from Fast X, but as the conflict wouldn’t have felt resolved if the interaction had happened offscreen, it was good to see them…even if Shaw’s immediate reaction of violence wasn’t perhaps the best decision. Still, it was good to see him make an appearance again; and given that he’s been shown to be a more nuanced character, I would have liked to see a bit more of him working with Dom’s team.

All told, I did enjoy this movie. It didn’t require too much thought, and it was nice to see more of the other characters, like Little Brian and Jakob. Unfortunately, the movie did end on a bit of a cliffhanger…and while it seemed very much like Dom and the rest of the family were in dire straits, it was a bit hard to assume that any of them had been fatally taken out, given the franchise’s penchant for bringing the dead back to life.

This was the movie I watched the evening after Beau Is Afraid. It wasn’t purely by choice; in two weeks, there are four unlimited showings at Cineworld. If you go to all four, you get entered into a prize draw. Hypnotic was first; then Beau Is Afraid; and now Sisu.

After the movie I watched the previous night that I didn’t enjoy, this movie was very much a breath of fresh air. It wasn’t an overly complicated, deeply meaningful film. At its heart, it was simply an action movie: a one man kill squad taking out Nazis.

In the initial opening scene, the main character, Jorma, really doesn’t come across as much of a threat. He’s panning for gold with his dog and his horse, and is obviously really happy when he finds some. As is revealed later on in the movie, he really has nothing left to live for, as his whole family is dead. As Aino puts it, ‘He’s not immortal. He simply refuses to die.’

An interesting thing about Jorma’s character was that he was clearly prepared to ignore the Nazis as long as they left him alone. In some ways, that attitude was understandable…and it wasn’t clear that he was immediately aware of the women who’d been taken captive; although they were used to navigate the minefield later, and I’m pretty sure he was aware that they were prisoners.

The Nazis definitely weren’t sympathetic in this movie, but there was one scene where they think they’ve killed Jorma and one of them removes his cap in what seems to be a way of respecting the dead. I thought that was an interesting touch to the movie.

I was really glad to see that the women who were captives were developed and shown to be pretty strong. The only one who really had any speaking parts was Aino, but I had a lot of respect for them by the time they were given the tools to fight back against their captors. There’s a really good scene of them just walking along, which feels very powerful.

I mentioned that Jorma is a one man kill squad and doesn’t seem to die, but that doesn’t mean he’s immune to injury. There were a lot of scenes where I cringed at the wounds he received and, to be honest, I did question just how he was able to carry on walking, let alone fighting, after some of what he went through…cauterising the wounds or not.

Despite the difficulty in suspension of disbelief I noted above, this movie was an easy watch. I probably won’t watch it again, but it was entertaining to watch the first time.