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Stardust (2020)

6.0 (1 Ratings) Rate It

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Stardust will chronicle the young David Bowie's first visit to the US in 1971 - a trip that inspired...

Darren (1599 KP) rated Man Down (2016) in Movies

Sep 16, 2019

Man Down (2016)

2016 | Drama

4.5

(2 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Characters – Gabriel is a marine that believed he was fighting for the right thing but when the war came to America when he was away, he must search the destruction in hope of finding his son. Devin is the best friend and marine to Gabriel, he supports him through his missions and search for his son. Counsellor Peyton is the man learning about the mission that went wrong, as we learn that his mindset might not be as clean as we are led to believe.

Performances – Shia LaBeouf is good in this leading role showing a range we have questioned before. Jai Courtney is good in the supporting role showing us there is talent with the right material. Gary Oldman is great and that is how we like him calm and collective.

Story – The story is told in four parts, as we follow Gabriel in his home life, war time, meetings with a counsellor and in the post-apocalyptic time, these timelines only confuse the story telling process as by the end of it we will find ourselves wondering just what actually happened to these men, what is real and what is not. By the end you will understand what happened but it does make certain parts feeling random, but the true message is important.

Thriller – The thrilling side of the film does feel slow in places, it shows us certain moments only to make a complete switch in the final act.

Settings – The settings do help keep us in the different location for each moment of the story, we can identify with each part of the story we are watching too.

Scene of the Movie – The final act, and how it is shot is beautiful.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – A lot of what we see is not as important.

Final Thoughts –This is a standard movie for the most part, it starts being confusing for the first hour but when it unfolds you will be taken back where this movie goes.

Overall: Slow and confusing nearly saved by a wonderful final act.

Kudos

JT (287 KP) rated Child's Play (2019) in Movies

Mar 10, 2020

Re-imagining of classic horror films can go either way. They can stick close to the original while giving it a fresh injection of gore to satisfy the bloodthirsty millennials. Or deviate it from the storyline altogether to put its own spin on the narrative.

In the Child’s Play remake the original ‘Good Guy’ dolls have been replaced by 21st-century technology in the form of ‘Buddi’ dolls which, have been produced by Kaslan Industries. And instead of a psychotic serial killer transferring his soul to the body of a doll, Buddi has all of his safety features disabled by a disgruntled Kaslan employee. The change from possession to A.I. fits perfectly within the modern world where people rely heavily on their phones and various voice-activated gadgets.

The gore levels should more than satisfy horror fans with death scenes ranging from tillers, saws and self-driving cars

Best friends, Chucky and Andy (Gabriel Bateman) share a moment
Chucky, as he will inevitably call himself, makes his way to Chicago and into the home of the Barclay’s, where mum Karen (Aubrey Plaza) gets her hands on the defective doll as an early birthday present for son Andy (Gabriel Bateman). After a few small glitches (eyes turning red) Andy and Chucky start to form a close bond. But the bond takes a sinister turn when Chucky starts to act differently in his pursuit of the ultimate friendship.

One of the highlights of the film is the brilliant casting of Mark Hamill as the voice of the murderous doll. Hamill (outside of Star Wars) is well known as a talented voice actor, having provided the voice of the Joker in the animated series. Hamill uses his full range of softly spoken innocence and demented rage to portray a character who is influenced by everything around him (there are blatant references to E.T.) and then uses it to the best of his ability in killing off people in a range of horrific (and comical) ways.

The gore levels should more than satisfy horror fans with death scenes ranging from tillers, saws and self-driving cars. It’s not without its faults but this satirical take on the slasher genre is certainly B-movie levels at best.