Category Archives: Film reviews

Film reviews

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple Review

Leave a comment

This film is one of the most bonkers in the franchise and is filledwith thrilling fun. It is crazy in the way it explores how the plague has evolved and how it causes people to act out. At the same time, the science behind the cure fuels the film. Written by Alex Garland and directed by Nia DaCosta, this is 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple which is the fourth film of the franchise. This time, however, even though the cure is around the corner the danger is more ravenous. The most spellbindingcharacter in the film is played by Ralph Fiennes in his role as Dr. Kelson.

The criminal in the plagued world is Sir Jimmy Crystal, played by Jack O’Connell. He inducts the young boy Spike (Alfie Williams) into his gang. They are focused on being harmful and stealing anything they can to survive on. Throughout the many wooded areas of the United Kingdom, the plague is still viral. Dr. Kelson does not lose hope and creates a mutated friend who he refers to as Samson (Chi Lewis-Perry). Dr. Kelson has been hiding in make-up for years and finding medicines to combat the virus that has been a continuous and lingering disease throughout the franchise.

For Spike, the violence of Sir Jimmy Crystal is too much to take. Yet, with how faith and humanity are suffering, he finds himself with limited choices. 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple exemplifies how keeping those close during difficult times is what really matters, but it is a major challenge when they engage in ravenous attacks just to get by. Dr. Kelson is likely connected to the fate of Spike and those who wish to live because he knows where the resources are. Given how limited they are, their discovery and distribution matters for the future in this rapidly evolving environment.

I found this film to be like a surreal circus. There is a scene in which Fiennes’ performance has him in make-up and going throughout the temple he created to look like a demeaning sacrifice. Everything that goes around comes around in 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. It all comes down to choices and moral judgments. At the same time, the lives lost are ones that are gone forever. Yet, building a new world where there is a cure is still lying just below the surface.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple thrives due to the way it wasdirected. Even though Danny Boyle did not direct it, he is in talks to continue with the franchise. The film is set in a perilous landscape in a world that is going off track. There are moments of treachery and moments where life is lacking. Overall, the theme of the movie speaks. The virus has not given up, but neither have those who have lived through it and just keep fighting. Fiennes is the star of the show in 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. Three-and-a-half out of four stars.

Film reviews

Greenland 2: Migration Review

Leave a comment

This is a sequel that starts out promising. It has a premise that makes sense because of how science plays into the effects after the fact. Greenland 2: Migration had me filled with curiosity. After seeing the first film in a COVID-pandemic setting, I feltlike we’ve come a long way since the events of the first film. The factors related to resources are part of the setting where life after tragedy has a new norm. That new norm gets interruptedand when that happens the writing shifts and the momentum loses its value.

With the first film going into a zone of extinction, the family has found means of survival. The Garrity family is still on the trail to find a new beginning. John Garrity (Gerard Butler), Allison Garrity (Morena Baccarin), and their son Nathan Garrity (Roman Griffith Davis) have lived in bunker settings. Much has been shifting due to tectonic plate disasters and needs tostabilize as uncertainty ebbs and flows. Scientific issues continue to evolve in Greenland 2: Migration. However, when the world rumbles again, it’s time for running to different grids to start again. The Garrity family goes to places in Europe such as London and France. In both places, they find themselves below ground dealing with mixed politics due to the world going through many changes in its dismissive process.

Greenland 2: Migration began by following all the right steps for a successful sequel, including new beginnings in new places and life after the many events from the first film. There werealso details of steps to take to move forward with various situations. However, when the suspense kicked in, it felt like it was rushing to be a Roland Emmerich blockbuster. I say this because of how it went from theories and faith to families trying to cross different mountains with ladders and fighting global warming. The components which would have made the story more invigorating were thrown out the window instantly. That is why my faith in Greenland 2: Migration subsided.

When the family faces hurdles in different countries with new disasters, it is the same type of danger repeatedly, i.e., a different border patrol with a form of death penalty awaiting. The apocalypse approach was rapid in this sequel. However, with Butler as the lead, the suspense fueled successfully connects tothe franchise the most. While he is the one who takes risks into his own hands, the fight for survival and family does not get lost in Greenland 2: Migration. There is just a lack in the structure in a sequel which could have made it more enduring. There were still frequent, intense scenes, including lots of different storms coming from the skies. Unfortunately, the importance of the discussions was gone almost right away.

Greenland 2: Migration is a steady sequel. It’s not brilliant butkeeps some glimmer of hope with  storyline that’s mostly intact. It just did not do a adequate job jumping to its main points of action. I expected more backstory from the first film to play into this sequel. Two out of four stars.

Film reviews

The Testament of Ann Lee Review

Leave a comment

This is one of those powerhouse dramas that combines a musicalelement within a historical context with the dramatizations being quite thorough. Directed by Mona Fastvold and co-written with Brady Corbet, The Testament of Ann Lee is a mammoth masterpiece. They’ve created a film where movements uproot themselves through songs and dance and where leaders find themselves to have a proven purpose. It feels like a serious play but then revitalizes itself through the choreography and the musical moments. The Testament of Ann Lee is shockingly astounding. I went in with mixed expectations, but then the politics of historical colonies came together, and blew me out of the water. 

The film’s main character is Ann Lee, played by Amanda Seyfried. She is the founding leader of the Shaker Movementand is labeled by her supporters as the renowned female Christ. The film focuses on building the foundation for a society that strives to be utopian. There are back and forth motions involving segregation and other politics, and it is all about how Ann leads the way. She is the power and force behind changes to come.

The late 1700s was a time where using one’s voice had the most promising efforts for change, especially in an era where females struggled to get leadership opportunity. This all comes through in the frustration vibe apparent in the music and the dancing. With Seyfried’s performance, there is a high-level of encouragement that will wow audiences. Gender equality is the driving force of the fight. She finds herself with those who support her and those who do not, but what matters is what Ann wants. She wants her vision of the incipient utopia to have a solid foundation.

The film has elements surrounding spiritual leadership, yet also has a theatrical feel in the Shakespearean sense. The feel comes with the many settings around a historical London backdrop and a society portrayed in the era of evolving castles. New beginnings do not come easy, but it takes one voice to make a change. The Testament of Ann Lee paints the portrait to encourage those to stand their ground.

A term that is used frequently in the film is, “Divine manifestations,” and I will say I felt that aspect throughout the trial and error of Seyfried’s performance. It was especially apparent in her dealing with tragedies and her overcoming those hardship moments. That is where the growth of her voice stumbles, only to become bigger. The Testament of Ann Lee is a spellbinding tale of falling and getting back up repeatedly. The direction of Fastvold does not hold back from greatness in an era with no technological advancements. The Testament of Ann Lee is by far a true and poetic portrait of surrealism and one standing her ground. Musically and cinematically a spectacle, there is nothing like The Testament of Ann Lee. There may be times when superiors want to hold Ann back, but that only drives her to be more ambitious. Three-and-a-half out of four stars for The Testament of Ann Lee.