'Shadow in the cloud' movie review

“A female WWII pilot traveling with top secret documents on a B-17 Flying Fortress encounters an evil presence on board the flight.”

— imdb

**Spoiler alert** Spoilers ahead**

Maude Garret (Chloe Grace Moretz) a female pilot who carries top secret information, boards a B17 bomber. Faced with a suspicious ‘all male crew’ who question her identity. Suddenly Maude spots a shadow in the clouds. Was it a Japanese fleet on patrol or something else more sinister?

Opening on an atmospheric setup, ‘Shadow in the cloud’ is a frustratingly silly movie that quickly deteriorates into unintentional hilarity.

Co-Written by Max Landis who allegedly sexually abused women, the opening salvo of obnoxious, predatory all male crew takes on a more sinister overtone than probably intended. Filled with gems such as ‘she has a face i’d like to fuck’ you get the general idea of the quality of the dialogue spoken here. It’s played for shock factor to a certain degree but when this continues for at least 15 minutes then you have to wonder wheter it is the only thing the writer actually has to say which is more than a little irritating.

For the first 40 minutes it is essentially a one women play. Self contained to a gun turret below the b17 bomber as Maude chats back and forth with her male counterparts. Besides the questionable dialogue exchanges it did have potential to make something claustrophobic and interesting. In the hands of a more skilled director we could have seen something different emerge. As it stands it feels laboured and forced in service of a creature that is only partially realised.

If you haven’t guessed it there is a gremlin on board the ship. Not that you needed to guess by the way, that is firmly rammed down your throat by an irrititating cartoon before the main film just in case you had a labotomy the week before and wouldn’t ‘get it’.

The other bizarre choice is how the crew is visualised when they talk to Maude. Stylised cutaways highlighted in red and green and a black background. This totally took me out of the movie and for no reason whatsoever other than to be ‘stylistic’.

But I digress the creature is for the most part well done. A hybrid rat/bat which terrorises Maude and the crew. The obvious comparison (And clearly copied) here is the episode of the twilight zone ‘nightmare at 10,000 feet’ which does a better job at creating a chaotic and suspenseful atmosphere. In this movie it seems as though suspense is an afterthought in service of trying to make something look cool.

Soon we realise that the package that Maude was carrying is, in fact, a baby and the father is one of the crew members on board trying to sequester her to a new country. No sooner has the creature invaded the bomber and he has taken the baby hostage.

Cue all sorts of death defying antics that literally make no sense physics wise to rescue her baby:

• Maude climbing underneath the belly of the bomber with a broken finger as the bomber speeds hundreds of miles an hour.

• Maude falls from the bomber hurtling through the sky to her death only to be blown back up into the plane by an explosion.

• Flying the bomber upside down to supposedly land correctly with only two functioning engines.

The list goes on and on..

By the time the finale swings around (besides the glaring fact that it makes no sense whatsoever as the creature hurtled to the ground miles away) it is a mano el mano fight to the death between the creature and Maude who suddenly has learned martial arts on her exit of the plane. She litterally beats the living shit out of the creature, pummeling it in the face, ending with a death strike using the creatures own claw as a weapon.

If the blatant over the top in your face feminism up to this point wasn’t enough then the last shot of Maude breast feeding her baby will surely tip you over the edge. My wife turned to me at that point and said to me “ God, that was a terrible movie, wasn’t it?” “Yes, yes it was” I replied.

Point Break (1991) movie review

“An F.B.I. Agent goes undercover to catch a gang of surfers who may be bank robbers.”

— imdb

Fresh out of quantico recruit Johnny Utah (Keanu Reeves) ‘a blue flame special’ is partnered with seasoned FBI agent Pappas (Gary Busey) and tasked with cracking the case of the ex-presidents - A gung ho gang of bank robbers who have successfully evaded arrest and robbed Twenty-seven banks in three years. The ex-presidents are good at what they do. In and out within 90 seconds and leave no trace of themselves behind. Pappas has a theory - a crazy wild theory - that the ex-presidents are surfers. Together they investigate the surfer scene in the hopes that they can flush out the gang.

Opening on beautiful slow motion majestic surfing shots intercutting with hyper aggressive target range practice by Utah (Reeves) it perfectly encapsulates Point Break . A stylish action thriller which tries to capture moments of calm philosophy with explosive action. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written by W.Peter Iliff. At the time, Kathryn’s then husband James Cameron suggested that the final shooting screenplay was re-written by him and not Iliff (Iliff was paid a paltry $6,000 dollars to write the screenplay for Point Break) although Cameron is never given screenwriter credit he is on hands as executive producer.

Bigelow’s aggressive style holds the movie together in what many would consider a very standard plot. FBI agent infiltrates a gang and finds a kindred spirit that he both loathes and loves in equal measure.

Patrick Swayze as Bodhi is brilliant as the zen surfer cum criminal mastermind. The foil to Reeves straight laced ‘Blue flamer’. It’s clear that Reeves struggled at times in the acting stakes not nearly as commanding or astute as Swayze especially given some of the clunky lines that Swayze had to deliver - ‘It’s where you lose yourself and you find yourself’ - Referring to what riding waves is all about. Yet he makes it play, convincing you of his aura of a ‘messiah’ of the waves. It is a ‘bromance’ of hostile thrill seeking each not willing to back down from the other. Adrenaline junkies, with each high bigger than the last

Gary Busy is great as the wise and grizzled Pappas. Not that you’re coming to this movie for thespian-like acting. It’s all in the action and Bigelow delivers. It’s kinetic and fast paced, visually appealing stuff.

A particular highlight a foot chase midway through the film where Utah chases one of the ex-presidents through alleys, back gardens and houses in pursuit of ‘getting his man’. Bigelow and cinematographer Don Peterman films with long lenses in an anamorphic style that draws you in while still giving you a sense of location and depth.

Not that everything in the plot makes sense. It’s obvious from early on who the ex-presidents are yet it takes a long time to get to that reveal. Even then Utah goes on a sky diving ‘adventure’ with them. Indeed the movie is at its strongest when it focuses on the action. In that regard it’s a tour de force of excellent action direction. A brash and in your face aesthetic that are hallmarks of Bigelow’s style in the 90s.

Overall Point break is an excellent film and far better in every way than the subsequent remake in 2015 which substituted physical action for an unengaging CGI mess.

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Aliens 1986 movie review

“Ellen Ripley is rescued by a deep salvage team after being in hypersleep for 57 years. The moon that the Nostromo visited has been colonized, but contact is lost. This time, colonial marines have impressive firepower, but will that be enough?”

— IMDB

Marginalised by a corporation that is only interested in the bottom line, Ripley is once again thrown, quite literally, to the wolves. Partnered with a group of Gung-ho colonial marines they embark on a rescue mission to LV-426 where contact has been lost with terra-forming colonists.

Made for an impressive limited budget (By today’s standards) of 18 million Dollars Aliens is the muscular sequel to the more sedate and measured Alien. With only a minor increase in budget from the original, James Cameron manages to infuse the movie with tension driven action while still keeping the underlying sense of dread that was pervasive in the original Alien.

Not an easy thing to do considering you’re already dealing with the dreaded sequel-itis where lovers of the original movie will be looking for more of the same. It’s testament to Cameron’s ability to know his strengths as a skilled action director that he took the franchise in this direction.

There’s a certain madness to film directing especially when there isn’t enough time nor budget to do what you really want to do and compromise is unfortunately the only option. Couple that with facing a crew who didn’t necessarily share Cameron’s vision or for his abrupt mannerisms and you have tensions that mirror those of the onscreen characters. It’s a wonder the film turned out as good as it has.

Ripley’s character is fully fleshed out making her strong and vulnerable at the same time. It is undoubtedly Ripley’s movie even with all the machismo on display, Cameron deftly infuses the story with consistent echos to motherhood, loss and family. Ripley’s strength as a character lies in her humanity equally with her ability to wield a weapon. She is a surrogate mother to Newt having lost her own child - a scene that should never have been cut from the theatrical release* - marooned in hypersleep for 57 years to find that life has quite literally moved on without her and promises have not been kept to her own child. She is a stranger in a strange new land, traumatised as much by her own choices as those enforced on her by an alien creature that kills ruthlessly without remorse.

Aliens is a tour-de force of design, action and suspense. Filled to the brim with a grungy used aesthetic borrowed from the first alien movie and enhanced. The sets are excellent and everything feels real. It’s impressive world building from costume design, art direction and cinematography. The late great cinematographer Adrian Biddle taking over duties after Cameron dismissed the first DOP.

Tinged with a metallic blue, harsh highlights and contrasty shadows. The grain in the film stock enhancing the used feel of the world, adding to the heavy smoke and atmospherics. James Horner’s score is excellent, foreboding and bombastic. Coupled that with the fact that almost every effect is practical, the acting is brilliant especially from Weaver and you have a winning combination.

The first half of the movie is all about the slow build up of tension. Arguably without this the subsequent action scenes wouldn’t have the punch or power that they do have. We’re along for the ride with these characters, stranded like they are, facing a legion of almost indestructible foes.

It’s very effective, building to a reveal in the finale that added to the original alien origin and ratcheted it up to ninety. The puppetry is brilliant as is the design of the creatures themselves especially the queen. We’re there along with Ripley - adoptive mother and daughter - determined not to repeat the mistakes of the past and keep her promise this time to newt..

When all is said and done Aliens is quite rightly heralded as a classic of the genre. Often copied but never outdone. The flip side of alien, it’s bombastic cousin. This time it’s war.

*included in the extended cut of the movie.

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SEA FEVER MOVIE REVIEW

“The crew of a West of Ireland trawler, marooned at sea, struggle for their lives against a growing parasite in their water supply.”

— imdb

**Warning spoilers ahead**

Siobhan (Harmione Corfield) is an introverted scientist who struggles to interact with people. Her college charters a fishing vessel to monitor something (isn’t exactly made clear what - perhaps I didn’t hear because the dialogue mix isn’t the clearest) for statistical modelling. A rag tag bunch of life-long fishermen and women are initially thrown by Siobhan’s red hair - a curse of doom for fishermen - superstitious of red heads. They set sail off the west coast of Ireland to trawl for fish. Straying off course into a restricted zone they encounter a creature which latches onto the haul of the ship…

Siobhan - Sea Fever

Where do I start reviewing the movie Sea Fever? A sea faring B movie which borrows heavily from far better movies like ‘The thing' and Invasion of the body snatchers.

I had hoped it would at least attempt to add something different to the mix besides having it located in the west of Ireland (although it didn't look like Galway bay despite a fishing map showing otherwise - probably Sweden considering the investors). The biggest problem is it offered little in the way of tension. The opportunity was there to have a really tight, claustrophobic movie. All the details we're there: A crew afraid of the newcomer who happens to have red hair. The old sea faring superstitions coming to the fore. A bio luminescent creature which spreads parasites that finds humans to be the perfect host. Which is a shame really that the movie is executed in such an uninteresting way.

The screenplay offered little in the way of surprises. It was inconsistent, choc full of silly character motivations and stilted dialogue. In the end it was a bit of a bore. You’re hoping it picks up but it never really does nor does it help that some of the editing choices leave the movie feeling flat and lifeless, highlighting some of the less than steller acting. To be fair the screenplay doesn’t give the actors really much to work with - the characters for what they are are single dimensional. It’s all ‘oirish ' accents dipping and resurfacing, screaming at one another and saying nothing of interest.

In the end I didn't buy many of the characters for example: Siobhan (Harmione Corfield) is supposed to be a scientist yet it takes her to nearly half way through the movie to look at slime under a microscope despite taking a sample in a petri dish. When she first encounters the sea creature which incidentally has eaten through the hull of the ship - she purposely rubs slime between her fingers - good contamination control there. At one point she also argues that bleach wont kill the parasites. Why? She knew nothing about them. They are a new type of organism. Instead opting to electrocute the ship to kill them. Interesting idea - poorly executed in the film. It just happens. A few sparks and the mast head of the ship bursts into smoke. That’s it.

Looking for Parasites - Sea Fever

Speaking of the story: 1. The Captain’s decisions albeit driven by greed and the fact that they are behind in crew payments are completely nonsensical - once they escape the clutches of the sea creature they decide to catch fish despite the creature following them. They could have easily gone back out the very next day. It begs the question how far exactly did they travel to trawl for fish the whole point of the story is the fact that they’re 36 hours away from land yet the map looks like it shows them off the west coast of Ireland - I’ve been on a scientific fishing trawler off the west coast of Ireland, trawled for fish and been back in port by the evening. Sixteen hours tops. It just didn’t make sense to me. 2. Siobhan’s sudden insistence that the creature must be saved under the guise of a frail eco-friendly excuse then suddenly electrocuting the ship when the script needed a boost. The list goes on and on..

For a director as experienced as Neasa Hardiman I was expecting more really. Her script never really explores the body horror aspect despite the one really good scene where a fisherman’s eyes explode unexpectedly. After that it becomes a bit of damp squib. It doesn't know what movie it wants to be instead opting to be middle of the road never committing fully to anything.

On a positive note the bio-luminescent creature looks really nice and the effects of the creature are all quite well done. The cinematography for the most part is solid.

It’s just a shame the movie wasn’t claustrophobic, filled with anxiety, tension and fear. That’s the movie it should have been.

In the end would I watch Sea Fever again? No, probably not.

'Underwater' movie review

Underwater movie poster - movie review blog

“A crew of oceanic researchers working for a deep sea drilling company try to get to safety after a mysterious earthquake devastates their deepwater research and drilling facility located at the bottom of the Mariana Trench.”

— imdb

Set in the murky world of a deepwater drilling facility we open on Norah (Kristen Stewart) as she dresses, we assume, for her morning stint as a mechanical engineer on board of a massive drilling platform in the depths of the Mariana trench. Set in a heavily influenced ‘Alien’ grunge design aesthetic - from the long corridors to the deliberate slow moving camera movements - Norah is thrown into an emergency situation where the drilling platform is subjected to a massive earthquake, causing an evacuation.

It’s a great, fast paced opening. The effects are impressive and it’s easily one of the better sequences in the movie. Along the way Norah finds a rag tag group of employees. Together they must embark on a treacherous journey along the Mariana trench to find escape pods to the surface.

Diving preperation

Despite its obvious nods to Alien and the abyss I found the movie mostly entertaining. Kristen Stewart is often a very polarising actress, she has a somewhat limited range, but her performance here is quite good. Even through the script doesn’t ask very much of her. In fact it’s probably fair to say that the script doesn’t ask much of any of the actors. They are single dimensional characters, stereotypical of the genre adding nothing new.

A scene early on involving a ‘baby sea monster’ is a major misstep echoing far too closely a very famous scene from ‘Alien’. In truth the movie really wants to be ‘Alien’ underwater. From it’s grunge aesthetic to the lone female heroine and nods to scenes throughout the movie. Norah is Ripley lite, the reluctant hero. But what Alien had in abundance: Tension and suspense sadly Underwater lacks.

Kirsten Stewart - underwater

What it needed was a feeling of claustrophobia, being in the deepest part of the ocean under literal pressure where one misstep will cause you to loose your life. The movie didn’t feel very claustrophobic. For me it nearly would have made a better disaster movie without creatures in it at all. As it stands there is very little story to latch onto. The main plot is a series of narrow escapes, traveling from point A to B losing one crew member after the next.

For the most part the movie looks great, the design of the underwater suits are really nice. Cinematography is great and how they shot the underwater walking sequences are really impressive. It’s just a shame the creature design is a little uninspired.

I’m a huge fan of underwater movies like The abyss so this movie should have been right up my alley. For the most part I enjoyed it but I felt it strayed to closely to Alien at times which spoiled it quite a bit for me.

Overall the movie is very watchable and moves very quickly. If you’re looking for something more than that then you may be disappointed.

'Knives out' movie review

Knives out poster - movie review blog - maldeegan.com/blog

“A detective investigates the death of a patriarch of an eccentric, combative family.”

— IMDB

***WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD ***

Renowned novelist Harlon Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) is found dead in his estate after his 85th birthday party. Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) a famous private detective is mysteriously hired to investigate the murder. Interviewing Thrombey’s kooky family one by one he is drawn into a whodunit where there are multiple suspects.

That last part is where I had the biggest problem with ‘Knives out’ - the ‘whodunit’ aspect - it’s pretty clear early on what happened in the ‘murder’. In fact the reveal is shown fairly early so you are essentially there to view how it all comes together. It’s whether you find this compelling or not will ultimately determine your enjoyment of the movie.

Marta (Ana de Armas) is a nurse who is taking care of Harlon, during one of their nightly routines Marta administers a mega dose of Morphine accidentally to Harlon. In her ensuing panic Harlon concocts a convoluted plan to try to save her from being a suspect. As a final act he slits his own throat before the morphine can take hold. Marta, now free from suspicion, is unwittingly roped into being Benoit Blanc’s sidekick as he investigates the murder. In the process she must try to hide herself as a suspect to protect her immigrant mother from deportation.

Ensemble pieces are notoriously difficult to get right ensuring every player gets his or her portion of run time. In this regard ‘Knives out’ fails. Personally, I felt a few of the players were criminally underused. Jamie Lee Curtis and Don Johnson we’re given short shrift - never really considered suspects - only there to play out an infidelity side plot that really doesn’t go anywhere. Michael Shannon (Walt Thromby) Changes character on a whim to suit a plot device and make him seem more evil than he actually is. The other side characters we don’t really know or care about including the actual ‘real’ detectives investigating the murder itself.

As soon as Ransom (Chris Evens) appears on screen you know he is the murderer. Maybe it was the way he decided to play his character or perhaps the fact that the kooky grandmother whispers ‘Ransom you’re back again’ during the night of the murder was a bit of a giveaway. It is also pretty obvious that vials of morphine had been switched out from the get go. So it essentially becomes more about ‘why’ than ‘who’.

That is answered when we learn that Marta has been given all of Harlon’s fortune including the family estate. The family an unlikable bunch of self aggrandising misfits attuned to their own self importance. Wealth and prestige their undoing, they plot to have the will overturned by any means necessary.

At 2 hours 10 minutes Knives out is a little on the long side. Not really a ‘whodunit’ more a play on a Poirot mystery where the mystery part is somewhat jettisoned in favour of mildly entertaining romp with eccentric characters. Mention must be given to Danial Craig (Benuit Blanc) who uses an over the top southern accent that quickly becomes irritating to the point where it takes you out of the movie.

Since the movie is billed as a ‘whodunit’, I personally think it failed on that score. Plot contrivances used then forgotten: Dogs barking for only one person, noisy staircase, Granny with dementia, Marta’s ability to feel viscosity of morphine etc etc

Not that I hated the movie, I didn’t. It’s what I would term a Sunday afternoon picture: easily forgettable and just there to pass the time. It had potential to be interesting but in the end it was decidedly ‘Meh’.

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Star wars: the rise of Skywalker movie review

Star wars - movie review blog - maldeegan.com/blog

“The surviving Resistance faces the First Order once more in the final chapter of the Skywalker saga.”

— IMDB

The good news is Star Wars: the rise of Skywalker is marginally better than the last jedi (which isn't saying much). The bad news is the movie is soulless and made by a corporation more interested in turning Star Wars into Marvel than creating a great movie franchise. It attempts to pander to fans in a really uncomfortable fashion where more actually means less.

For my viewing there was a mini documentary screened before the movie that played heavily on nostalgia with archive footage from the first three movies including outtakes and interviews from set. Turns out this documentary was more entertaining than the actual movie itself. Making you realise what the first movie had above everything else: passion. Idealistic young movie makers trying to make something interesting and special. It is heavily counterpointed with the hallow money making venture witnessed after it. An exercise in story by committee, haphazardly trying to re-engineer a cohesive story from the poorly crafted ‘the last Jedi'. It's little wonder they jettisoned most of Rian Johnson's world, trying to right the ship and placate fans at the same time.

When we join the story - as slim a story as there is here - lord palpatine has apparently risen from the dead hidden away on ‘Excelon', a type of sith colony creating legions of other sith's as well as thousands of star destroyers under the unimaginative title of ‘the last order'. Kylo Ren is instructed by palpatine to kill Rey to assume control of the new army. Meanwhile Rey is being trained by Leia in the ways of the force - a strange turn of events since we had no clue Leia was a Jedi before this despite her Mary Poppins flight through space in the last Jedi - she is ‘force' visited by Kylo Ren who controls her training Robot firing blaster rounds at her. This leads Rey to abandon her training to destroy Kylo Ren. Her amiable sidekicks join her and along the way they embark on a dark adventure that will see them come face to face with an ancient foe.

Visually the rise of Skywalker is impressive. It looks, for the most part every bit of 150 million. It's biggest flaw besides some really badly scripted dialogue is the fact we don't care about any of the characters in this universe. It doesn't help that every exchange between characters on screen is either exposition or decidedly unfunny quips. Even the actors I feel are phoning it in, weary by the same exchanges scene after scene.

It gives the impression that the movie was 'made up as they went along' with scenes haphazardly thrown together and a plot that contradicts itself.

Rey is now super human capable of controlling space craft, leaping hundreds of feet in the air and anything else the messy plot requires of her to fill gaps with. When there is no grounding for a character literally anything goes. The same can be said for Palpatine who has powers enviable of a god despite his cataracts and ailing health. It is world building by committee and lazily copying a trend that Marvel movies have adopted having to one up themselves to the detriment of tension and excitement. To the point we don't care when one more Lazer battle explodes onto screen.

It's contrived to showcase effects, jettisoning human interaction and passion leaving a hollow empty soul of a movie that only sometimes entertains. When all has been said and done Star Wars: the rise of Skywalker is a messy exercise in excess and it is a lesser movie for it.

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