2020-2029, Film Review

Eternals (2021)

Posted on December 4, 2021December 10, 2021 by Martin: Through the Silver Screen

Eternals – Film Review

Cast: Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Lia McHugh, Brian Tyree Henry, Lauren Ridloff, Barry Keoghan, Don Lee, Harish Patel, Kit Harington, Salma Hayek, Angelina Jolie

Director: Chloé Zhao

Synopsis: A group of immortal beings, known as the Eternals, are sent to planet Earth to protect humanity from an evil race of aliens known as the Deviants…

Review: When you have created an all-encompassing cinematic universe that has spanned over a decade and 25 films, making cinematic history along the way. There does come a point for Marvel Studios, where they will need to think about, where do they go from here? When you’ve created a universe that has conquered all before it, how do you reinvent the wheel and keep things fresh and interesting for audiences to maintain interest in the universe going forward? Well, the answer seems to be, hire the most recent Academy Award winner for Best Director, and introduce a brand new crop of characters.

7000 years ago, a group of all-powerful beings known as the Celestials, created a powerful race of beings called the Eternals and sent them to Earth to protect humanity from their Celestial’s evil counterparts, known as the Deviants. For millennia, the Eternals have been watching from the sidelines, protecting humanity from any Deviant attacks. As they watch from the sidelines, some begin to develop a fondness for humanity. Yet, they have been under strict instructions to not interfere in any human conflict, unless the Deviants are involved. This all changes when an event known as The Emergence threatens to bring about unprecedented destruction, the Eternals must unite to prevent humanity’s destruction.

From the opening crawl, akin to something out of Star Wars, this film is in every sense, a brand new chapter for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. What they accomplished with the first three Phases of their Universe is undeniably incredible and nothing can take that away from them. However, that era of Marvel has come to a close, and with this film, this feels like they are in many senses, starting fresh. All franchises that go on for any length of time will inevitably develop a formula. While that formula has served the MCU so successfully over the years, there was a need to step away from it. To its credit, Eternals tries extremely hard to deviate from that, with varying degrees of success.

Fresh from her Oscar triumphs With Nomadland, a film that shined a light on a group of people who are cut adrift from society, whilst touching on themes of finding a belonging. Chloé Zhao’s Oscar winner touched on themes of individuals who have found themselves cut adrift from society, roaming from place to place, without somewhere to call home. This is a theme that feels very much relevant to the Eternals. They watch humanity from afar, intervening only when they must. The first two acts of the film where the Eternals are battling with this dilemma of interfering or not when it comes to human conflicts is compelling because, like most things in our lives, there is a difference of opinion amongst these incredibly powerful beings.

What Eternals brings to the table is an extremely rich and diverse cast, filled with extremely talented actors. The most memorable of these are Gemma Chan’s Sersi and Angelina Jolie’s Thena. Sersi is very much the leader of the Eternals and Chan’s performance is easily the most memorable. For Thena, there’s a fascinating internal struggle that she’s battling with, and it makes for an intriguing relationship between her and the rest of the Eternals as she battles to control that. On top of which, the film doesn’t shy away from diversity. There’s a landmark moment for LGBT representation, the very first ever sex scene, and the MCU’s very first superhero with a disability in Lauren Ridloff’s Makkari as both the actor and the character are deaf.

Unfortunately, because there are so many new characters that are appearing on screen together for the first time, developing all of them is a near enough impossible task to fit into a two-and-a-half-hour film, even for a director as talented as Zhao is. Some characters have barely any depth or personality. As such, it gives the audience little reason to care about them, as there is no emotional connection that has been built up over many years of different MCU films. Plus, as different as the film tries to be from all the previous MCU films that came before it, some familiar MCU tropes are present. Credit where credit is due for the screenplay’s ambition and scope. However, you cannot help but wonder if, had these characters been introduced via a TV show, it might have been better suited to give all these brand new characters sufficient time to make an impact.

Chloe Zhao works magic by bringing the humanity to these incredibly powerful beings. However, while it is to be commended, the ambition of introducing so many new characters in one go prevents the film from truly soaring.

2010-2019, Film Review

Men in Black International (2019)

Posted on June 15, 2019June 15, 2019 by Martin: Through the Silver Screen

**Image is property of Sony, Columbia Pictures and Amblin Entertainment**

Men in Black International – Film Review

Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, Kumail Nanjiani, Emma Thompson, Liam Neeson, Rebecca Ferguson,

Director: F. Gary Gray

Synopsis: When Earth comes under attack from an unknown hostile alien force, rookie agent M (Thompson) gets partnered up with the brash Agent H (Hemsworth) and together they must stop the impending attack…

Review: There comes a point in a franchise’s life when after a very successful first entry, the studio then decides to seize on that success and make one or two sequels. Though since it has been seven years since the last film in this franchise, it begs the question, was anyone asking for another Men in Black film? If a decision is going to be made to reboot or spin-off a franchise, give the audience a story worth telling. Because, once again, we have another film in a franchise that barely has a reason for justifying its existence.

As this is a spin-off, Will Smith’s and Tommy Lee Jones’s Agents J and K are now consigned to legend, and in their places come Chris Hemsworth Agent H (for hothead) and Tessa Thompson’s M (for marvellous). These two are recruited by the MiB London division to investigate some mysterious extraterrestrial occurrings, and the usual shenanigans involving aliens and men (and this time) women suiting up to take down these extraterrestrial nefarious evil doers.

By far and away, the best thing about this film is Tessa Thompson’s performance as Agent M, she is the most fleshed out person in the film and she adds some much needed charisma, something that is severely lacking in many of the other characters. Hemsworth is enjoyable as H, though this is far from his best work. These two have proven themselves to have good chemistry due to their work in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the camaraderie and banter between the two is one of the few delightful elements of the film. In addition, Kumail Nanjiani has a small but brilliant part that gives the movie the majority of its laughter.

For such an exciting cast, there’s barely an ounce of charisma on anyone else, save for Emma Thompson’s Head of the New York division of the MiB, who is not given enough screen time. On a similar note, in what could have been a very intriguing role, Rebecca Ferguson, who is sporting a very interesting wig, is reduced to a glorified cameo. The script from Iron Man duo Art Marcum and Matt Holloway gives them such inadequate material to work with, it’s a frustrating waste of the talents of these two fantastic actresses. It definitely doesn’t help that for the first act or so, the film is completely bereft of a discernible plot or a sense of direction that its moving in.

Though once things start to gather some pace, there are some exciting moments but these are really few and far between, and the addition of F Gary Gray as director adds nothing new. Don’t be surprised if after coming out of the film, you feel as though you yourself have been neuralised because there is nothing in this film that remotely stands out as memorable or exciting. The attachment of some new blood and a new director offered an opportunity for this franchise to start afresh and blast off in exciting new directions, but it’s an opportunity missed. No need to get suited and booted for this one, as those suits should have been left in the wardrobe, and hopefully the sunglasses and the neuralisers will be put into the drawer and never be seen again.

Hemsworth and Thompson’s are welcome additions to the cast, but an uninspired plot, bland storytelling and completely forgettable action scenes render this a complete damp (alien) squib.

2010-2019, Film Review

The Big Sick (2017)

Posted on August 14, 2017 by Martin: Through the Silver Screen

**Image is property of FilmNation Entertainment, Apatow Productions and Amazon Studios**

The Big Sick – Film Review

Cast: Kumail Nanjiani, Zoe Kazan, Ray Romano, Holly Hunter

Director: Michael Showalter

Synopsis: Charting the true story of Kumail and Emily as they fall in love, but their differences in culture prove to be a tricky test for their relationship, which is compounded when Emily is hospitalised…

Review: As the famous Johnny Cash song Ring of Fire goes, ” Love is a burning thing, and it makes a fiery ring.” It kind of goes without saying that meeting someone and falling in love with them can be delightful, but it can also be an experience that can be very testing for everyone. It won’t be all sunshine and rainbows all the time, there will be tricky times and it is in those times, that people can really show who they are, and why they just might be worth spending the rest of your life with.

Based on the real life story of Kumail Nanjiani (played by the real Kumail Nanjiani) a comedian in Chicago trying to make his name on the comedy circuit. He runs into Emily (Kazan) during a gig, and the two begin a romance, but for Kumail, there’s one small problem. His very traditional parents want to set him up in an arranged marriage with a Pakistani bride, but Kumail is not interested in any of that. Unfortunately as their relationship hits a snag, Emily falls gravely ill and is forced into a medically induced coma and with the help of Emily’s Mum and Dad (Holly Hunter and Ray Romano) the three of them sit by Emily’s bedside.

You would think in a film that is centred on someone falling into a coma, that the film’s script might be a bit bereft of laughter, but quite the contrary. The script written by Nanjiani and the real Emily V Gordon really packs plenty of laughter with some really funny jokes, especially considering one or two are quite dark in terms of the humour. Yet they don’t fall flat, and they almost always hit the mark and in quite some style too. Taking full advantage of modern technology to tell the story, the chemistry between our leads is very sincere and it feels almost like you’re watching the real lives of these people.

What’s more, as this clashing of cultures situation is becoming more and more common in our ethnically diverse world, the dilemma that Emily and Kumail find themselves in is likely a dilemma that many couples have felt at some point. In thia respect it feels that much more authentic. Thus when it is revealed that Emily has fallen ill, the audience shares Kumail’s concerns and you find yourself scared wondering if she’s going to make it.

Even after Emily is taken ill, the jokes do not stop, but this is thanks to Emily’s parents Terry and Beth. Romano plays Terry as your sort of lovable compassionate father who is funny and heartfelt all at the same time. Meanwhile Holly Hunter channels the fierce matriarchal spirit that she put into voicing Mrs Incredible (AKA Elastigirl) from the Incredibles so effortlessly. Though she doesn’t exactly take kindly to Kumail at first, to see the three of them go through their experience for the person they mutually care about so much is extremely heart-warming and they make an effective trio of comedy.

There are moments where the script does falter a little bit, particularly with a few of Kumail’s comedian friends that aren’t fleshed out at all really. It does make the film perhaps drag on for longer than it needs to be. Nevertheless, this film is a timely reminder of that even in a society that has become more and more diverse, controversy still surrounds cross-cultural relationships, which is ridiculous. Above all though, this film teaches that no matter what creed or colour you are, love knows no boundaries, and that should always be celebrated.