Film Review - Batman vs Superman

The shortened version of the title BvS still has a letter too many. This film is pure BS. 

The story wanders all over the place as they try to twist their way to the fight at the end. 

Is Zack Snyder colourblind? Really someone who knows him should go and check. His films are all shot in this stupid monochrome that he obviously thinks is arty and clever but is actually just dull.

The guys at Marvel must be wetting their pants at this disaster coming on the heels of Man of Steel. The fanboys will go to see Justice League whatever but unless Suicide Squad is absolutely stunning I won't be joining them.

Overall 5 out of 10.

Film Review - The Revenant

Inarritu has spent a lot of time polishing this turd. Some of the artistic shots are absolutely fabulous. They have obviously had the second unit out in the snow for a great long time shooting scenic trees, snow, and sky. Lots and lots of sky.

The rest of the film is a half-written 30 minute script, packed out with some nice scenery and some hyper-violent scenes to make sure you don't fall asleep. There is no need for a lot of the extremity of the violence. Human vs Human, Animal vs Human, Human vs Animal, all ridiculously bloody and disgusting for no real reason. 

The damage done to several of the characters would be unsurvivable in a modern well-staffed emergency room with a full surgical staff on hand. Instead these characters have almost zombie-levels of un-kill-ability. Huge amounts of blood loss, broken bones, field surgery with darning needles, 100ft falls that kill a horse, even being castrated by teeth looked to have been a survivable event. And through all of this no-one even gets an infection.

Also there is so little in the way of story development that I don't even know where to start. Maybe with the first scene. Where a fully armed team of about 40 professional hunters are completely shredded by 20 native americans with bows and arrows, some of the natives even having managed to penetrate right in to the middle of the camp and climb trees while no-one in what amounts to a small village even noticed them. Rather than fight back the well armed professionals all run away, leaving the equivalent of millions of dollars of furs and most of their compatriots on the beach.

Leo picking up an Oscar for this film is an absolute travesty. It is a perfectly average performance. It is not his worst work, but it isn't even close to his best. He got votes based on his body of work rather than this role. All four of the other nominees can rightly be offended. (Although in Cranston's case he might struggle to make any better a case than Leo). 


Overall 6 out of 10.

Film Review - Creed

All in all it is a very suitable successor to the Rocky franchise. 

Rocky himself is in. The training montage is in. The soundtrack is in.  The boxing plays a large part but the story is still dominated by the characters rather than their circumstances. The references back to previous films are tastefully done rather than being shoved in your face. Anything that makes a Rocky film is in there somewhere. 

Michael B Jordan is fairly believable as the pushy kid trying to make his own way in the world. His girlfriend is unfortunately styled a bit too much like Denise Huxtable and her role is limited but she holds her place. And most of the supporting cast do efficient jobs. Tony Bellew is the only one who is a bit out of place. He always seems to be trying to act. Even playing himself, right down to his own football club fandom doesn't really help. 

But none of them really matter, they are all window dressing for Stallone himself. He is the stand-out of this entire movie. It is a fantastic reminder that 40 years ago, before the excessive action violence of the 80s got hold of him, he could actually act. And putting him back in a character that was his own original creation gives him freedom to inhabit the role in a way that probably isn't available to anyone else in the Hollywood machine. 

His nomination for an Oscar was absolutely deserved, his failure to win was a shock to me. I can understand him losing out to Network for both his Best Actor and Best Writer nominations in 1976, although Rocky then taking Best Film over Network shows that the Academy were stuck somewhere in trying to reward both films. I have yet to see Rylance's Bridge of Spies Best Supporting Actor performance but if it was truly better than this work from Stallone then I am in for a treat.

And they have been quite smart about how they have set up for future movies. If Stallone wants to get out they can let the cancer or the chemotherapy beat him and still be consistent with the way they have previously treated Adrian and Paulie. If he wants to stay in they can size his part to suit, anything from a single sick bed scene to the same major supporting role that he plays here. 

I want to give this 10 out of 10. Bellew almost costs it that score on his own, but it is some of the jive talk between Creed and his girlfriend that just seemed too forced and was the final nudge to cut a point off.

9 out of 10.