Ink of Blood

(This review may contain spoilers).

The trailer of this movie was instantly engaging. The concept was a really intriguing one… especially considering the long history humans have in wanting to prolong life.

I did find Damian to be quite a sympathetic character. Despite starting out as a typical character, an older man with more money than he knows what to do with and not long to live, the strained relationship he has with his daughter and his attempts to find humour in his situation give the character more depth.

After Damian is put into his new body, the film does a good job of showing his idyllic lifestyle. It’s understandable that someone who was dying not that long ago would take advantage of a new lease of life.

It’s clear very early on that the situation isn’t as perfect as it seems. The moment Damian wakes up in his new body, he starts having hallucinations. He’s given pills to take, but doesn’t ask more about them… which would probably be wise.

I felt Ryan Reynolds did a really good job portraying Damian in his new body. There were moments he also portrayed Mark and even though I imagine it must be very hard to play two different people who look the same, I felt he did a really great job as both of the characters.

I thought Anna was really sweet and it was nice to see evidence of how close she was to her father. It was also good to see Damian growing close to Anna… almost as if he had a second chance to be a father.

It was good to see Damian’s age and experience come through and that he was able to outsmart some of the others. At the same time, he didn’t have perfect skills and there was a really good balance.

The atmosphere of this movie carried a lot of tension and I found myself rooting for the ‘good guys’ almost from the start. It was also nice to see that there wasn’t any forced romance. The one scene that could have turned into that was handled really well.

I did find the ending to be quite bittersweet… but I felt that was the best route for it to take. I also felt there were some really good elements of foreshadowing.

On the whole, this film might not have been realistic… but it was entertaining to watch. I can also see myself buying this on DVD to watch again.

(This review may contain spoilers).

Having had the opportunity to see Ant-Man in the Marvel comics, I was particularly interested in this movie when it came out. Today, I went to see it with my niece.

I’ve seen Paul Rudd in a few things and I thought he did a good job playing the ‘burglar with the heart of gold’ angle. I would have liked a bit more background on him… such as how he was able to break into the safes/past the security systems so easily.

I did think the movie moved a bit slowly to start with. It was good to have the opportunity to see the original Ant-Man and there were hints of tragic events in his past that made him an centrifuging character, even outside of his original Avengers appearance in the comics. It was also good to see the tension between him and his daughter, despite them technically being on the same side.

There was quite a bit of depth to Scott’s character, which was nice to see. I enjoyed seeing his relationship with his daughter and how he was desperate to be able to see her. I didn’t like Paxon very much for most of the movie, even if I could understand why he reacted the way he did.

I liked being able to learn something of the technology of the suit and it was pretty cool to see Scott have to deal with having ants as allies. One of the really good things about this was the tie-in with the Avengers… I loved seeing Scott and Sam Wilson facing off against each other. And once Scott figures out how to use his suit, it’s pretty cool.

There were quite a few amusing moments in this movie and I liked Scott’s three friends. Although I would have liked to see their backstory expanded a bit, it was cool to see their interactions with the other characters.

Despite being a bit slow-moving at first, when the film picked up properly, it was entertaining and funny. The characters were realistic and people I could easily root for.

This is what my niece has to say:

“I think it was very good because it was very active and I like active quite a lot. My favourite characters were Hope and Ant-Man.”

There are two scenes at the end, one after the first part of the credits and the second after the credits finish, so make sure you stay for those if you go and see this movie.

(This review may contain spoilers).

The original trailer for this movie was more of a soundbite. It was definitely intriguing, but in many ways, it was also very scary.

The first scene in this movie was a good way to set the tone and it was scary enough to see the fun event of a school play turn into something much more sinister.

I wouldn’t have said the found footage added any extra to this movie. I think that the found footage has become over-used and I found this one to be quite jarring to watch, since there was so much shifting around. It made it hard to get a good handle on the minor characters.

There were some quite good creepy moments in this movie, even though there were a lot of the ‘cheap’ scares. I did find it quite hard to like Ryan as a character. He was fairly annoying and came across as a bully for most of the first part of the film.

I found Reese to be a more likable character, even though he clearly gave into peer pressure. It was sweet to see him wanting to impress Pfeifer, even if he was really bad at acting.

There were too many unanswered questions by the end of the movie. As much as I can see the appeal in having a final scare, it left the loose ends hanging (pun not intended). It was kind of disappointing to see it fall into the trap of so many horror movies.

Although there were some moments of tension in this movie, the acting wasn’t as good as it could have been and I really only had an emotional connection with Reese as a character.

I think this movie could have done with being expanded a bit and with more twists. Although I was engaged in the action, I went in expecting the characters to die… and the movie didn’t do a good job of making me care about them.

(This review may contain spoilers).

Apocalyptic-style movies aren’t very unique… even those with a virus that kills people. This film was a bit unique due to the fact that it began after the pandemic had already been underway for a while. Brian, Bobby, Danny and Kate were struggling to find a safe place in a world that… really wasn’t.

It’s quite hard to feel much sympathy for Brian in this movie. Although I can understand his perspective, I think it’s cruel to leave a sick child to die… whether she’s with her father or not. It’s not something I could ever see myself doing.

I found Bobby and Danny to really be the most likable characters, even if Danny did allow himself to be manipulated by Kate. It was good to see the way different people reacted to the virus and the society they found themselves in, though.

There were some parts of this film that were much darker than others. The schoolroom-turned-hospital was especially sad. It was hard not to understand the motivations behind many of the characters’ actions… though I had zero sympathy for the ones who turned to crime and murder as soon as society broke down.

There were a lot of really disturbing scenes in this movie. It wasn’t very clear what triggered the virus in the first place. The radio broadcasts were quite sad, particularly the one towards the end of the movie.

There wasn’t much information about the characters’ pasts, though some things were revealed as the movie went on. There was quite a bit of emotion in the interactions and I did especially like Brian and Bobby… even if I did think Brian was a jerk. I could understand Kate’s obsessive need to check every phone they came across, even though I didn’t really like her character.

This film was entertaining to watch, but did a really good job of tugging at my heartstrings in places. It’s not the best apocalyptic movie there is… but a lot of the character motivations are easy to follow and understand. I also recognised and liked a lot of the characters in this.

(This review may contain spoilers).

I saw this film when it came out at the cinema originally. Although it was a fairly intriguing one, my understanding is that it is a remake, so it’s not actually a unique idea.

The setting of this movie was really dark, which meant it was quite difficult to watch at times. There were some quite creepy moments and it was good to see an explanation for why there were no lights in the house.

This film was quite a simple one, which was good in some ways. I thought Sarah came across as quite innocent for a lot of the movie. Less so later on… but there were times I felt some sympathy for her.

It was good to see the relationship between Sarah and her father and uncle. Although there was nothing much shown outside the house, the interactions they had inside did a good job of showing their relationship.

There were a few cliched elements, such as using children to generate fear. There were some good camera angles, I felt and despite the darkness in many of the scenes, some parts were fairly easy to follow.

Sophia was a bit strange from the first sighting of her. Although things do make a bit more sense by the end of the movie, I think it would have been good to see more interactions with other characters. There’s references made to cousins and Sarah’s mother… but it’s not clear exactly why they’re not there.

There were good moments of tension in this movie and the ending was fairly clear, even if there were some confusing aspects to it. It would have been good to see the film expanded and have more of a background… but it was simple and easy to watch. The only real problem was the lighting… or lack of. It’s not scary if you can’t see anything.

(This review may contain spoilers).

I haven’t had a chance to watch the fourth Superman movie yet, but so far, this one of the franchise is probably my least favourite. There were some fairly good ideas, but I wasn’t that keen on the almost slapstick everything falling over towards the beginning.

One fairly interesting thing about this movie was the fact that the main threat didn’t come from an outside force… instead coming from within Superman. There’s a very cool battle scene between good and bad… made more so due to the fact that Christopher Reeve had to play both parts. And having Superman turn against humans was a really interesting idea… though he didn’t really do that much that was bad.

It was also good to see Clark return to Smallville and see him interact with Lana Lang. It was cool to recognise the actress playing her as the same one who plays Martha Kent in the Smallville spinoff of Superman.

Although I wasn’t especially sold on Lois Lane’s character, I did think that it was a bit of a copout to have her character disappear for most of the movie. It felt like that was more to make room for Lana… and although I enjoyed seeing her and Ricky, it would have been good to see some conflict. At the same time, it was nice to see someone like Clark… and not just his alter ego of Superman.

I did like Gus’ character in this movie. Although he was technically one of the bad guys, I felt that he came across as more well-rounded than the other three… who I felt didn’t really seem to have their backgrounds or motivations explored as well as they might have done.

There were some nice humorous scenes in this movie, I felt, but the other two were a bit more serious in tone and I tended to prefer that. The atmosphere of this movie was good, though… even if I felt the action fell short in places. I didn’t find myself as emotionally invested in this movie as in the previous two in this particular Superman franchise.