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To be or not to be: Star Wars meets Shakespeare. Hamlet’s famous soliloquy is presented as the inner voice of a Stormtrooper, demonstrating the way Shakespeare’s language still echoes down to us through the centuries and remains as relevant today as ever---not to mention as well in a galaxy far, far away… a 8 min. short film by Maxime-Claude L'Ecuyer Follow us on Facebook, twitter, instagram and redbubble (t-shirts): facebook.com/SquadLeaderTD73028/ twitter.com/TD_73028 instagram.com/td73028shortfilm/ redbubble.com/fr/people/MCLEcuyer/shop?asc=u

Red Sparrow is a 2018 spy-thriller film directed by Francis Lawrence who worked with Jennifer Lawrence (the star here) on a couple of the Hunger Games movies, but this is a very different beast. Jennifer Lawrence plays Dominika Egorova (with a not entirely convincing Russian accent), and Joel Edgerton, Matthias Schoenarts and Charlotte Rampling star as the film's secondary characters. This one is a pretty big departure from what Lawrence has done in the past, although it has to be said that she's making some pretty bold career choices. I'm not the first one to say that, and for a good reason: it's true. After last year's Mother! it appeared as if she was trying purposefully trying to appear in more "mature" films, and believe me, it doesn't get much more mature than Red Sparrow. The film plays out like one of those schlocky exploitation from the seventies, in that there's sexual violence, sex, violence, torture, and all manner of nasty things, but it looks like an expensively produced blockbuster. Red Sparrow wants to be both of those things, but unfortunately, it ends up being neither. Among those scenes (some of which do seen drawn out for the sake of it), characters sit in rooms and talk for minutes at a time, and you don't get a sense that any of them are real people. It's partly because every Russian accent in the film is dodgy, and partly because there's no chemistry between any of the actors. At no point did I buy the fact that Matthias Schoenarts was Lawrence's uncle, nor did I believe she and Joel Edgerton were in any way interested in each other as people. Despite all of the espionage and secrecy going around, the film is remarkably uninteresting. It's also the best part of two and a half hours, and it doesn't need to be that long. The first forty minutes or so could have been condensed into a ten minute montage, and the audience would have understood what was happening. Unfortunately, as it stands, the film is relentlessly and unnecessarily drawn out. The subtle intrigue of the script is mired in performances by actors who are doing the best with a script and a production team who are unable to match their level of talent. There's a good film in there somewhere, but it's not the one that's gracing cinema screens all over the world. Score: 5/10

*Warning this review contains spoilers* Juan Antonio Bayona has proven himself to be a very talented film director over the space of 11 years and three, soon to be four, films. From his frightening yet sombre debut with El Orfanato (The Orphanage) in 2007 to the harrowing yet hopefull The Impossible in 2012. And now with his next film to release in a week and a half, the highly anticpated Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom it is safe to say the director has made a name for himself. A Monster Calls from 2017 (UK release) is a culmination of his previous films in many ways. Combining the small setting similar to that in El Orfanato, focusing on a single family in a small location with the cinematic grandeur that you can see in The Impossible. The story follows Conner O'Malley, palyed by newcomer Lewis MacDougall. He deals with not only his mothers cancer but also his Grandmother, played wonderfully by Signoury Weaver. The two have very distinct and different personalities which results in a clash. The culmination of these events summons The Monster, voiced by Liam Neeson, who tells Conner stories with the eventual goal of teaching Conner about the world and helping him to cope. A simple story, but where it shines is in its development of its characters and how it allows them to grow. The relationship between Conner and his grandmother as mentioned before, come to clashes. Conners Grandmother being a very proud women who keeps both a tidy house and appearance. Something that can be seen to be abandonned as the film goes on as the Grandmother wears less high end and flashy clothes and no make up, showing the character has learnt that there are more important things than how one looks. Signoury does a very good job with this role, playing the character very sternly at the start, then showing a softer side near the end. She makes the character relatable and you see her point of view through her actions in the film. Culminating in a resoluton between her and Conner where they realize that they do have something in common, Conners mother. The only issue is that her accent is a bit muddled and is clear that the actress is trying to do an English accent, yet still she provides a believable performance. Felicity Jones who plays the mother, also gives a very good performance, hiding the anger of her situation witha mixture of hopefulness and sadness. And appraisal must be given to the makeup for the tranformation preformed on Felicty as the film progresses and her characters wellbeing deteriorates. The main stars though are are Neeson and MacDougall. MacDougall does falter here and there, in smaller scenes his acting does appear a bit wooden, but when it really counts he does give a very heartfelt performances that transpires the pain his character is in. Neeson voice work on the monster is fantastic, with help from some audio work on his voice he brings the Monster alive, you can feel the might and majesty of the creature as it talks and belief its wisdom. Helped evermore by Bayona's mastery of the camera. Every shot is well framed and brings you into the world of the film. Using more one shots and very few cuts also helps to not interupt the film. The first two told stories feels very unique to the film. Not only in the fact that the stories are telling Conners the truth of the world as it were. That people who are thought to be the heroes can be the villains and that you should never abandon what you believe in. But also that they are told with animation that is as if someone is painting with water colours. Made more so profound when we discover at by the end that it is how both Conner and his Mother before him painted but also that the stories are ones that his mother painted when she was a child. Including a painting of herself on the shoulders of the Monster. This film is beautifully created, with a few minor bumps, the arc with Conners father, played by Toby Kebbel, whilst nice and is not the typical shaming of the father who left, that one might expect, it does feel a bit jarring. Besides that though it is a beautiful story translated well into film by Bayona with his usual themes of loss but also sombre hope. That delivers a strong message and can bring more than a few tears to the eye. A very mature story and one that should be seen by all. 5/5

Grace is Gone, is a quirky, humane, and minimalist film that aims to pull on heart strings from beginning to end, and wholeheartedly succeeds. Stanley Phillips (John Cusack) was rejected from joining the army due to poor eyesight, but not before meeting his future wife, Grace (Dana Lynne Gilhooley). Stanley looks after their two children, 12-year-old Heidi (Shelan O’Keefe) and 8-year-old Dawn (Gracie Bednarczyk) whilst juggling a full-time job as a home-supply store manager. The narrative of Grace is Gone is set in to motion with a knock at the door of the Phillips’ home, Stanley opens the door to an Army Captain and Chaplain who are prepared to give the dreaded news of Grace being killed in combat. Stanley reacts as any human would, with numbed shock. His daughters are at school which gives him the day to decide how to tell them that their mom won’t be coming home. It’s incredibly hard to not like John Cusack, his portrayal of Stanley Phillips gives his performance in Being John Malkovich (1999) a run for its money. Stanley comes across as genuine, human, kind, but also a slightly broken man, even before learning of his wife’s death. You can tell that there’s just something not quite right about him, Cusack makes it easy to look into his eyes as Stanley and show the audience that this man is deeply troubled. With a simplistic plot and not many characters to attach to, the film puts entire faith on Cusack’s performance, and he most definitely delivers. Grace is Gone turns into what can be best described as, a road trip film. Stanley can’t bring himself to inform his daughters about their mother’s passing, so instead spontaneously takes them out of school and to enchanted gardens. But of course, it wouldn’t be a road trip film without some stops along the way. Ultimately, you’ll be asking yourself throughout the duration of the film “when is he going to tell them?”, it’s clear that that’s what all of this is leading up to. The cinematography is nothing ground-breaking, there’s no extended shots that will make the audience uncomfortable, or any angles that will make you feel any different about the film. As for the colour palette, 80% of the time there’s a sepia undertone to the scenes, and the other 20% is very blue. The screen often seems faded and lacks any life, but it works beautifully. This is a character-based film, which means it can often be seen as “slow”, but it’s deliberate. The slow moments of Grace is Gone is what makes the story feel real, raw, and emotional. It is important to be patient and commit to the characters. However, it is understandable to feel that the story is being dragged out longer than necessary. The political back and forth between Stanley and his brother is a side story that feels unnecessary to the plot. It’s hard to not have a political element to the film, considering the topic. But Grace is Gone is not about the war, it’s not even about Grace, or the way in which Stanley is going to break the news to his children. It’s the story of how Stanley deals with something so unexpected, and his back and forth political arguments prove that he is filled with guilt. Stanley believes it should have been him on the front line, not Grace. Regardless of what message you take away from this film, whether it be about war, death, or anything else, it is ultimately about Stanley, and Cusack’s performance alone is enough to see this film.

(Release Info London schedule; June 15th, 2018, Empire Cinemas) "Super Troopers 2" Everyone's favorite law enforcement team is back by popular demand with the long anticipated follow up to the cult comedy classic 'Super Troopers'. When an international border dispute arises between the U.S. and Canada, 'The Super Troopers' Mac (Steve Lemme), Thorny (Jay Chandrasekhar), Foster (Paul Soter), Rabbit (Erik Stolhanske) and Farva (Kevin Heffernan), are called in to set up a new 'Highway Patrol Station' in the disputed area. Unconventional police work follows, and the result is "Super Troopers 2". Fired for their previous shenanigans, disgraced 'Vermont Highway Patrol' officers Thorny, Farva, Rabbit, Foster and Mac re-unite when Captain O’Hagan (Brian Cox) and Governor Jessman (Lynda Carter) give the cops a shot at redemption. Their assignment, take over law enforcement in a 'French-Canadian' town transitioning to U.S. sovereignty due to a recently discovered screw-up in border markings. The Quebec town’s ex-hockey player mayor, Guy Le Franc (Rob Lowe), tries to charm 'The Yankee Interlopers' at his hockey-themed brothel, while local 'Canadian Mounties' (Will Sasso, Tyler Labine, and Hayes MacArthur as themselves) prank the Americans with a little help from a 1,300-pound bear. As they try to overcome their inability to understand the metric system, 'The Super Troopers' eventually uncover a smuggling ring, take revenge on the Mounties and wreak havoc on the good citizens of Canada. Expanding the fact-based premise to absurd extremes, 'The Broken Lizard' team collectively wrote 37 drafts of "Super Troopers 2", taking pains to cram the script with jokes and sight gags. Foster gets the best and the worst in this movie. He gets the love scenes, and he also got chained to a giant industrial saw. While each 'Broken Lizard' suffers for his art in "Super Troopers 2", Farva has a particularly rough time of it. He was the biggest jackass in the first movie. Now for this one, it’s even more; he ends up in a porta-potty that flips over and blue goop pours all over him. Rabbit falls victim to a shaving-cream locker-room scene. 'The Mounties' tell the Americans about a hazing ritual that involves the rookie of the bunch getting handcuffed to a bench and forcibly shaved. 'The Captain' is a sweet, rather sad character because he’s lumbered with these five idiots. The audience should have immense sympathy for this character but instead they just laugh their heads off. Also returning from the first "Super Troopers 2" are Lynda Carter, iconic star of the 1970s “Wonder Woman” series, and Marisa Coughlan, who reprise their roles as Governor Jessman and Officer Ursula, respectively. The bear is a real diva. In "Super Troopers 2", the pivotal man-versus-bear scene centers on Farva as he tries to distract the hungry animal ransacking police headquarters in search of food. This bear comes in, did his stuff, got out, he's fantastic. The bear is a good actor. For comedy fans who appreciate goofball antics in the tradition of "Animal House" and "Caddyshack", the anarchy-packed "Super Troopers 2" serves up a fresh helping of 'Broken Lizard’s' trademark 'R-rated' wackiness. While "Super Troopers" has become a cult comedy classic, this one stands on it's own but has some definite throwbacks to the original. The film don’t really have to discover the characters, just paints them a little weirder. Whether it catches on in the same way as the first one, who the hell knows? Hopefully, if there’s a "Super Troopers 3" Captain O’Hagan will be able to exact his revenge. Between 'The Mounties’ bare-naked debacle, the bordello showdown and the shaving sequence, "Super Troopers 2" shows plenty of skin. There’s more nudity, both female and male, than we’ve ever had in any of the other movies. The film wants to give something back to the ladies. Raunchy and outrageous, "Super Troopers 2" continues in the grand tradition of 'The Broken Lizard Comedy Group', serving up 'R-rated' slapstick along with plenty of sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll.

Cinema is awfully quiet these days. Todd Haynes’s Wonderstruck and Kim Ki-Duk’s Moebius are among the small but substantial handful of films to have embraced the power of keeping schtum. In the cacophony of modern cinema, silence is an underrated commodity. John Krasinski’s directorial debut A Quiet Place is the latest to hold back on the sound in order to enhance the visual horrors. If ever a film had me inwardly crawling my way into a booby trapped bear pit whilst silently gabbering with fear, A Quiet Place is that film. There’s been some kind of apocalyptic event, biological or alien that we don't know, in which humanity (or the most part of the United States at least) is now hunted by giant, super fast and super vicious reptilian creatures. Completely blind, they hunt with an acute sense of hearing meaning survivors must live in a constant state of silent, fearful anticipation. Even the slightest noise will draw them out and if they hear you, well, you’ll see. Emily Blunt and John Krasinski play Evelyn and Lee, a young couple who have survived with their three children in a fortified countryside house, complete with an elaborate fairy light warning system and sound-proof bunkers. Communication isn’t a problem as their eldest daughter Regan (Millicent Simmonds) is deaf meaning the whole family had already had to learn sign language. Any supply trip is a dangerous venture, especially with small kids who have a knack of picking out the noisiest toys on the shelf. A new ordeal is thrown their way as Evelyn is pregnant and the family must face the horrifying challenge of bringing a baby into this new silent world, a prospect that gets more terrifying the more you think about it. A Quiet Place is a smart horror that allows you to really ponder how one might survive in such a world. Would it really be possible to survive, and thrive, in silence and in safety? Would humanity be able to adapt and evolve to live without making a sound - to hunt, raise children, avoid danger? Could one live comfortably, happily even, in a world so fraught with uncertainty and danger? The film raises all of these questions and provides little comfort in the answers. The film does very little in terms of composition, as an audience you’re dropped into the action at day 89 and can only piece together events through the various newspaper clippings collected by Krasinski’s Lee. The creature itself is visually quite disturbing - the audience is treated to a rather nauseating dive into the creatures pulsing cochlea, showcasing the intricate mechanisms at work. The editing is well paced enough so as the impact of the creature is not lost - short and snappy where it needs to be but lingers long enough to give you a good glimpse of Krasinski’s terrifying creation. Notably, with all sound stripped away, the power of the human voice is preserved for only the most raw and visceral of vocal expressions; say a gut wrenching roar of despair that will ultimately lead to a swift and brutal demise. Behind the quietly paced horror, Krasinski builds a family drama which is often a deeply moving exploration of the lengths a parent will go to protect their child. It’s a rare apocalyptic spin that emphasises the importance of familial bond and self sacrifice. A Quiet Place is a tension filled, butt-clenching ride of a movie, but you may just find yourself shedding a tear or two along the way.

A comfortable contender for film of the year. The Breadwinner depicts the story of Parvana, a young girl living in the early 2000s, Taliban controlled Afghanistan. Selling her family's meagre wares on the dusty streets of Kabul with her father – a teacher by trade, and crippled veteran of the Soviet-Afghan war – it's soon made clear that the presence of females on the streets is unappreciated. Amidst potential customers and gun-toting fundamentalists, Parvana's father - Nurullah reminisces about his youth. "When I was young, Parvana, I knew what peace felt like, here in the city. Children went to school, women went to university." It's clear that these are values Nurullah still holds dear as he openly teaches Parvana about history; capturing the attention of the local Taliban. After a heated exchange in which Nurullah insults Idrees – a former pupil, but now a young and volatile member of the Taliban – Parvana and her father decide to head home: Where Pavana begins telling a story that guides us through the duration of the film. Unfortunately, the Taliban have also followed them home; led by a still incensed Idrees who has Nurullah arrested for owning "forbidden books" and "using them to teach women." Left with no means of supporting themselves (women aren't allowed out without a male escort, and Parvana's older brother has died), Parvana takes it upon herself to cut her hair and don her older brothers clothes so she can provide for her family and set her father free. From Cartoon Saloon, the creative minds behind The Secret of Kells and Song of the Sea comes – quite possibly – the studios most brilliant film to date. Directed by Nora Twomey (The Secret of Kells), The Breadwinner is as heart-breaking as it is uplifting, as sombre as it is humorous, and as unpleasant as it is beautiful. The animation and soundtrack work in tandem to create something incredibly special: A melancholic and salient movie suitable for the whole family. Beautifully rendered and lavish cutout animation serves as the backbone of the film; providing a channel for the all-important mythical folk tale told throughout by Parvana. The scenes set in the present – the main body of the film – use Cartoon Saloon's signature, stunningly hand-drawn animation, and if you've ever seen Song of the Sea, it will be instantly recognisable. This time, however, a conscious decision has been made to keep separate the whimsical and the ordinary:Where the animators in Song of the Sea mixed the folk elements with the actual throughout, The Breadwinner uses its signature style to ground us in the present and create striking, haunting, and poignant visuals of a country torn apart by conflict. The narrative flits between these two elements cosily; increasing in cadence as the movie progresses, building to a thrilling climax which is exciting, terrifying, and ultimately, heart-breaking. I'll go into more detail about this in a separate and spoiler-filled post, as I really, really enjoyed the way this movie used the animation, soundtrack, and different narrative elements; weaving it all together to create a brutally frank, yet uplifting experience. "Stories remain in our hearts when all else has gone" - Says Nurullah. And stories, whether they be historical or fantastical, represent a consistently fundamental theme throughout Cartoon Studio's films. Here, they serve as our gateway into the culture and history of a proud nation wracked by foreign intervention. A nation, whom until very recently, appreciated a radically different way of life: One of freedoms and equality. The Breadwinner deals significantly with the issue of women's rights and prompted me – rather strangely – to think of Babak Anvari's fantastic, Under the Shadow; at least in the way, it approaches its female characters and the problems they face. And, like Under the Shadow, The Breadwinner is a celebration of the strength of the women living under such a harshly patriarchal, and authoritarian society. Verdict The Breadwinner is not just an amazing animated film; it's just amazing, period. The voice casting is superb, the story is magical, and the striking animation and beautiful soundtrack bring everything together to make something truly special. Genuinely, this is quite possibly the best movie of the year so far: I wouldn't be surprised if it was still at the top spot by the end of the year. The Breadwinner has quickly become one of my favourite movies of all time: I fell in love with it immediately and I honestly can't recommend it enough. It takes some tracking down, but you need to see this movie, even if you're not a fan of animated film. It's so important to support this kind of filmmaking; mature, animated films for the entire family which doesn't attempt to shield children from unpleasant situations, and aren't afraid to explore the darker and deeper aspects of life. The Breadwinner is a movie I'll not only be purchasing on release to watch again and again but one I'll actively be searching out and collecting memorabilia for. Please, go and see this film, take your kids; you won't be disappointed. 10/10

Although A Quiet Place was not one of the more recent films I have seen this year, it remains embedded within my memory, purely due to its unusual but simultaneously genius craftsmanship. A Quiet Place is basically what it says on the tin, however this sci-fi/horror cleverly highlights how basic aspects within cinema, such as sound, have the power to influence the way in which the viewer absorbs the film. To remove the sound entirely, heightens our senses and creates for an intense viewing experience, the perfect setup for an exhilarating, cinematic journey. Director and actor John Krasinski situates the family in a post-apocalyptic world inhabited by monsters who become triggered by sound due to their ultra-sensitive hearing, forcing the family to live in silence. If it isn’t obvious at this point, the film is silent for a majority of the viewing time. This is a difficult scenario for those that enjoy chowing down on crisps and popcorn (such as me) when setting up to watch a film. I did, unfortunately for me, have to give the food a miss throughout the film, as so kindly highlighted by my dear friend, I tend to sound like I’m chewing on a bag of rusty nails rather than a bag of popcorn. Nevertheless… I was impressed with Krasinski’s work, and even more delighted with both him and his wife’s performance. Emily Blunt plays Evelyn Abbott, wife of Lee Abbott (Krasinski), perhaps being a couple on and off the screen aided the narrative and enabled both audience and characters to witness the strong connection between the two. I thought it was a brilliant move to cast Millicent Simmonds, a deaf actress who played the daughter of Lee and Evelyn Abbott. This I felt encouraged the audience to look beyond their own lives and empathise, for a moment, with those who live a life without sound and the difficulties which can arise from this. The lack of sound throughout, places more emphasis on the character's reactions and gestures. Although speaking through sign language, it is interesting to see the persona of each character through mere gestures. For example, John Kransinski’s fatherly role lead him towards the overly protective stance and therefore, his signing is cutting and direct. Whereas Evelyn as the mother meant that her gestures were of a more calm and gentle manner, representing her loving and caring side. I am a BIG horror fan and thoroughly enjoy the adrenaline and excitement which comes from watching them. I believe what makes for a successful scare fest is the mystery that resides within. This, in my opinion, creates for the more frightening of horrors. A Quiet Place does reveal the monsters explicitly, which I feel can prohibit a strong and fearful reaction from the audience. The family remain in silence through fear of these monsters, therefore, I feel the film should have kept with its central theme of sound and the audience should only hear the monsters and not become fully exposed to them. This would strengthen the overall narrative as well as fuel the genre and make for a thrilling experience. Furthermore, I felt that the overall storyline avoided bombarding the audience with copious amounts of information as to the reasoning behind the monsters presence. The plot is simple, and the audience are thrown into the midst of the action without the need to know any background information. Instead, the audience are able to focus on the characters, their relationships and how they have adapted to the situation at hand. The film, as well as the characters, are ultimately driven by fear and paranoia which evokes similar heavy emotions from the audience. I encourage everyone to take a gamble and can safely say that silence has never been so deafening.

Allergy Advice: may contain traces of spoilers due to manufacturing methods. Cinematography has this unique ability to submerge members of audience, who usually disturb me with the constant consumption of highly unhealthy and excessive noise-producing snacks, into distressful experiences that none of us would be willing to encounter in our day to day existence (this is of great relevance for me as someone who is an incorrigible hypochondriac withe a tendency to google potentially fatal diseases every time his stool turns red after eating beetroot). And Lynne Ramsey's latest work is a clear manifestation of this cinematic paradox that never fails to amuse me.  "You Were Never Really Here" is a robust and candid exposure of the life with the post-traumatic stress disorder - with all of the confusion, suffering and delusion that accompany an individual trapped in this mental hook. Thankfully, this social agenda does not prevent the film from being a truly breathtaking psychological thriller that grabs your attention from the very beginning and keeps you in its fetters throughout the whole journey. Well, let me spoil a few basic facts about the story. Based on Jonathan Ames' book, the film follows the life of Joe, a former military servant (portrayed by excellent and totally on point Joaquin Phoenix) and now a low-budget hitman on call, hired to rescue a trafficked girl named Nina from the sexual imprisonment. And this is where the obviousness of the narrative ends. The rest of the movie is quite chaotic and fragmented. There are some clues and brief action shots that are used to merely progress the story without going into many details. It almost feels like the director was not really interested in telling how Joe rescued (he actually did not) poor little Nina from this highly delicate and quite appalling situation. This disinterested narration is the biggest attraction of the movie. It feels more like a visual diary of a human being co-existing with himself. Perhaps Ramsey's primary intention was to delineate the character as thoroughly as possible. Eventually, we see both a brutal killer who will go head over heels to complete his assignment and a loving and carrying son ready to take his own life when the mother falls a victim of his unfortunate and risky affair. An excellent masterclass on how to create a dimensional and complex character: just show two completely opposite and, intuitively, mutually-excluding sides and you will get an individual the audience would love to observe and follow. Ramsey wants us to feel Joe through the lens of his actions, gestures and facial expressions. There is a particular eloquent moment manifesting this when Joe finally discovers the luxurious manor house(clearly bought on fairly earned money) where the Nina is being kept. He enters the premises ready to smash the sexual perpetrator's head but discovers that someone else carried out this messy action. And he just starts crying. Perhaps not because he really enjoys killing and there is no bastard left to kill. More likely because he apprehends that the horrible act of murder was performed by the little innocent girl Nina who will carry this traumatic experience throughout her adult life. In the same vein as he carried an abuse from childhood and horrible wartime memories. To draw a subtle line of comparison with a wider cultural context, Ramsey's directing style somewhat resembles the way Dostoevsky told his stories. Though Fyodor Mikhailovich never actually directed a moving picture, the Russian novelist was brilliant in something else. He could unravel the human psychic in a very detailed and precise way by merely using vivid Russian words. And in a different manner but with the same intention, Ramsey bares Joe's mental struggle by showing how he confusingly wanders around the rooms, gives some awkward looks to Asian tourists and casually tries to strangle oneself with a plastic bag. In the long run, "You Were Never Really Here" is a brilliant and memorable experience. The only single bit of frustration comes with the ending which feels quite underdeveloped, unconvincing and somewhat sloppy. A happy ending is not something you expect but maybe that just me being a mean person who needs some extra drama and grief in the movie that has quite enough of it anyway.

Everyone’s favourite effin’ and jeffin’, red suited, non X-Men member is back in a comedy sequel that doesn't suck. Hangover 2, Anchorman 2 and Kick-Ass 2, just a few comedy sequels that are never as good as the original. They are still decent films but they never reach the heights, shock or thrill that the first one did. However, Deadpool 2 is an exception to this rule. Ryan Reynolds returns as Wade Wilson, heart-broken by the death of his girlfriend has given up with life. However when he has a vision of her and the possibility of him dying if he saves a child then they can be together again. The child in question is Russell Collins aka Firefist (played brilliantly by Julian Dennison, who was in Hunt for the Wilderpeople, directed by Thor: Ragnarok director, Taika Waititi. Go watch it, it’s amazing). Firefist is a mutant who can shoot fire, from his fists. He’s a troubled guy and wants revenge on his headmaster who tortured him. Cable, the bad guy, wants to kill Firefist because when he becomes older he murders his family as he loves to kill. This all comes from the first kill, which would be the murder of the headmaster. Deadpool tries to stop Firefist on this path so he can be reunited with his girlfriend. Cable is a really good villain, who like previous Marvel films has a reason to be the villain. In the end we sympathise with him and it turns out he isn’t a villain at all, just a time travelling robot guy wanting to save his family. And thank god the film referenced him as Thanos because its the same actor, in the same franchise, I know that Deadpool and Thanos are never going to cross paths, but the fact its the same actor kinda destroys the illusion of films. For me anyway, I’m sure others do not care about this. The best thing about the first Deadpool was the shock of everything, a Marvel superhero that swears in every scene, brilliant. In this film, it wasn’t a shock so it lost that factor. However it was still funny in places, there are some scenes in particular that are hilarious. The baby leg scene, thats amazing. On the other hand, sometimes it does seem like it always tries to make a joke where it is not totally necessary, that can make it a bit cringe, but this doesn't happen all the time, when it does, it is noticeable. The shock this time was the emotion, surprisingly it worked really well and it made the film a lot better because there was a heart to the plot. 4/5 Another brilliant instalment from the Deadpool franchise, Ryan Reynolds was made for this role and he is brilliant in it. Great action, hilarious scenes and a decent story with a lot of emotion, this again, another decent film from Marvel.

Before I start I must confess I was not looking forward to this film. I didn’t necessarily think it was needed. Han Solo its such an iconic film character (and one of my favourites) that this film could’ve tarnished that character, or kids today wouldn’t know about Harrison Ford and just know Alden Eindedhfjfbfffhf as Solo, and thats kinda sad. It’s also hypocritical of me, because my biggest complaint about Star Wars fanboys is there hold over the original films. Fans of the original moan about the prequels because its too different from the originals ‘theres too much cgi’ ‘the story is confusing’ ‘Jar Jar is annoying’ ‘sand’. And whilst these are fair enough, the whole political backstory is quite long and there is too much cgi when you think that everyone was made on set in the originals. However the original trilogy had its problems too. For me, the action is terrible, the lightsaber battles are so dead, Return of the Jedi is basically a New Hope, and Ewoks are worse than Jar Jar! So yeah, I was holding onto the nostalgia of having a new actor play Han, but I didn’t need to be worried because the film was actually ok. On the whole it was a good Star Wars movie, not as good as Rogue One in terms of films being out of the timeline, but not the worst film we’ve seen from the Star Wars franchise coughthelastjedicough or maybe coughreturnofthejedicough. There was a lot of action that was very much needed as we was watching a Star Wars films that lacked any references to the Force or lightsaber duels, however there was certainly enough of the Star Wars universe to please fans. Alden Ehrenreich grew on me as Solo, whilst it wasn’t an outright impression of him there were definitely the same mannerisms as the og Han Solo. He lacks the weight and stardom that Ford brought to the role but in his first film, in the footsteps of one of the biggest actors and characters I was impressed with what he done in the role. Woody Harrelson was brilliant as the lead thief on their mission. Emilia Clarke was equally impressive as Kira, very cunning, strong and manipulative. It was good to see her in another action film that didn’t flop like Terminator. Donald Glover was good as Lando, apparently the writers have said that Lando is Bi in the film and that fans are calling for that to be shown in the films or it’s pointless to mention. I thought it was quite obvious in the film that is what they were doing to his character. The only annoying character was the droid L3-37, I thought it was too similar to K-2SO but not as funny. As good as Paul Bettany was the villain, he didn’t have enough screen time and that was a shame. 3/5 Overall it wasn’t as bad as what you’ve probably heard. There were no special moments or anything that stood out but it didn’t do anything too bad that made you want to leave. It was a fairly standard origin film that won’t last long in the memory of Star Wars fans, but certainly isn’t the worst film from the franchise.

https://youtu.be/oxGoaA09XJc