The Substance

Posted by cat2002116 on November 6, 2024
Posted in: Horror, Movies, Reviews, Science Fiction. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

I was very intrigued when I saw this movie advertised. The basic premise wasn’t an entirely original one. After all, people have been obsessed with preserving youth and beauty for years…but the idea of the Substance was a pretty intriguing one, I have to admit.

I thought that the movie did a really good job of showing the decline Elisabeth was experiencing, due to those around her considering her ‘too old’ to continue being the face of the aerobics show she was part of. I was able to empathise her with a lot as a character…and all of her interactions with Harvey, and Harvey as a character, just made my skin crawl. In parts of the movie, he came across as larger than life, but in a really grotesque way that I felt worked really well.

When Elisabeth uses the Substance for the first time, I honestly thought it had killed her. I know she had a whole lot of stuff that implied the bodies continued to live while the ‘other self’ was in control, but I honestly couldn’t see how Elisabeth had managed to survive such a gruesome ‘birth’.

Very similar to most horror movies, the relationship between Elisabeth and her younger self, Sue, starts off as a symbiotic one; an arrangement that’s beneficial for both of them. It is sad that Elisabeth ends up not doing anything other than sitting around while she’s in control, but that also fits in with the feel of the movie, so it’s not that much of a surprise even if it is sad.

Obviously, things start going bad when Sue takes more than her fair share of time from Elisabeth. The results of just one day are immediate and intense, showing Elisabeth with an aged hand.

What doesn’t make a lot of sense to me is that whoever made the Substance basically gave up all responsibility. Elisabeth calls to complain about Sue; Sue calls to complain about Elisabeth. All the person on the other end tells them is that they need to remember they’re one. Considering how bad the effects of using more of the spinal fluid are on the original person, I would have thought that the Substance’s creator would be more strict with the possibility of taking too much. Then again, I’m not really sure what the organisation/person selling the Substance is getting out of it anyway.

I will say that, towards the end of this movie, it was very much body horror and pretty much over the top. By that point, I kind of lost some interest in the movie, as I felt it was shock value.

I will say that I enjoyed this movie for what it was, and there were some really good elements to it. I would have liked to see more of the world expanded upon…and more from those actually in control of the Substance.

Spider-Man: No Way Home

Posted by cat2002116 on November 5, 2024
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So, this Spider-Man movie picks up more or less straight after Far From Home ends, with everyone in the world knowing that Peter Parker is Spider-Man.

I thought the strongest part of this movie was Peter dealing with the fact that everyone where he lives is now aware of who he is, though I have to admit, it seemed kind of wrong for MJ and Ned to be rejected simply because they knew Spider-Man. After all, they weren’t doing anything…and in fact had been in the middle of the danger in the previous movie.

I really loved Matt Murdock’s brief cameo in the movie. It was awesome to see him representing Peter Parker as a lawyer, only to reveal himself as something more when he catches the brick thrown through the window. I would have liked to see a bit more of him, perhaps interacting with Peter as Daredevil.

I really liked the interactions between Peter and Stephen in this movie, especially as the lines in the multiverse began to blur. Having just seen the two Amazing Spider-Man movies the weeks before, I was happy to see a reappearance of the two main villains from those, though I actually would have liked to see one of the versions of Harry, especially as he is mentioned by Peter Two.

And, yes, that brings me to the three Peter Parkers. That was one of my favourite parts of the movie, especially the first time watching it. I remember being so happy when Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man appeared for the first time!

I loved all of the interactions between Peter One, Peter Two, and Peter Three. Peter Three comments that he always wanted brothers, and I love how encouraging they are to each other, and how they bond over their individual experiences. I especially loved when Peter One told the other two Peters about him being part of the Avengers and they were immediately supportive…and at the same time asking what the Avengers were.

There were a lot of great moments of humour in this movie (Marvel does that particularly well), but I thought there were some really great serious moments as well. And, of course, it was awesome to see villains like Electro and the Green Goblin from the previous Spider-Man movies. What happened to May made me really sad, though.

I felt the final interaction between Peter One and Stephen Strange was really bittersweet, especially considering Stephen’s reluctance to actually cast the spell. I liked the fact that Stephen seemed to have grown fond of Peter by the end of the movie…but I absolutely hated Peter’s decision not to tell MJ and Ned the truth.

I’m really hoping that there will be another Spider-Man movie in the MCU, as I would love to see this version of Peter get something like a happy ending. And if it’s at all possible, I would love to see Peter Two and Peter Three make an appearance in a future movie; especially as Andrew Garfield is my favourite Spider-Man!

Never Let Go

Posted by cat2002116 on November 5, 2024
Posted in: Horror, Movies, Reviews. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

Seeing this movie advertised, I thought it was going to be more of a claustrophobic horror…and when I went to see it, I wasn’t disappointed.

For a lot of the movie, I was questioning what was real and what might only be in the characters’ heads. Apart from the forms the Evil took, the only characters I got to spend any time with were Momma, Nolan and Samuel. Because of that, I felt that the family relationship in this movie was one of the strongest parts of it. I really liked the fact that Nolan and Samuel were so different, with Samuel fully believing and trusting everything their mother told them, and Nolan beginning to question things, especially as neither he or Samuel were able to see the Evil.

Despite not being sure of what was real or not, I felt that Halle Berry did a really good job of showing Momma’s state of mind through the movie. Even if I wasn’t sure what was real and what wasn’t, I could tell that she really cared about and loved her sons. Maybe she was wrong in what she believed…but considering what she thought had happened to the rest of the world, it seemed like she was doing what she believed was the best for her children. On the other hand, it was quite obvious that Nolan and Samuel’s growth had been stunted, and that they were malnourished. Some of what they were eating seemed like it shouldn’t have been edible at all.

I really liked the relationship between Samuel and Nolan, and how Nolan was trying to take care of Samuel all through the movie. I felt that the conflicts between them added a lot more depth to the movie; especially towards the end, as the movie became more like an actual horror, rather than a survival story (which is what it came across as at first).

I did feel that the ending of the movie dragged on. I would have liked the movie a bit more if it had ended before Nolan and Samuel had been rescued, as that scene made it clear that their mother had been lying about the state of the rest of the world. Honestly, I felt this movie would have been a lot stronger if the ending had been left a bit more ambiguous.

On the whole, I did enjoy this movie. I especially enjoyed the conflicts between the three main characters, and the way Nolan and Samuel responded differently to their mother’s beliefs. While some parts of the movie were a little predicatable, and I think it could have ended a bit earlier, I did really enjoy watching it, and can recommend it as a good horror movie to watch.

Spider-Man: Far From Home

Posted by cat2002116 on November 4, 2024
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I obviously watched this movie when it originally came out, so I knew what was coming when I went to see it at the cinema a second time. But I did really enjoy seeing this movie for a second time.

Since this movie was set directly after Endgame, it was a bit different in tone compared to the first Tom Holland as Spider-Man movie. For one thing, it started with a tribute video to all of those who’d died during the events of Endgame, which was really bittersweet.

I liked the fact that Peter was planning to tell MJ how he felt. It was nice to see MJ get a bit more development in this movie as well. I liked her character in the previous movie, but in this one, she was a really great, interesting character. And I really loved her interactions with Peter. I especially loved when she assumes he’s going to tell her he’s Spider-Man, as it makes a lot of sense that MJ would be able to work it out, since she’s pretty smart.

I thought there were some really nice moments of humour in this movie, especially when Peter was wearing the EDITH glasses and desperately trying to delete a picture…only to accidentally send a nuke towards the bus he was on with his fellow students.

I thought the whole thing with Mysterio started out as really interesting – and honestly, I would have liked it if he had not in fact turned out to be a bad guy. Especially considering the route the next movie took with the multiverse.

I really liked that Ned and Betty had a relationship, and they had some really cute moments in this movie. I didn’t think it made sense that they broke up, as it would have been nice to see them continue to date and Ned having to keep Peter’s secret identity from his girlfriend.

I liked that Flash had a little more depth to him this movie, even though he was still a major jerk. It was pretty cute that he really likes Spider-Man, and even says that Spider-Man is better than Mysterio…although he’s still a real jerk to Peter.

There were a lot of great character moments in this movie, along with a lot of great tension. And the movie did end on something of a cliffhanger, which set it up nicely for the third movie in the series.

All told, I really did enjoy this movie. It was a great sequel to Homecoming and I really enjoyed the relationships between the characters. It was a great movie to watch a second time through and I would probably watch it again in the future.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

Posted by cat2002116 on September 29, 2024
Posted in: Comedy, Dark Fantasy, Horror, Movies, Reviews. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

While I haven’t actually seen the original Beetlejuice, I knew enough about the movie to decide I was interested enough to watch the sequel now that it’s out. And I have to say that I really did enjoy this movie, for all it was extremely over the top and quite gross and even disturbing in places.

I really liked the relationship between Lydia and her daughter, Astrid, and how it seemed to mirror Lydia’s own relationship with her stepmother growing up. I really like Jenna Ortega as an actress, thanks to the latest Scream movies and Wednesday, and I thought she was really good in this movie. I was able to empathise with her conflicted relationship with her mother…and it was interesting that Astrid didn’t believe in Lydia’s ability, given that her mother was so famous for her abilities. I will say that, at the beginning of the movie, I wasn’t sure if Lydia’s abilities were actually real or not…at least until she saw the ghost in the women’s bathroom, who I would have liked to know a bit more about.

I liked the buildup to Beetlejuice being summoned, although I’m not sure if I was misunderstanding the rules of the whole thing, as he kept appearing to Lydia even before being summoned. Maybe he wasn’t able to actually manipulate the world of the living until his name was spoken three times, though?

I think Michael Keaton does a really good job of portraying Beetlejuice, though it completely threw me when the movie suddenly turned into a foreign language film (complete with subtitles) as he proceeded to reveal his history with Delores. I will say that was certainly an…interesting way of showing their history, and I guess it fit in with the weird feel of the whole movie, but even so.

I liked seeing the absolute chaos that the afterlife was, as I felt that was a really creative part of this movie. I also really loved the music sequence with the Soul Train to the Great Beyond…and that scene in particular felt very tense. I also really liked Wolf’s character, even though he was just an actor who’d died while filming his role of a policeman. Was it a bit over the top? Yeah, though I get the feeling that’s how it’s supposed to be. But I was able to follow the movie pretty well, even without having seen the original, and I thought it was a lot of fun.

If you enjoyed watching the first Beetlejuice movie, I would definitely recommend watching this one. Even if you haven’t, but this genre is still one you’d watch, I would definitely recommend giving this one a try.

Speak No Evil

Posted by cat2002116 on September 23, 2024
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I don’t think I’ve seen the original Speak No Evil, but I was intrigued by this one…especially as I really like James McAvoy as an actor. And he definitely did not disappoint in this movie.

I will say that this movie was basically what you see on the tin…or, rather, what you see in the trailer. A couple with their daughter meet another couple with their son while on holiday, and the couple with their son invite the other couple and their daughter to come on holiday with them. Everything seems fairly normal and straightforward, right?

Well…no. Because once Ben and Louise with their daughter Agnes go to visit Paddy and Ciara and their son Ant, things begin to take a more sinister turn. It starts off as fairly innocent enough, with Paddy giving Louise (who’s already stated she’s a vegetarian) some meat to try, and the sheets on the bed Ben and Louise are given having obvious stains on them. These are both fairly mild things when taken alone, but it doesn’t take long before the situation begins to escalate.

I did feel that the tension built really well in this movie. I liked Louise, and even if I thought Ben was kind of weak at times, the two of them had a depth to their relationship that came across really well. I’m not sure if this was deliberate, but it definitely felt like there was some sexual tension between Paddy and Ben. It would have been good if that had been explored a little bit more, as if Ben had been struggling with his sexuality, that would have added more depth to his character, in my opinion.

I didn’t mind the children characters so much, but I did find Agnes to be slightly irritating at times. For instance, I can understand her anxiety, but her reaction of kicking the back of the seat in the car that nearly resulted in a crash absolutely should have been addressed. I also felt that, for her age, she didn’t seem to pick up on any of the clues Ant was giving her that something was seriously wrong between him and his parents. Given that she had enough presence of mind to fake her period when she finally realised something was wrong, the only reason I can think that she didn’t realise something was wrong was because her character was dumbed down. Really, all of them were dumbed down.

I felt that this movie worked pretty well as an action movie, and there were some great cat and mouse scenes towards the end of the movie. But as I said at the beginning of this review, there were no real surprises in this movie. There are no twists and turns, but the actors and the characters they portray definitely make this movie worth watching, in my opinion.

Corpse Party

Posted by cat2002116 on September 15, 2024
Posted in: Horror, Movies, Reviews, Supernatural. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

I watched a YouTube video about the computer game, so I was quite interested in watching the movie version of the game. I’ve also found that Japanese horror tends to be more engaging and less about the gory violence than a lot of Western horror movies. However, I will say that this movie did not stint on the gore at all. I sort of knew what I was getting into, based on the clips of the game, but I was still a little surprised.

I did feel that there were too many characters all introduced at once. For instance, the first person who was killed (the teacher) didn’t really do much at the beginning of the movie. I didn’t know why she was still at the school, and I didn’t know why she was included in the friendship chant. To be honest, I was confused about why Yuka was included in it as well. There was nothing to indicate that either Yuka (the younger sister of one of the students) or the teacher had close relationships with Mayu, who was supposed to be leaving, so why were they included in it?

I mentioned that this movie doesn’t hold back on the gore, and the very first death (the teacher) makes that very clear. However, I did get taken out of the movie briefly by the death scene. The teacher’s appearance after being struck in the head looked like a Barbie doll’s head had been caved in, rather than a person dying. The special effects did get better, at least marginally so, but some of them still seemed a little cartoonish.

Naomi was one of the characters who was very well-developed, and I would have liked to see more of her friendship with Seiko, especially as it seemed Seiko had feelings for Naomi she wasn’t comfortable admitting to. Despite their history together not really being that developed, I did think they had a really sweet scene between them towards the end of the movie.

I also really liked Satoshi as a character. His goal was clearly to find his sister, but he came across as wanting to save the others, given that he protected Naomi and also asked Yoshiki to take care of her and Ayumi while he tried to find Yuka again. I really didn’t like Ayumi – her motivations didn’t seem to make much sense, and just made her come across as a pretty awful person.

There were a lot of really great tense scenes in this movie, even though it was really gory in places. Yes, a lot of the minor characters weren’t really well-developed, but by the end of the movie, I did really care about most of the surviving characters. Except for Ayumi, if I’m completely honest.

On the whole, I did find this movie interesting and engaging, although it was quite similar when compared to other Japanese horror. I did like how things ended with Sachiko, though.

If you’re a fan of Japanese horror, I would say that, personally, I feel this movie is worth watching.

AFRAID

Posted by cat2002116 on September 15, 2024
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I didn’t actually know much about this movie going into it. I knew it was a horror movie, of course, but I hadn’t seen any trailers of the movie, so I didn’t have any expectations walking into this movie.

I was a bit confused by the opening scene of the movie, as it was clearly supposed to be a computer game, but it was a really poorly made one. Considering what later happened in the movie and that it was apparently set in the modern day…and possibly even later in the future…I was seriously questioning why the computer graphics in the game were so bad.

I did feel that this movie had a lot of potential that, sadly, didn’t come to fruition. It was very slow-moving for most of the movie, and while AIA was an interesting concept…especially considering the existence of Alexa and Cortana and Siri…she just didn’t seem to be as much of a threat as she could have been.

The opening scene, after the surprisingly bad computer graphics, did have some potential. AIA talking to the little girl, telling her that her parents were going to get rid of her, was a pretty scary concept…and the mother trying to find her daughter who’d suddenly disappeared was a good way of building up tension right at the beginning. Unfortunately, that tension was absent throughout most of the rest of the movie.

I felt that this movie would have worked better as a family movie, rather than a horror movie. The relationship between Curtis and Meredith was quite sweet, even though I empathised with Meredith feeling like all she was now was ‘Mom’. I could understand why she found AIA so helpful at first, but the problem was that she went from suspicious, to accepting, to outright rejecting…and it just didn’t allow me to relate to the character all that well. I also really liked the children, but…they didn’t feel like siblings at all. There were hardly any interactions between Iris, Preston or Cal. I know there was the age difference, but most siblings are still going to interact with each other. The three of them just felt like strangers to each other.

Really, for most of the movie, I was questioning…why? Why was AIA considered such a problem? AIA didn’t do anything outwardly suspicious. Yes, as a viewer, I could see that there were situations where AIA was problematic, like when she showed Preston the swatting videos. However, these weren’t shown to the characters, so…why was Curtis so suspicious of everything? Really, it didn’t feel realistic…even when having to suspend my disbelief of a horror movie anyway.

To be honest, this movie would have done a much better job if it had been simply about a family dealing with an AI without the added elements of horror. There was so much this movie could have done, but it was slow-moving, a short movie, and wasn’t actually that scary. I never actually felt like the characters were in any real danger.

If you’re looking for a horror movie, I wouldn’t recommend watching this movie. It definitely gives off more family vibes. Sadly, it was another disappointing horror.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Posted by cat2002116 on September 5, 2024
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Since The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was showing again at the cinema, I definitely wanted to go and see it. And I still remembered bits of the movie, even though some of what I remembered wasn’t actually accurate.

I liked seeing how Peter was juggling his life as Peter Parker with his responsibilities as Spider-Man. I really liked how it seemed like he was actually working with the police, instead of just being a vigilante…and it was good to see that he was affected by the events of the first movie; specifically the death of Gwen’s father and the promise Captain Stacy had extracted from him.

One of the things I really liked about this movie was the friendship between Peter and Harry, even if it was strained due to Harry dying and Peter keeping his secret identity…well, secret. I would have liked to see more of their interactions, as I really enjoyed seeing their friendship.

I did feel quite a lot of empathy for Max in this movie, even if he did come across as kind of creepy at times. Really, he just seemed to be really lonely…and I felt bad that he got left behind to fix the tank with the electric eels in. It also felt really sad that Peter didn’t remember his name, even though Peter had a lot on his plate outside of being Spider-Man. I really did like the scene where he was wearing a fireman’s hat and using the hose, though.

There was a lot that was serious about this movie, but I also really liked the fact that there were moments of humour in it. I laughed when Peter accidentally came out in his graduation gown with his Spider-Man mask still on…and I felt so much empathy for him when he kept seeing Captain Stacy, reminding him of the promise he’d made to stay away from Gwen. I knew what would happen at the end, which made it even more difficult to see how Peter was torn between his love for Gwen and wanting to protect her from the danger he was in as Spider-Man.

I liked the opening scene of this movie, with Peter’s parents and the mystery that surrounded them. Having Peter figure out what his father was actually doing, and how it affected his relationship with his Aunt May, was a really good part of this movie. I did feel bad that May had to work two jobs to pay for him to go to college…and part of me would have really liked to see her realise that Peter was Spider-Man, especially towards the end.

I really enjoyed seeing this movie a second time, and I still wish that there’d been a third Amazing Spider-Man. It was good to see Andrew Garfield appear again, though, and I definitely intend to watch the next three Spider-Man films (Tom Holland’s Spider-Man) at the cinema over the next three weeks.

The Amazing Spider-Man

Posted by cat2002116 on August 26, 2024
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I watched this movie when it came out originally at the cinema, and when I realised the Spiderman movies were being shown again at the cinema, I was immediately interested in going…as Andrew Garfield is my favourite Spiderman.

If you’re familiar with Spiderman in any of his incarnations or versions (including Spiderwoman), then you’ll recognise many of the characters in this movie. I liked the opening scene, with Peter spending time with his parents, as it made his grief at being effectively abandoned by them feel more real. I know they died, but speaking as someone who had a parent die, I can say that it still feels like abandonment…even though it wasn’t intentional.

Peter is a character who is immediately easy to empathise with, as he portrays an outsider really well. His interactions with Gwen are especially sweet…and I liked their exchange right after Peter is beaten up by Flash, where Gwen is trying to determine if he has a concussion or not and asks him his name.

Speaking of Flash, one of the things that I really appreciated about this movie was the fact that a lot of the characters had depth to them. Yeah, Flash was a bully at the start; but right after Uncle Ben is killed, he shows a lot of depth when he reaches out to actually try and support Peter…and by the end of the movie, they actually seem to be close to being friends, if not already there.

I also really loved that Peter wasn’t just magically able to control his powers after the spider bite. His hand sticking to a woman’s shirt, and ultimately ending with him accidentally pulling it off her, was really well done in how awkward it was…and how Peter ended up accidentally fighting the people on the train, trying to navigate his entirely new spidey sense.

There was a lot I really liked about this movie, such as Peter trying to reconcile being Spiderman along with his responsibilities as Peter Parker…and ultimately ending in the death of his Uncle Ben. I also really liked his interactions with Captain Stacy, Gwen’s dad. What happened at the end made me sad, as I think the two of them could have ultimately ended up working together, especially as Captain Stacy acknowledged that the city needed Spiderman.

On the whole, I really enjoyed watching this movie again. There was a lot of tension and some great character moments involved, and it was awesome to return to my favourite version of Spiderman. Amazing Spiderman 2 is due out at Cineworld this week, so I definitely intend to see it.