The Northman

The Northman was Robert Eggers on 'roids. This is what happens when Eggers get a studio-sized budget. He gets to indulge his whims - extended ritualistic sequences, long shots with a large cast, a large cast of extras to lend further credence of authenticity, and an extravagant, period-specific production design that allowed for gorgeous natural-esque lighting. In all, an immersive and engrossing historical epic. No wonder Shakespeare was inspired by the legend of Amleth to create Hamlet (come on, even Hamlet is an anagram of Amleth).

The film was fantastically anchored by the charismatic and magnetic Alexander Skarsgård with great support from a fearless Nicole Kidman, an equally commanding villain in Claes Bang, an all-in Ethan Hawke and a surprisingly restrained Anya Taylor-Joy. Björk and, Eggers' staple Willem Dafoe, were essentially cameos but, boy, were their moments on screen utterly memorable. 

The story was familiar and has been retold in countless variation, most notably by Shakespeare as Hamlet, but what Eggers did was to boldly imbue and enrich the script, that he co-wrote with Sjón, with both the language and legends of Old Norse. The magical realism and fablistic retelling of the revenge epic was brought to life with a mix of CGI, gorgeous cinematography, haunting score and uncompromising direction. 

Although the film did meander a bit during the second act, but the strong first act lent it enough goodwill to trust that Eggers will bring it home in the third act - a bit of self-fulfilling prophecy to be honest. However, once the final act kicked in, we were in for a ride as secrets spilled and blood were shed. Ultimately culminating in an ending that had the cheesiest SFx of the film and inevitably echoed Star Wars (especially since Obi-wan Kenobi was running on Disney+ too).

Audiences familiar with Hamlet would more or less be aware of how the story of Amleth would end. Therefore, what Eggers did successfully was to make that journey interesting enough to hold the attention. But also, the casting was crucial, and no other actor could have been in that role other than Skarsgård. 

Skarsgård was not only physically imposing and impressive as the bear-wolf (another hah!) savage ex-viking Prince, but he had a silent charisma that demanded attention. As he hunched and hid, somehow Skarsgård managed to look small and unassuming. But when he stands tall and fight, he was fierce, confident and terrifying. 

It was a bit surprising to hear that Kidman was cast as Skarsgård's mother, but that role required a ferocity and nakedness that not many of today's actresses seemed to possessed. Kidman's one main scene was a standout as she was equal measures terrifying, seductive, manipulative, vulnerable and scared.

As aforementioned, the rest of the cast were spot on, and with The Northman, Eggers has shown that he does have an eye for casting the characters that he has created/envisioned.

Undoubtedly this film, like Eggers' previous films, will be more of an art-house/indie favourite rather than to the general audience, because despite the budget and the studio-backing, it was still essentially a film that relied on richly written characters that wrestled more with internal conflicts rather than a Nordic, action-piece that the marketing seemed to want the audience to think it is.

Jurassic World Dominion [IMAX]

Well at least with this film, this double-trilogy is now finally over. Hopefully. 

With each successive film, they have managed to continuously downgrade the good faith and awe generated from the incomparable first film. With each new entry, the spectacle of seeing dinosaurs on the big screen just seemed to slowly evaporate. It could be a consequence of time or the saturation of the modern movie-going experience with CGIs, but undoubtedly it was also due to the lack of realism from the practical effects that made Steven Spielberg's very first Jurassic Park such a wonderous milestone in cinematic history. It almost felt like the dinosaurs' CGI are getting cheaper with every film.

Then of course, Colin Trevorrow's direction is not at the level of Spielberg yet. Granted, Trevorrow had a couple of great scenes. However, those involved mainly the dinosaurs and action set pieces. They were tense, well-framed and exciting. But, the scenes that involved human interactions and dialogue exchanges were flat and lifeless. 

The messy screenplay by him and Emily Carmichael definitely did not help. Too many ideas, too many characters, too much exposition. It was like Jurassic Park meets Indiana Jones meets James Bond meets Taken meets Godzilla. Tonally inconsistent and not even fun while doing it.

The persistent lack of chemistry between Bryce Dallas Howard and Chris Pratt did not help. Pratt remained a blank slate here as his leading man character who just so boring and vanilla; Howard at least had a little more emoting to do here. 

Although the addition of legacy characters played by Sam Neil, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum were welcomed - the strains of John William's classic score underlying Neil and Dern's first meet was giddily fun - they were let down by a clunky script, poor direction choices and a huge sense of "why are they even here in the first place?". Goldblum provided some humour playing, essentially, the same act he has honed through these recent years. Nothing new but pleasant nonetheless. 

Music was by Michael Giacchino and it was unimpressive. One of his most rote and unimaginative score. John Schwartzman lensed the film and there were a couple of great shots but sadly not when the film needed it most.

This film was just all over the place and had so many ideas but yet so little conflict to engage an audience. It was almost as if the humans and their concerns were secondary to the spectacle of the dinosaurs.  But even then, the dinosaurs were losing their lustre and allure. And if even that is gone, what more can the Jurassic Era offer?

At 146 minutes long, this film was easily 20-30 minutes too long, and IMAX was definitely not necessary for this. Honestly, nowadays, maybe even wait for it to come to streaming.

Top Gun: Maverick

If there was one reason to go watch a movie in IMAX, Top Gun: Maverick was it. This was one film that deserved to be watched on a big screen, and the high octane, adrenaline-pumping, nail-biting flight sequences/dog fights fully utilised the magnificence of an IMAX screen and the superior surround system offered by an IMAX theatre. Sonic booms and missile launches never sounded more visceral. And above it all, it was simply a highly enjoyable film. 131 minutes just went by. There was humour, drama, pathos, love, romance and nostalgia. Lots of nostalgia. For those thinking of money, it really made the IMAX admission price worth it (the last film to truly did that was Avatar).

Director Joseph Konsinski had assembled an amazing creative team. The excellent music were credited to Harold Faltermeyer, Lady Gaga, Hans Zimmer and Lorne Balfe; the brilliant cinematography (those in-plane shots! WOW!) by Claudio Miranda (who won an Oscar for Life of Pi); the superb editing was by Eddie Hamilton (those mid-air scenes were edge-of-your-seats exciting). And most importantly was the cast led by the infinitely charismatic, he of the mega-watt smile who we sometimes forget can really act, Tom Cruise. 

The story line was basic. It was simple and rote, with a nefarious, ill-defined villain, for us to root against. But it served it purpose. It brought Cruise's Maverick back to Top Gun. It outlined the main conflicts and internal turmoils of our principles, and the rest was up to Cruise et al to deliver the predicted outcomes without being boring (with some help from Lady Gaga, David Bowie, Kenny Loggins and Jerry Lee Lewis).

In particular, Gaga's refrains from her inevitable Oscar/Grammy-nominated single, Hold My Hand, were expertly and effectively weaved in and out of the film until her soul-belting moment. 

The cast had great chemistry together with the new pilots being especially well-gelled. 

Miles Teller had a lot of Anthony Edwards' Goose's mannerisms down and he was a surprisingly good second lead. His arc, like most on the show, was simple and predictable, but Teller managed to make his character both empathetic and likeable. 

The standout of the cast was Glen Powell who inherited the Val Kilmer's Iceman role as the handsome, cocky showoff. However, Powell's infectious grin and non-malicious. male-aggro competitiveness will endear him to the audience (both genders alike). 

And speaking of Kilmer, this was a very respectful way to bring him into the film. Respecting both the character and the actor. That scene between just Kilmer and Cruise was powerful in its simplicity and rawness.

Nonetheless, Top Gun: Maverick as the title clearly stated was all about Cruise. Boy, did he deliver. Everything you liked about Tom Cruise was here. We have the action hero, the daredevil stuntman, the emotionally attuned modern man, the loyal brother-in-arms, the cheeky, rule-breaking bad boy with the heart of gold, and of course we definitely did have, Tom Cruise the movie star. There are only a handful of actors like him now, someone who can open a film and hold your attention just by being on screen. He just needs to finally win an Oscar.  

However, to be honest, this film was not without its fault. For all the simple, unequivocal enjoyment that it brought to a movie-going experience, it was also laden with issues. Top Gun: Maverick was also unabashedly a pro-war, military propaganda. It was also misogynistic in its absence of fully realised female characters (maybe then don't have any at all?). If not for Jennifer Connelly, Cruise's love interest would have just been another pretty face. But thankfully Connelly managed to make her somewhat interesting instead of just the  beautiful china vase the screenwriters wrote her out to be. Monica Barbaro was the featured female fighter pilot, but other than allowing the men around her to utter lines that speak of supposed woke-ness and feminism, her character could essentially have been male. There was supposedly another female fighter pilot in the mix, of Asian descent (why are they all POC?), but other than a brief glimpse of her once in a group, there was nary another mention nor appearance. This film basically failed the Bechdel test.

Regardless, and especially because of COVID, Top Gun: Maverick was truly the first film in a long while to prove that cinema is not dead. No, it wasn't Denis Villeneuve and Dune, nor definitely not Christopher Nolan and Tenet that heralded back the box office. It was Cruise (sorry Konsinski).

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

Firstly, and foremost, this was undeniably a Sam Raimi film. All of Raimi's signature style and directorial flair were in full force, and that led to a MCU film that was surprisingly unique. No straight up horror, but a fantastical mix up of B-grade horror, some unexpected camp, un-quippy humour, and some very, very cool visuals. Benedict Cumberbatch has grown comfortably into his role as one of the elder statesman of the MCU and Elizabeth Olsen continues to shine as her character evolved and deepened. Although for Wanda Maximoff aka Scarlet Witch, her story here was ostensibly a continuation of her arc on WandaVision, and for fans, the payoff was worth it. 

As was for those who watched What If...?

Secondly, this was also a suprisingly short film, at just 126 minutes, this film had a straightforward narrative, and a tight and tidy storytelling. But also consequentially, there was not enough time to allow the emotional arcs for both Stephen and Wanda to develop fully. And without spoiling the film, the latter's arc really was the emotional driving force of the whole film, and although Olsen and Raimi managed to succinctly tell her story, and gave it a satisfying - albeit, predictable - ending, unlike WandaVision, there was just not enough time to allow the catharsis to sink in. 

In other words, no classic line equivalent to "But what is grief, if not love persevering".

Most fans may have been spoilt by Spider-Man: No Way Home which was only so beloved because it was pandering to the fans. From start to the end, that film was utterly almost all fan service. But the MCU has never really been about that, and Doctor Strange just reminded us of that again, i.e. that the MCU (and Kevin Feige) is here to tell a bigger story. Although the crash back to ground from that stratospheric reality can discombobulate most viewers, both fans and casual alike. 

However, Raimi's direction and Michael Waldron's screenplay (last of Loki) reminded us that what the MCU excelled in was using each film to tell a specific story but in a new visual style. In this case, what we have was essentially a story about letting go told in a B-grade, horror-drama style. It was about Strange letting go of Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams - getting a bit more to do here than just a pretty face) and Wanda letting go of her grief that was all-consuming her (WandaVision continuation here).

Benedict Wong continued to be a great supporting actor and addition to (almost) every MCU film. And that 2nd act revelation - priceless! Everybody there! Speechless (and lots of whooping)! Xochitl Gomez as new introduction America Chavez (aka Miss America) was a refreshing breath of youthful energy and spunk - a bit like Peter Parker to Cumberbatch's older, grouchier, Doctor Strange.

Like all MCU films, the cinematography, this time by John Mathieson, remained good but not spectacular. But at least this time, paired with Raimi, there were many stunning visuals. Seriously, that one black and white, wide-angle shot - gorgeously shot, proportioned and framed. The score was by Danny Elfman, and there were some inventive use of music. Although highlights were actually refrains of some scores from movies past. 

Of course, stay for both a mid-credit and post-credit scene. The latter was a very Raimi-esque wink, while the former definitely laid the scene for Doctor Strange 3.

In all, Doctor Strange was a very enjoyable watch with some very cool scenes and moments. A rather mature storytelling that had been simplified for mass consumption, and perhaps not as fun as the best of MCU films, but, otherwise, safely in the top half of the MCU canon.

His House [Netflix]

An excellent horror-house film with a strong political voice that smartly tied in the horrifying immigrant story (war-torn Sudan refugees in this case) with the supernatural tropes of fitting in with a new community. From a narrative point of view, writer/director Remi Weekes' debut had a refreshing take on the genre which kept the film from being stale. The horror elements were used to great effect both to heightened the sense of loss and isolation but also to provide scares. Although, it did kind of wear thin towards the end, but that could also have been the point. That said, the final climax would have made Guillermo del Toro proud. 

However, the strongest factors in Weekes' film were its lead actors. Both Wunmi Mosaku and Sope Dirisu were phenomenal and really translated the immigrants' journey into a beautiful, visceral and heartwrenching story. Especially Mosaku, her third act was a powerful showcase in balancing nuance and excess. The emotional weight of her story was palpable and believable. No wonder she was nominated for a BAFTA Best Actress for this film. 

Dirisu was also no slob. He may have gotten the showier role (in a horror film) but he still imbued his character with a complexity not often seen in the genre. There was a heaviness within him as he wrestled with his past and guilt.

The epilogue was a nice touch if a bit clunky, re-enforcing Weekes' thesis that assimilation into a different (read: white) society can be tougher than facing than the horrors within your own house.

Master [Amazon Prime]

Regina Hall gave one of her best performances in a moody, atmospheric horror film that relied more on psychological terror and actual socio-political racial satire. The real evil, as writer/director Mariama Diallo kept drumming in, was America and its ever pervasive and insidious casual racism. The relentless onslaught of micro-aggressions, colourisms, and white privilege that our Black protagonists have to endure was honestly more shocking and bracing than the actual supernatural terror that may or may not just be in their head. 

Master may lack the satirical elegance of Jordan Peele's Get Out, but it did make up for it in its horror component with its reliance on Zoe Renee's unreliable narrator, New England's history of witchcraft and the winterscape. Charlotte Hornsby's cinematography was effectively used to punctuate the growing senses of dread and the juxtaposition of light and shadows as both a thematic and atmospheric choice.

At a brisk 90-plus minutes, the Master was not demanding but Diallo sure did have a lot to say and did try to say/crammed into it. The decision to partition the film into chapters allowed for the passage of time, but it also resulted in a slight interruption of the narrative flow especially with regard to the breaking psyche of those involved. The film could have been a little tighter, removed some of the less consequential subplots, and focused more on either Hall or Renee instead of trying to balance both their storylines simultaneously.

The third actress in this mix was theatre actress Amber Grey and her role was the lynchpin of the Third Act. Her performance was intentionally opaque and vague, but again, her story - and purpose - was too much weight on a small film to carry. 

Following her turn on Nine Perfect Strangers, Hall is finally getting the recognition she deserved and hopefully with this project, she will start getting more films and shows that allow for her to shine. As for Diallo, hopefully she gets a bigger budget for a tighter film because she definitely has a voice and something to say about America.

Turning Red [Disney+]

Like with all Pixar animations, a ranking of their latest within their canon is unavoidable (well, at least until they gets repetitive and boring and it becomes untenable), but Turning Red lands somewhere in the top half of their repertoire (of 25 films). I hesitate to put it in the top third, cause that means it will be at least in top 8/9,  which is kind of impossible. 

What Turning Red has going for it was relatability. Like all good Pixar films, the story was relatable not only for children but also for the adults watching it. Who cannot relate to the awkward pains of adolescent and puberty? The need to please your parents but yet rebel against them? The joy of hanging out with your friends? The chase /of teeny pop idols? The binging of soap operas? And of course, who does not love a big, fluffy, red panda? Coupled that with a healthy dose of humour and an all inclusive supporting cast, it was hard not to be charmed by this coming of age, fantastical story co-written and directed by Domee Shi. 

Then, of course, also undeniably, the Asian pull is strong in this, from the food, to the traditions, to the anime-like sequences (I see you Sailor Moon!). 

This was ultimately a story about family and the bond between parent and child, and specifically mother and daughter, and in that aspect, some might feel a slight disconnect. Menarche and menstruation (or even in a male context, wet dreams and masturbation) is not as universal as death, purpose in life, joy and depression.

However, what was crucial were the feelings associated with growing up and being a teenager. The frustrations between being your parents' child and being one with your friends. The blossoming feelings for someone else. he fantasies of being with a superstar. Who dares to say that these feelings are unrelatable? Shi chose to center the story on a teenage girl because that was what she and co-writer Julia Cho knows best, and that gave the story an authenticity that so many male-led, female protagonists-driven narratives lacked. 

But one thing that it did not succeed as well as the other top tier-ed Pixar films was its emotional heart. Sure, there were laughters throughout the film, but the emotional core was too well telegraphed. It was beat-by-beat and predictable, as were the feelings that ought to be felt. It kind of lacked that missing ingredient in really good Pixar films that just hit the gut and the mind at the same time. A minor quip, but one that truly kept Turning Red from being great - and possibly from winning next year's Oscars. 

Nonetheless kudos to the voice cast and especially Sandra Oh! She was an inspired choice. An amazing voice actress! She imbued her character with such rich emotional complexities that it was at times heartbreaking. And she just sounds like she was having a blast!

Of course we also needed to add Billie Ellish and Finneas O'Connor to the soundtrack to cash in on the GenZs. Let us be practical on that, but at least their boyband songs sounded appropriately 90s.

Turning Red as a little post-credits stinger, stay to the end!