Category: Action

Boss Level

Rated: MA15+Boss Level

Directed by: Joe Carnahan

Written by: Chris Borey, Eddie Borey and Joe Carnahan

Produced by: Joe Carnahan, Frank Grillo, Randall Emmett and George Furla

Starring: Frank Grillo, Mel Gibson, Naomi Watts, Annabelle Wallis, Ken Jeong, Will Sasso, Selina Lo, Meadow Williams and Michele Yeoh.

Roy Pulver (Frank Grillo) is stuck in the death loop of a never-ending day.

Sounds a little familiar (couldn’t help thinking back to Happy Death Day, etc).  But, Boss Level has the tone of an 80s arcade game, opening at Attempt 139.

Complete with 80s rock and muscled martial arts (Roy a former Delta Force captain, of course) and macho voice-over, I cringed a little with the dialogue when Roy’s apartment was getting shot-up and he nonchalantly says, ‘I’m never getting my security deposit back.’

But as this guy gets killed over and over again, sometimes in a sequence of yeah, this is me missing the back of the truck, and where is that bus?  As he crashes through the glass, pieces of glass patterning his face like a porcupine.

The voice-over dripping with sarcasm grew on me:

‘I think you have a better chance of growing a penis on your forehead.’

There’s some great tongue-in-check here which is such a classic layer to an action movie.

And by action, there’s car chases and sword fights, harpoon through chest and attached by rope to car that drives while being dragged behind…

Mel Gibson (is back?!) as the villain, Clive Ventor, shines as he tells an apt tale in warning to Dr Jemma Wells (Naomi Watts).

Now this is where it gets a bit flimsy, the doctor is Roy’s wife.  And she works somewhere on something top secret and time altering…  And there’s not much else to that side of the story:

Bad guy.

Time machine.

Threat to end the world?

Basically, it comes down to Roy fighting to get to the end of the game, each fight like a level to get to the end, to the Boss Level.

I could get philosophical and say the story’s a metaphor for growth to overcome selfishness, to fight to get to what matters in life.  And there’s some of that here.  But mostly, Boss Level is a fight-em-up, cheeky action movie that felt a little undercooked but still tasted OK.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vRtfeUW_CU&t=6s

Wonder Woman 1984

Rated: MWonder Woman 1984

Directed by: Patty Jenkins

Written by: Patty Jenkins, Geoff Johns, David Callaham

Produced by: Charles Roven, Deborah Snyder, Zack Snyder, Patty Jenkins, Gal Gadot, Stephen Jones

​Starring: Gal Gadot, Kristen Wiig, Pedro Pascal, Chris Pine.

For the first time in, it seems like in forever, I settle into my seat as the lights go down and the big, booming bass comes up. All at once, I’m gathered up and soaring over wild and rocky island where a tournament that barely conforms to the laws of physics is taking place between a cohort of Amazons. Their aerial feats heap peril upon danger and I’m immediately swept into a world of strength and precision where it is possible to move over land, air and sea in unimagined and gravity-defying ways.

Unlike other super heroes, Diana of Themyscira (Gal Gadot) is not a fully-formed super being; she makes mistakes and must earn her powers. Amid the pyrotechnics of the genre it’s a subtle distinction, but it underwrites and in some ways allows this movie to nudge the genre’s boundaries.

After a rigorous preparation in physical combat and a painful introduction to ethics, Wonder Woman’s training continues, even while she is out in the world and on the job. When an out of control car careens out of nowhere, Diana instinctively kicks it to the kerb and is at once assailed by doubt. Has her action been seen by the bystanders around her? A momentary impulse may well have blown her cover as a mild mannered specialist in antiquities at the Smithsonian museum.

Not only does Diana buck the genre as a hero who is still learning her craft, the villain (Pedro Pascal) is a man who more than anything wants to live up to an heroic ideal of himself. Instead of a frustratingly invincible villain, this one, grinning snake oil salesman though he may be, is merely a man with a seriously misguided sense of what it is to be a good parent. Together with a highly unusual premise that to embrace the truth you must be prepared to let go of even your dearest wishes and dreams, this combination allows the story to delve into some of the existential dilemmas we must all reconcile. And, despite being set in 1984, in that decade of power dressing, big shoulders and extremely unfortunate leisure wear, the storyline and the question it asks are very much at one with the times in this era of fake news.

But this is a comic come to life and Wonder Woman 1984 is very much a high flying adventure. The towering atrium of a multi-story shopping centre almost doubles as a private gymnasium for Diana when a feckless trio of crooks attempt to rob a jewellery store and grab a child hostage on their way out. But, this time, Diana does remember to take out the security cameras before sheleaps over the handrail.

While some viewers might wish for a deeper emotional frisson between Diana and her long lost love (Chris Pine), for those of us who’ve let their inner child loose this is an unmissable opportunity to upend armoured vehicles travelling in convoy on a lonely stretch of desert highway, lasso bullets and hitch a ride on a commercial flight at the end of a golden rope.

Ip Man: Kung Fu Master

Rated: MA15+IP MAN KUNG FU MASTER

Directed by: Li Liming

Produced by: Kai Pictures/Palm Entertainment

Starring: Dennis To, Yuan Li Ruo Xin, Michael Wong.

Mandarin with subtitles

‘It’s not important when you die, but how to live,’ says San Ye (Michael Wong), an honourable mobster who will deal in anything.  But opium.

San Ye believes in the Axes – a gang of axe wielding martial artists.  Ip Man (Dennis To) is a police captain.  He believes in the law.

But when the Japanese start smuggling opium through the docks of Foshan, the Axes and the Law make unlikely allies.

The story gets way more complicated than just a drug smuggling feud.

There’re double crosses, triple crosses, with each rapid shift of scene spliced with another story so a Kung Fu fight cuts to a game of checkers, the game pieces like the black hats wielding axes. Or a misunderstanding leading to more Kung Fu fighting cutting to Ip Man’s wife having a baby (named Chun, of course).

Then there’s the classic comic character, the drunken uncle, who’s really a master in disguise and willing to fight.  When bribed with the promise to pay for his wine for two years.

And that’s before the introduction of the Masked Man.

Based on the legendary teacher of Bruce Lee, Ip Man, there’s many other previous instalments of Ip Man movies out there:  Ip Man (2008), Ip Man 2 (2010), Ip Man 3 (2015), the spin-off Master Z: Ip Man Legacy (2018) and another sequel Ip Man 4: The Finale (2019).  The above directed by Wilson Yip and starring Donnie Yen.

This is the third time Dennis To plays the role of Ip Man, after 2010’s Ip Man: The Legend is born (directed by Herman Yau), and 2018’s Kung Fu League (directed by Jeff Lau).

So it’s a popular character, Ip Chun, the son of Ip Man, praising Dennis To as the most accurate portrayal of his father.

And there’s a lot of action here as the film dives from one thought to the next, keeping up the pace.

What wasn’t successful was the change in emotional tone.

The drama in, Ip Man: Kung Fu Master relies heavily on a cheesy soundtrack, at one point the lyrics part of the scene, so there’s this superficial skating over every opportunity for depth in the relationships just to get to the next part of the story as quickly as possible.  But that pace doesn’t stop the story going to those tearful goodbyes at the train station or a sacrifice for family.  And that’s OK because the film isn’t about the drama, the theme is more about Kung Fu versus Karate.  Or is it?

The only foundation of the story is the honour of Ip Man and the setting up of those action, martial art scenes.

Although emotionally transparent, some of those action scenes were shot with vision, the camera shot from above to see the patterns of fighters running like water down a drain.  A little like the emotional content of the film.

But if you can stomach the cheesy attempt at drama and the patriotic tone of good (Chinese) versus bad (Japanese), there’s some fun twists in the story that keeps the action entertaining.

The Gentlemen

Rated: MA15+The Gentlemen

Directed by: Guy Ritchie

Screenplay by: Guy Ritchie

Story by: Guy Ritchie, Ivan Atkinson & Marn Davies

Produced by: Guy Ritchie, Ivan Atkinson, Bill Block

Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Charlie Hunnam, Henry Golding, Michelle Dockery, Jeremy Strong, Eddie Marson, with Colin Farrell and Hugh Grant.

Opening with a pint, a pickled egg and a song on the juke box, the tone is set as kingpin of the marijuana trade (AKA bush) Mickey Pearson (Matthew McConaughey) begins the story of his journey to get out of the business.

Time has gentrified the once bloody beginnings of this man coming up the hard way.

Mickey wants to take long walks, plant roses and spend time with his lovely wife.  Well, maybe lovely isn’t the right word, more, super-sharp, won’t-take-anything-from-anyone-but-loves-her-man, Rosalind (Michelle Dockery).

But no good deed goes unpunished, so eloquently stated by Mickey’s right-hand man, Raymond (Charlie Hunnam); the tale of the story narrated in Raymond’s kitchen by dirt-gathering journo/PI, Fletcher (Hugh Grant), as Fletcher attempts to blackmail the kingdom of Mickey, the information he holds given in the dramatic fashion of cinema in 35mm film, anamorphic (so to speak) and in true Guy Ritchie style.

The comedy of this gangster film really hits the mark.  This has a lot to do with the brilliant casting of Hugh Grant as the dastardly Fletcher.

This reinvention of Hugh Grant has a unique flare that makes him an incredibly entertaining villain.  Think Paddington II with an adult rating.

The intricate tale of dirty deeds and moves ahead of moves also keeps up the entertainment while throwing in segues from one scene to the next like a stage production, as each ‘liquorice assortment of tasty mates,’ are introduced:

Michelle Dockery as Rosalind, the luxury car and repair entrepreneur tough and sexy in her super stiletto heels and Cockney accent is fantastic.

As is Colin Farrell as the Irish boxer, Coach.  Who else could pull-off so much check in an outfit?!

Coming to accents, I still can’t believe Hunnam speaking anything else but American.  It seemed his accent went from Brit to Irish to something that was a hybrid of all the above.  He still has a good death stare though, and his distaste of the heroin, junkie digs is shown with a delightful twitch across his handsome, bearded face.

Which brings me to Matthew McConaughey – yep, it’s an all-star cast, as we’ve come to expect from a Guy Ritchie film.  Best role I’ve seen him in since True Detective.  McConoughey wears that kingpin suite very well while throwing out lines like, ‘Doubt creates chaos in one’s own demise.’

There’s a, taking-from-the-poor-giving-to-the-rich, element to the story.  But hey, at least bush doesn’t destroy (like heroin), it just makes some people go insane.

But I get the distinction.

Overall, The Gentlemen is fiercely entertaining – think ‘fight-porn’ – on many levels, most importantly, the film has a clever story that’s good fun to watch.

Playmobil The Movie

Rated: GPlaymobil The Movie

Directed by: Lino DiSalvo

Screenplay by: Blaise Hemingway, Greg Erb and Jason Oremland

Story by: Lino DiSalvo

Produced by: Aton Soumache, Dimitri Rassam, Moritz Borman, Alexis Vonarb, Axel Von Maydell, Timothy Burrill and Bing Wu

Starring: Anya Taylor-Joy, Jim Gaffigan, Gabriel Bateman, Adam Lambert, Kenan Thompson, Meghan Trainor and Daniel Radcliffe.

‘I’ll be the girl I used to be.’

Marla (Anya Taylor-Joy) has her whole life in front of her and expresses this enthusiasm to explore the world by singing with her little brother, Charlie (Gabriel Bateman).

Oh yeah, Playmobil The Movie, is a musical (see the score by musician Heitor Pereira (Despicable Me trilogy, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, The Smurfs movies, Minions, Smallfoot, Angry Birds Movie 2 and original songs, co-written by Anne Preven).

Then the film takes a dark turn when tragedy strikes the brother and sister.

Fast forward four years later and Marla no longer has her fresh, wide-eyed view of the world, her little brother accusing her of not knowing how to have fun.

It’s all a bit cringe-worthy until the duo fall into the Playmobil world where the characters turn into live-action Playmobil figurines.

Finding themselves in an action-adventure with car chases and villains and dinosaurs, all the Playmobil® toys that have been around since 1974 come to life as brother and sister fight alongside Vikings and a suave James Bond.  So the film’s about finding the excitement and zest for life they both lost when Marla had to become sister and parent.

The animation from ON Animation Montreal (Julien Bocabeille (How to Train Your Dragon 1 and 2, Puss in Boots, Rise of the Guardians, The Croods, Mr. Peabody and Sherman, Kung Fu Panda 2 and 3, Penguins of Madagascar and The Boss Baby)) is well put together using the stiff toys then adding movement and life with materials like cloth, and there were moments of fun with villain, Emperor Maximus (Adam Lambert) sitting behind a buff body painted on one side of his chariot.

But this is a film directed at a young audience so there wasn’t much for me to enjoy except some fun changes in genre along the way.

Gemini Man

Rated: MGemini Man

Directed by: Ang Lee

Screenplay by: David Benioff, Billy Ray and Darren Lemke

Story by: Darren Lemke and David Benioff

Produced by: Jerry Bruckheimer, David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Don Granger

Executive Produced by: Chad Oman, Mike Stenson, Guo Guangchang, Brian Bell, Don Murphy

Starring: Will Smith, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Clive Owen and Benedict Wong.

Viewed in 3D+ (120 FPS)

After 72 kills, Henry Brogen (Will Smith) feels like his soul hurts.

It’s time to retire from the DIA and find something else he’s good at.  Something where he feels like he can look in the mirror again.

But when he finds there are complications to his last assignment, Clay Verris (Clive Owens), head of the shadow group who turn soldiers into killers, AKA Gemini, isn’t going to make retirement an option: soldiers who grow old and discover they have a conscience are no longer viable. Clay stating: ‘Mutts like Henry were born to be collateral damage.’

Clay had planned ahead, cloning the best in the business so when Henry outlasts his use, there will be someone to take his place: Junior.

With Agent Danny Zakarweski (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) by his side, Henry fights for his life against the only adversary good enough to stand a chance at beating him – his younger self.

From Belgium to Colombia to Hungry, director Ang Lee has set up some amazing shots featuring motor bike acrobatics, intense fight scenes and explosions, all good action while leaving the violence implied (hence the M rating rather than the MA15+).

But the real point of difference is the tech.  Not only is Junior a computer-generated creation (by Weta Digital), the whole film is shot in 3D at 120 frames per second (instead of the usual 60).

That extra resolution isn’t a gimic either.  I have never watched anything so clear, so pristine.

I was glad the bloody was kept to a minimum as it would have been too much.

Instead, Ang Lee uses the tech to show shots underwater, looking up, and spits of sparks off helmets as bullets ricotte, as kerosene tins blow and to see those fight scenes between Henry and his clone so you feel like you’re right there with them.

What surprised me was how that clarity left no room for discord or error in the acting.  There is absolutely no where to hide so any false expression or off-key moment would have shouted through the screen.

Instead we get Mary Elizabeth Winstead as the very likeable side-kick, Agent Danny; and Clive Owens as the fierce villain, Verris.

And Will is at his finest here, his sincerity coming through clear, his skill as a killer shot coming through like his role as Deadshot in Suicide Squad.

The more I see this guy, the more I like him.

It has to be said some of the humour felt like filler for the dialogue.  Just a bit – more, I’m-happy-go-lucky in a tight spot and that’s funny, rather than, jokey jokes.  If you get what I mean.  Which probably fit the tone of the film which gets borderline soft cheese with that added bit of drama.

But I enjoyed the film.  And really got into the  visual difference on screen.

Ang even goes so far as to include a scene that shows a set used as a military exercise, shooting and explosions, to show the difference between fake and his actual movie that looked more genuine and authentic.  Tricky stuff!

The whole film is filled with tricky that successfully leads to an entertaining movie.

Rambo: Last Blood

Rated: R18+Rambo: Last Blood

Directed by: Adrian Grunberg

Screenplay by: Matthew Cirulnick & Sylvester Stallone

Story by: Sylvester Stallone

Based on: The Character Created by: David Morrell

Produced by: Avi Lerner, Kevin King Templeton, Yariv Lerner, Les Weldon

Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Paz Vega, Sergio Peris-Mencheta, Adrianna Barraza, Yvette Monreal, Genie Kim aka Yenah Han, Joaquin Cosio, and Oscar Jaenada.

Rambo: Last Blood isn’t the past coming back to haunt – although Rambo is now suffering from severe PTSD – this final instalment (the sixth in the series) is more a classic revenge film with lots of blood and guts and yes, there’s a broken bone through the skin moment for all those fans who remember, First Blood.  A moment I’ll never forget from way back in 1982.

Here, we have the opening on a big storm, a big man, on a big horse.  It doesn’t take long to realise there’s going to be some kitschy moments in this action flick; the dramatic moments highlighted by the over-emotive soundtrack (to make up for the drama completely missing the mark, again and again).  It never works.

And when there’s a, ‘Hey mister – thanks,’ in the first ten minutes, there’s always cause for concern.

Yet, Last Blood wasn’t all bad.

Coming home to the ranch we have Maria (Adriana Barraza) – the grandmother of sweet-but-growing-up and Rambo’s niece, Gabrielle (Yvette Monreal) – who gives the tone of the film some warmth with gems like, ‘You’re not in the war anymore.  Only in your head.’

And the travelling to Mexico changes the pace of the film where Rambo meets some super bad-ass guys leading to hammer wielding Rambo action that sits up and gets the adrenaline running through the old fella’s veins again.

Sylvester returning as John Rambo looks more monster than man, the visage used as a mask while he’s ‘just trying to keep a lid on it,’ the ‘it’ his soul-destroying rage.

‘You like digging and you’re a little crazy,’ says his niece but really adopted daughter, Gabrielle.  She gets it.

Instead of heading into cheesy territory, the film gets bloody with some dark nasty moments involving forced prostitution and drugs and of course, revenge.

It’s all just so serious, Rambo is so serious that there’s moments I just had to laugh to relieve the tension.  But it wasn’t even tension, more that Rambo was acting traumatised but not quite hitting the right tone.

So, some of the film worked with some surprising action.  And some of the dramatic didn’t, ultimately leaving a feeling of the film being self-indulgent.

Godzilla: King Of The Monsters

Rated: MGodzilla: King Of The Monsters

Directed by: Michael Dougherty

Written by: Michael Dougherty and Zach Shields

Produced by: Mary Parent, Alex Garcia, Brian Rogers, Thomas Tull and Jon Jashni

Executive Producers: Zach Shields, Barry H. Waldman, Dan Lin, Roy Lee, Yoshimitsu Banno and Kenji Okuhira

Starring: Vera Farmiga, Ken Watanabe, Sally Hawkins, Kyle Chandler, Millie Bobby Brown, Bradley Whitford, Thomas Middleditch, Charles Dance, O’Shea Jackson Jr, Aisha Hinds and Zhang Ziyi.

Moving on from 2014, when the world realised that gigantic monsters exist, that the titans who once ruled the world could rise again, the Russell family has been blown apart after the loss of their young son, Sam.

Emma (Vera Farmiga) has thrown herself into research, continuing the synchronising of bio-acoustics that her ex-husband Mark (Kyle Chandler) abandoned.  He’s left civilisation behind to study wild animals in the wilderness.  Mark emails his daughter, Emma (Millie Bobby Brown) to keep in touch, but really, he’s run away from the family, to hide his grief.

Family drama aside, this next instalment in the Monsterverse is all about the titans, the 500-foot-tall monsters that are awoken to wipe out the human race, to bring about Armageddon.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters reveals the secret crypto-zoological agency Monarch, that continues to study and protect the titans.  New titans are discovered and kept hidden from the world as the government fights Monarch in court, to force the agency to reveal everything about these monsters and once and for all destroy the threat.

I don’t want to reveal too much of the story (if you haven’t already seen the film) because there’s a few surprises here and new monsters added to the universe.  Those who know the creators, Toho (who released a series of films featuring these giant monsters creating the kaiju eiga genre) will recognise the awesome creatures: Mothra, Rodan and King Ghidorah; monsters never seen on screen outside of Japan, until now.

I’ve got to say I couldn’t help but grin with the reintroduction of Godzilla.  The build of suspense with the soundtrack giving the familiar gigantic monster something like magnificence.

Again, Godzilla rises when the future of humanity is at stake, as other titans are awoken, destroying the disease that has been killing the planet for thousands of years: humans.

It’s becoming a common theme in cinema these days: humans killing the planet. Seems the best excuse to kill off cities and people because humans are destroying the environment.   But it gives the story here a good foundation for destruction.

There’s more about Godzilla and his origins, his role in living alongside humanity giving the monster something like a personality so I really wanted to cheer him on.

It was the humans I found to be insincere with a lot of standing around looking up with shock plastered on their faces.

Not that all the characters were bad – Bradley Whitford as Dr. Rick Stanton was a cracker.

And thankfully the delivery of some pretty ordinary dialogue improved as the effects ramped up.  Probably because the human relationships weren’t as much of a focus when buildings started to get flattened and monsters started screeching at each other during epic battles for domination.

The tremendous sound of these monsters was deafening, making the floor in the cinema vibrate.

As director Michael Dougherty states, ‘These are popcorn movies,’ yet there’s a little more to Godzilla II with some unexpected twists in the storyline to keep it interesting and the monsters really come to life on the big screen.

John Wick 3 – Parabellum

Rated: MA15+John Wick 3 - Parabellum

Directed by: Chad Stahelski

Screenplay by: Derek Kolstad and Shay Hatten and Chris Collins & Marc Abrams

Story by: Derek Kolstad

Based on: Characters Created by Derek Kolstad

Produced by: Basil Iwanyk, p.g.a., Erica Lee, p.g.a.

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Halle Berry, Laurence Fishburne, Mark Dacascos, Asia Kate Dillon, Lance Reddick, Saïd Taghmaoui, Jerome Flynn, Jason Mantzoukas, Tobias Segal, Borban Marjanovic, with Anjelica Huston and Ian McShane.

Time is a running theme in this third instalment of John Wick, building the pressure after Winston (Ian McShane), Manager of The Continental, New York makes John excommunicado (re-cap: The Continental being a hotel that’s a safe haven for assassins seeking sanctuary under the rule of the powerful organisation and international assassin’s guild, The High Table).

John has broken the one rule that cannot be broken: killing another assassin under the protection of The Continental.

Winston has given John one hour before the end of his protection leaving him exposed to an open contract sent to every assassin in the world; the bounty: 14 million dollars.

This is the consequence of John’s revenge.

All he wanted was peace.  But for John to find peace, first he must make war.

I found myself immensely satisfied in the continuity of seeing John Wick in action, 10 minutes after the hanging end of John Wick 2.

The bones of the series continues here, with the same operators taking the same calls for the same organisation.  But take that continuing thread and pull tighter.

The action here is phenomenal – I’d go as far as saying more entertaining and fiercer than the two before. I’m talking knives, hatchets and ninja moves.

Like the familiar Continental concierge, Cheron (Lance Reddick) says, ‘This is serious business’

It’s like watching the fight scenes live, Keanu going into four months of intensive training before shooting so he could fight the scenes himself.  And he outdoes himself, again and again while retaining that incredibly likeable dry sense of humour.

Just when I felt myself start to loose focus, John Wick starts slapping a guy, another assassin appears out of the shadows, the dogs start attacking.  And it’s all played-out in settings of old world charm filled with red velvet and ballerinas to the vibrant burnt orange sands of Morocco to the steaming streets of New York and artefacts set in glass creating a maze so the slash of samurai or the jab of a dagger splinters the glass or John just gets thrown through it.

Aside from the returning favourite characters (can’t forget Laurence Fishburne as reigning Bowery King) there’s new characters to build another dimension and give context to the man, John Wick: The Director (Anjelica Huston) who runs a school for assassins, hinting at John’s Romani past and Sofia (Halle Berry) from John’s origins, a fellow assassin (and the best role I’ve seen Halle Berry in years).

I’m such a fan of Asia Kate Dillon in the TV series, Billions, I was chuffed to see her cast here as The Adjudicator played with cold calculation as she deals out The High Table’s demands with predatory eyes.

So the action is ramped-up with gritty realism, and we get an expansion of the John Wick universe.

Look, some of the story gets a bit thin in places, but it’s so entertaining and the character John Wick is so likeable I was happy to let some of the dubious motivations slide.

I’m still reeling from those fight scenes that somehow managed to tap into that fight response fueling the experience with adrenaline.  It’s just relentless, the hit after hit, I could feel the force as I laughed and cringed and grinned through all the blood and violence because it’s so hardcore it’s funny.  On purpose.

Instant action-thriller classic.

POKÉMON Detective Pikachu

Rated: PGPOKÉMON Detective Pikachu

Directed by: Rob Letterman

Story by: Dan Hernandez & Benji Samit and Nicole Perlman

Screenplay by: Dan Hernandez & Benji Samit and Rob Letterman and Derek Connolly

Based on: the “Detective Pikachu” video game developed by Creatures Inc.

Produced by: Mary Parent and Cale Boyter

Starring:  Ryan Reynolds, Kathryn Newton, Suki Waterhouse, Omar Chaparro, Chris Geere, Rita Ora, Ken Watanabe and Bill Nighy.

Based on the worldwide phenomenon of, Pokémon and video game, “Detective Pikachu”, this film literally features the beloved Pikachu (Ryan Reynolds) wearing a detective hat.

Tim Goodman (Justice Smith, whom you’ll remember from, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)) lost his ambition to become a Pokémon Trainer when his mother died and his father, Detective Harry Goodman, moved away to Ryme City; a place where Howard Clifford (Bill Nighy) has created a city, not just with Pokémon living in it, but with humans and Pokémon working and living, side-by-side.

After finding out his father has gone missing, Tim travels to Ryme City to discover there’s more to his father’s past than he realised.

Junior journalist, Lucy (Kathryn Newton), with a nose for a good story, seeks the answers to Detective Goodman’s disappearance, only to find Tim without a Pokémon partner – ‘Why does everyone keep asking me that!’.

When a Pikachu appears in his father’s apartment, instead of the characteristic Pokémon stating their own name, like, “Psy-Duck.  PSY-Duck?”  Or in this case, “Pika Pika” – Tim can understand this mysterious Pikachu: this  little guy is talkative, coffee addicted and a self-proclaimed detective.

So the somewhat lonely 21-year-old (not so much with Pikachu dancing on this shoulder), nosey journalist and talkative Pokémon investigate the mystery surrounding Tim’s father.

POKÉMON Detective Pikachu is a combination of animated puppets and live actors – the Pokémon critters brought to life so you just want to reach out and give Pikachu’s fur a scratch, setting his back-leg twitching.

The kids in the audience, ooo’d and ahh’d, particularly at the beginning and introduction into the world of Pokémon (and before the action ramped up): this is a kid movie.

I don’t know why I expected the humour to be more adult.  Probably because Ryan Reynolds does the voice-over of Pikachu.  And although the script doesn’t have that edgy satire I’ve grown used to from Reynold’s characters, this is brilliant casting as he voices some genuinely funny moments like Pikachu making decisions based on ‘feeling it in his jellies.’

There are many amusing moments like the Cubone baby with the bad temper reminding Tim’s best mate Jake (Karan Soni) – would have like more of this character in the film – of his mother.  But the jokes were more of the PG variety: cute and sweet.

The action and effects ramp-up as the story progresses, giving the film some suspense and creating some drama with the hope Pikachu and his human, Tim, make it out of yet another scape.  And we get the conflict between Tim and his father with the breakdown of their relationship after his mother died, and of course the romance between the two human investigators.

So, not the edgy clever I was hoping for, but we get the expected cuteness with some good laughs and action along the way.

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