Ted 2 Review

The Plot

Seth MacFarlane and Mark Wahlberg are back as everyone’s favourite Thunder Buddies. With a recently married Ted (MacFarlane) and Tami-Lynn (Jessica Barth) looking to become parents, Ted finds he has to prove he’s a person in a court of law with the help of lawyer Samantha (Amanda Seyfried).

The Good

Surprisingly enough, for a comedy Ted 2 works best in the non-comedic moments. Instead of focusing on the relationship between Wahlberg’s Johnny and Mila Kunis’ Lori (more on which later) Ted 2 makes the titular character the main driving force of the story and wraps it in a courtroom drama amongst the tirade of jokes. While it is indeed ridiculous, there is an interesting message about equality that MacFarlane tries to put forward which, though it becomes mostly suffocated by the constant jokes.

That’s not to say the jokes are all miss and no hit. One particular highlight comes in true MacFarlane style with a dark and twisted scene at an improv show in which Ted and Johnny try to cheer themselves up by suggesting some outrageous scenarios for the poor performers. The rest of the hits come few and far apart…

The Bad

A lot of the jokes featured are at the expense of references to other, more respected and funnier films. Not so subtle nods are made towards films like Jurassic Park, Planes Trains and Automobiles, and The Breakfast Club, all of which are focused on for far too long to simply satisfy the audience.

Then there are the cameos. The two main ones (for UK audiences at least) being Jay Leno and Liam Neeson. Both of which feel cheap and struggle to bring many giggles. Neeson’s is the biggest offender, again trying to reference his current gruff voiced action hero stereotype but spending too long on it.

On the subject of the previously mentioned relationship between Johnny and Lori, Mila Kunis is very noticeably missing from the cast in this sequel. Her absence is explained away in a throwaway comment about the two having split up six months earlier. With reports that Kunis didn’t return due to both her pregnancy and MacFarlane’s desire to keep the focus away from Johnny and Lori’s relationship this time round, it’s understandable, yet still somewhat disappointing to see her written off in one sentence.

And while MacFarlane tries to keep the focus on Ted for this sequel, inevitably a familiar face returns, giving the final act a horrible feeling of ‘been there done that’.

The Ugly Truth

While the film’s main story and attempt at serious subtext is interesting and clearly trying to feel different from its predecessor, Ted 2 ultimately fails due to a high number of jokes falling flat. The film can’t avoid falling back on bad habits and being reliant on overlong cameos and clunky references to other films. The low-bro novelty value of MacFarlane’s foul mouthed teddy bear may already have worn off.

Terminator Genisys Review

The Plot

Arnold Schwarzenneger returns to the Terminator franchise as John Connor (Jason Clarke) sends Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) back to 1985 to save his mother, Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke). But when Reese arrives, it appears the past has been altered and Sarah Conner is not the vulnerable victim she is meant to be thanks to her guardian, the T100 (Schwarzenneger).

The Good

The fifth and latest installment in the Terminator franchise, now over 30 years old, is undoubtedly the biggest game changer yet. With the task of bringing back fan favourite Arnold Schwarzenneger to his role, writers Laeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier have found a suitable loophole in the form of alternate timelines It also gives them an opportunity to bring back Sarah Connor, this time in the form of Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke. Clarke is a worthy successor to Linda Hamilton, playing one of the most iconic heroines of the sci-fi genre and almost instantly proving she has what it takes to be just as badass.

In a plot that spans over thirty years, Terminator Genisys feels like a celebration of the franchise as it begins to head towards an ending that can finally put the ongoing battle with Skynet to rest.

The Bad

The fundamental laws of time travel are mixed up so consistently that it becomes pointless to even try to fit this latest instalment in with the rest of the franchise. Even James Cameron’s original story is mercilessly slaughtered to make way for new adventures.

The X-Men franchise recently used the concept of alternate timelines to reboot itself entirely, likewise Planet of The Apes went back to a re-imagined origin story to recapture dominance of the big screen. Terminator Genisys takes the same drastic action, sacrificing decades worth of history with little respect for the original films beyond borrowing a few famous lines. Despite these occasional nods to fans, things soon turn sour as the new script mercilessly hammers its way through the iconic franchise in order to provide an excuse for further storytelling.

It’s hard to say much more in regards to the story without treading into spoiler territory but let’s just help/warn you by saying, wait during the credits.

While Emilia Clarke and Schwarzenneger deliver credibly strong performances for the most part, the other new faces are less impressive playing familiar characters. Jason Clarke’s John Connor is completely ruined beyond all compare in a twist that, had it not been already revealed in the trailer, could have been shocking. Meanwhile Jai Courtney continues to make audiences wonder exactly why studios seem so determined to consistently cast him in major franchises.

The Ugly Truth

Terminator: Genisys could have been final nail in the coffin for the franchise but just like Skynet, feels like it is an unrelenting force which can never truly be destroyed. This exhausting experimenting with time travel will likely just leave you with a pounding headache from the horde of unanswerable questions it poses. Long term fans of the franchise will be glad to see Arnold back, but sad to see the past films so shameless butchered to make room for his long delayed return.

Review by Johnny Ellis

Minions Review

The Plot

Everyone’s favourite yellow servants get their own origin story! Minions sees Stuart, Bob and Kevin recruited by super villain Scarlet Overkill (Sandra Bullock) in her plan to steal the crown jewels in 1960s London.

The Good

Ever since Despicable Me entered the hall of animation fame thanks to the popularity of master villain Gru’s minions, the loveable babbling workers have won the world over and were even rewarded with a bigger role in Despicable Me 2. Now though, while we wait for the third instalment, fans are treated to even more antics in a prequel that offers just as many laughs as their previous two cinematic outings.

From the second the Universal logo rolls across the screen with the theme tune dubbed over by the minions voices, to the worthwhile post credits sequence , Minions manages to maintain the same consistency in enjoyable slapstick humor that made the previous Despicable Me films such a treat.

After an opening sequence which has almost slightly been drained of its humour thanks to it’s use in the trailers, Stuart, Bob and Kevin move on to London with highlights including constant tea drinking (of course) and a guest role for Queen Elizabeth.

Minions often use the guiding hand of a narrator and some more intelligible human characters to move the plot along, in spite of the fact that the Minions are at best capable of charming child like gibberish. Though of course the real secret of the Minions near universal appeal is that their entertaining physical gestures and emotional expressions are actually capable of communicating so much to audiences of any age.

The Bad

Unfortunately, compared to Despicable Me, the storyline is not as entertaining as the minions themselves. This is  mainly due to the fact Bullock’s villainess  just isn’t as fun as Steve Carell’s Gru. Where Gru is a villain with a soft gooey fatherhood center, Scarlet is just plain mean and lacks any redeeming likability.The lack of Gru hurts Minions, eventually making it feel less like an enjoyable standalone movie and more like an extended minions short that is just filling up the time waiting for Despicable Me 3.

The film is arguably at its best during the opening sequence showing the evolution of the minion and their need of a despicable master to serve in order to survive.Narrated by the soothing tones of Geoffrey Rush it demonstrates just effective the Minions slapstick antics can be when combined with inventive writing and clever visual gags. As the film ambitiously tries to stretch things into feature length proportions it inevitably relies more on the generic human characters surrounding the minions and loses the concise charm of the Minions short film. In truth the Minions truly work best either as background comedy relief or on their own in smaller doses.

The Ugly Truth

While it is consistently funny with some genuine highlights in it’s main 1960’s London storyline, Minions feels somewhat like a way for the profitable franchise to tread water while the studio continues working on the eagerly anticipated follow up to the sublime Despicable Me 2. Though of course, more Minions mayhem is always welcome…

Review by Johnny Ellis

Knock Knock Review

The Plot

When his wife and children are away for the weekend, family man Evan (Keanu Reeves) is visited and promptly seduced by two young girls, Genesis (Lorenza Izzo) and Bel (Ana de Armas). But the weekend takes a turn for the worse when they return the following night to wreak havoc on his life.

The Good

Eli Roth’s latest horror is perhaps his most mainstream yet. With it’s strongest asset being Keanu Reeves who, fresh from his turn as ass kicking John Wick, gets to sit back on the action in a role which at times allows us to see him in a much more restrained situation. And we’re not just talking about his being tied up for most of the film.

Of course, with this being an Eli Roth film, the gore is still very much around, however for the less trained stomach, Knock Knock is undoubtedly the safest option from Roth’s every growing back catalog of torture porn.

The Bad

For fans of Roth’s previous films however, the lack of gore is the least of it’s problems. Knock Knock is essentially a film of two halves, both of which are just as bad as each other. After a cringe worthy opening scene thanks to the over-use of an incredibly awkward ‘monster voice’ which Reeves’ Evan uses firstly to scare his children but then embarrassingly continues to use to try to seduce his wife into bed – A tactic which thankfully doesn’t work – the dialogue barely picks up.

Once the wife and kids are out of the story and the femme fatale duo of Lorenza Izzo and Ana De Armas enter, the film takes a turn for the worst in an incredibly long seduction sequence which feels like dialogue has been taken from an extremely painfully written porn film. It’s a sequence written so badly it makes Fifty Shades feel like Jane Austen.

The latter half thankfully picks up a bit in its dialogue, but unfortunately feels like it would be much better suited in a straight to dvd thriller. It’s almost a shock to the system to know that this came from Eli Roth and is especially disheartening to know that this came after the incredible The Green Inferno – one of the highlights of last years Film4 Frightfest and a film that to this day still hasn’t had a proper release in the UK, while Knock Knock is allowed to almost ruin the good name of Roth in a mere 99 minutes.

The Ugly Truth

Keanu Reeves is arguably the only good thing in this poorly written film that somehow came from the mind of a director who was at the top of his game last year with The Green Inferno. Unfortunately Reeves is unable to do much with his character thanks to the story which screams potential, leaving for an unimpressive feeling that hopefully won’t completely ruin Roth’s career…

Review by Johnny Ellis

Amy Review

The Plot:

A comprehensive documentary exploring the rise and tragically fatal fall of musical sensation Amy Winehouse, featuring intimate home videos and in-depth interviews with those closest to the notorious British singer.

The Good:

BAFTA winning filmmaker Asif Kapadia has impeccable credentials as a documentarian. His 2012 Ayrton Senna documentary skilfully assembled a mesmerising portrait of the flamboyant racing star’s life and tragically early death from a rich tapestry of archival footage.  With Amy he adopts a similar approach to exploring the life and death of a very different pop culture icon, singer Amy Winehouse.

Largely assembled from previously unseen home movies shot by her friends, manager and family the film follows Winehouse from being discovered as a teenager with a surprisingly soulful voice to her untimely death at just 27. It combines these intimate moments with carefully inserted commentary from those closest to the singer. This emotional testimony is both painfully candid and increasingly poignant as the film progresses towards its inevitably sombre conclusion.

It’s perhaps surprising that for a celebrity figure already so massively overexposed by invasive tabloid, tv and paparazzi coverage that the film is able to present audiences with any genuine sense of previously unseen intimacy.  In particular the early footage of the star as a 16 year old Jazz obsessed but otherwise ordinary teenager, may add a different perspective for some to the tragic public caricature she became.

The film charts her explosive career as in just a handful of year’s and two albums she went from being an unknown soulful voice to one of the most acclaimed and recognisable singers on the planet. At the same time the film confronts the sad toll her personal demons and substance abuse took on her mind and body.

The film explores the stark juxtaposition between lucrative musical success and the painfully obvious self-destructiveness that accompanied it. Though it may be a sadly familiar tale of seemingly cliché rock and roll excess, it’s interesting to see such a detailed personal narrative of the experience.

The Bad:

Though undeniably impeccably well-crafted as a documentary, Amy is perhaps unlikely to radically alter pre-existing perceptions of the singer and her tragically early demise.

The film adequately documents the progression of the young singer’s seemingly evident emotional issues into a downward spiral of self-destructive addiction, fuelled at least in part by the pressures of relentless public scrutiny. However the film doesn’t really ever offer any great revelations of insight into the reasons for this tragic trajectory.

The Winehouse family and particularly Amy’s father Mitch have subsequently disowned the documentary, partly due to its clear assertion that his infidelity and absence during her formative years was a key factor in her depression, eating disorder and substance abuse.  The singer literally says as much in her own words. The wider accusation that her family and drug addict husband contributed to and then perhaps even greedily avoided dealing with her chronic problems clearly wasn’t appreciated either. Even if true this isn’t a particularly subtle or shocking revelation.

Likewise the film draws casual attention to Amy’s openly self-professed reluctance to be famous and the inevitable impact that constant media coverage had on her crumbling physical and mental state.

The film takes a generally sympathetic tone towards its troubled subject, but audiences may not necessarily share that sentiment.  For those who celebrate Winehouse for her vocal talent and brash personality there will be others who find those abrasive qualities more obnoxious and have far less sympathy for her self-destructive behaviour.  Some will undoubtedly still see the singer as someone who selfishly squandered her gifts, good fortune and remarkable opportunities.

The Ugly Truth:

For fans of the British singer and anyone somehow unfamiliar with her life and musical achievements this expertly crafted documentary will provide a sincere tribute and comprehensive account. Anyone already less enthusiastic about her music or unsympathetic to her personal problems may find this less compelling viewing.

Review by Russell Nelson