The Hunger Games: Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes (2023) Film Review.

Years before he becomes the tyrannical president of Panem, 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow remains the last hope for his fading lineage. With the 10th annual Hunger Games fast approaching, the young Snow becomes alarmed when he’s assigned to mentor Lucy Gray Baird from District 12. Uniting their instincts for showmanship and political savvy, they race against time to ultimately reveal who’s a songbird and who’s a snake.

The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes is a prequel to The Hunger Games (2012) and is the fifth installment to the series.

The Hunger Games series was the only young adult dystopian series back in the 2010s that I actually really liked and perhaps the only one to go on and still have a huge amount of relevancy.The series did have it’s issues with Mockingjay Part One (2014) being the weakest of the films and Mockingjay Part Two (2015) while not being a bad film still felt a bit rushed and not quite up to the quality of The Hunger Games (2012) or Catching Fire (2013). So it was quite interesting to see a prequel be released 8 years later, we have seen how badly prequels can be with very popular book film adaptions. The Fantastic Beasts series simply does not compare to the Harry Potter films and The Hobbit movies (I understand there’s a fanbase for these movies I was just not a fan of them at all) are completely outclassed by The Lord Of The Rings films.

Luckily Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes ends up being quite shockingly fantastic with several contributing factors. Let’s get the obvious out of the way that everyone seems to be talking about the most…the performances. The acting has always been quite strong in The Hunger Games films but in Songbirds & Snakes they kick it up a notch and the cast really delivers in their respective role.

Tom Blyth as Coriolanus Snow is both fascinating and terrifying we get to see him slowly but surely turn into the man he goes on to be for the rest of the series. We get a very interesting backstory that is filled with many dramatic and character moments that are incredibly investing, it’s some really surprising character work combined with Blyth’s acting that really makes his performance stand out in every single way possible.

Rachel Zegler once again hits it out of the park and really shows how talented she is as an actress, Zegler plays Lucy Gray which admittedly was some big shoes to fill since everyone compares the importance of the character to Katniss Evergreen who was played by Jennifer Lawrence in the 4 sequels. However Zegler really stands out here on her own, much like Blyth’s performance Zegler gets a lot of character moments to really make her shine. The songs she sings are beautiful and really contribute to the film’s atmosphere (something I will get into a bit later), Lucy Gray is such a fascinating character that the viewer still has many questions about even when the film ends, the film manages to tell the viewer the information they need about Lucy Gray but keeps just enough from the viewer to wonder about her.

The rest of the cast are just as fantastic, Viola Davis as Dr. Volumnia Gaul is intimidating and really sets the scene as soon as she comes on screen. Peter Dinklage as Casca Highbottom and Josh Andreas Rivera and Sejanus Plinth are both fantastic. Jason Schwartzman who plays Lucretius or “Lucky” Flickerman who is basically the announcer of The Hunger Games, he gives such a darkly (I say darkly because the games themselves are brutal here) funny performance that doesn’t overshadow the character moments at all. Finally there’s Hunter Schafer who might not get a whole lot of screentime but delivers such a charming and incredibly likable performance that her being casted as Tigris Snow was such a smart casting move.

The atmosphere of the film is truly brilliant, something a lot of these young adult dystopian adaption films seem to forget is atmosphere the type where you actually believe this is a very horrifying future and Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes absolutely nails that down from the very beginning. You can feel the fear of the characters and just how incredibly messed up the future has become, when you combine that with the writing that is quite honestly some of if not THE very best this franchise has very had. You have yourself such an engaging story that really pulls out everything it has.

The world building is truly fascinating here, for a prequel the film really expands on the world of The Hunger Games and even makes some really important connections from the films that would come later, each of the film’s locations has personality too them and a story to tell. Which the film does beautifully with the cinematography, character moments and the pacing which while could be a bit much for some (157 minutes long) I however do think the pacing really uses the running time quite well to give each of the characters time to shine and really highlight how dangerous the world is.

Finally there’s The Hunger Games itself and it’s quite a brutal one. The film really makes the most use it can with the PG-13 rating and it ultimately works, there’s tons of emotional moments during the games as well as character bits that are actually gut punching at times. Sure the games might be a bit shorter this time around, however it makes up for that with very suspenseful atmosphere as well as being incredibly strong from a story perspective and thematically.

Overall The Hunger Games: Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes is one of the best films of the franchise, heck there’s even an argument to be made that it’s the absolute best of the series. It’s one of those rare prequels that actually adds something special to the franchise and explores even more that the other films really didn’t. I cannot stress enough how fantastic the acting really is here, it’s some of the best acting of the year and completely matches everything that the film goes for.

The Hunger Games: Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes is available in theaters.

10/10 A+

Mortal Kombat Legends: Cage Match (2023) Film Review.

Action superstar Johnny Cage squares off against a sinister secret society that’s plotting a nefarious scheme. However, the brutal fight against the bloodthirsty warriors of the Netherrealm is just the beginning.

Mortal Kombat Legends: Cage Match is the fourth of these new animated Mortal Kombat films, so far I have found these films to be quite great. Each of these films tell a pretty interesting story to tell in each installment and have this Saturday morning cartoon feel you completely get invested in.

Cage Match is no exception, it focuses on the origins of Johnny Cage a classic Mortal Kombat character who’s been there since the beginning. This is yet another one of these films (much like the previous film Snow Blind) that doesn’t focus on the tournaments, Cage Match has this 80s Hollywood style too it that matches well with Johnny Cage. You can actually look at this movie as a goofy love letter to the 80s which actually did surprise me a bit.

The voice cast do a solid job here, Joel McHale is immediately fitting as Johnny Cage. One of Gilbert Gottfrieds final performances is here and while it’s not a huge part he still plays his part incredibly well and is definitely one of the most memorable parts of the film. The writing has its weak points as there’s not a whole lot thematically going on here, it’s a very basic “this person is missing and you have to find them” sort of deal. But what makes it investing is how fitting Johnny Cage really is in the film.

Johnny Cage interacting with everyone he comes across is just a lot of fun, he has that type of feel that a lot of Saturday morning cartoon protagonists had and it absolutely fits his character. Out of the four animated films Cage Match is the one that has the least connections to the Mortal Kombat franchise, while yes there’s a few characters here and of course Johnny Cage himself. But the movie really is much more focused on Cage’s backstory rather than throwing in connections which is a very good thing.

Cage Match does suffer a bit from having a slow start but quickly gains ground once the mystery itself kicks in, Cage’s one liners can get old very quickly and depending how you feel about 80s pop culture references you might get annoyed quickly. But for the most part Cage Match is a solid addition to the series.

Mortal Kombat Legends: Cage Match is available on all VOd platforms.

7/10 B

Gran Turismo is a surprisingly entertaining and inspirational film.

The true story of a team of unlikely underdogs — a working-class gamer, a former race-car driver, and an idealistic motorsport executive — who risk it all to take on the most elite sport in the world.

Gran Turismo is based off of the video game franchise of the same name, it also tells the true story of Jann Mardenborough a teenage Gran Turismo player who went on to become a professional race car driver.

I really had no idea what to expect with Gran Turismo, this is a film that could have easily went down either route but luckily the team involved with the film really crafted something quite surprising and actually inspirational as well. For starters this is Neill Blomkamp’s best film since District 9, it’s drastically different from what Blomkamp usually tackles. But he really elevates a script that would have been very basic into several thrilling race scenes, character moments and plenty of heart as well as inspirational ones as well.

The performances are quite great as well Archie Madekwe is fantastic in the leading role he’s portrayal of Jann Mardenborough is filled to the brim with heart and inspiration, sure it may come off as a traditional underdog type of performance at times. But that’s part of the charm that really works in the movie’s favor, David Harbour is quite fun as well he’s always a blast to see on screen and here is no exception. Harbour’s character Jack Salter has a quite interesting backstory and the bond between Jack and Jann is quite excellent, some of the best scenes of the film are the two just talking to each other.

The racing scenes are phenomenal with tons of thrilling moments and atmosphere it’s so well put together, the CG can be a bit much at times but it doesn’t stop the movie from having a large visual impact that really knows how to use it’s thrilling atmosphere. The humor is genuinely pretty solid as well, yes there is some dialogue and jokes that aren’t that great. But I was very surprised to see how genuine some of the humor really was.

Overall Gran Turismo shocked me, sure some may write this off as an underdog story. While there are indeed elements of that, the movie does mostly it’s own thing. Beautifully told story with really solid direction, acting and atmosphere. Check this one out!

Gran Turismo is available on all VOD platforms.

7/10 B

Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One is a masterfully crafted addition to the series.

Ethan Hunt and the IMF team must track down a terrifying new weapon that threatens all of humanity if it falls into the wrong hands. With control of the future and the fate of the world at stake, a deadly race around the globe begins. Confronted by a mysterious, all-powerful enemy, Ethan is forced to consider that nothing can matter more than the mission — not even the lives of those he cares about most.

Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One is the seventh film of the Mission Impossible franchise and is a sequel to Mission Impossible Fallout. While Mission Impossible isn’t one of my all time favorite franchises, that doesn’t take away that these movies are always consistently really good or fantastic. Even the weakest of the series Mission Impossible II is still a whole lot of fun, Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One continues the franchise with being another excellent addition to the series.

Even though Dead Reckoning Part One is a half a story there is still a whole lot here to really appreciate. The performances much like in the other films are once again fantastic, Tom Cruise hits it out of the park as Ethan Hunt and much like in the other films shows that he knows how to entertain an audience, from doing absolutely insane stunts that you are jaw dropping to some excellent action scenes and some incredibly well executed line delivery Cruise really captures it all here. The rest of the cast are just as great as Cruise, Vanessa Kirby and Pom Klementieff are a lot of fun and are excellent new additions, there’s one scene with Carey Elwes in particular that’s one of the film’s highlights.

As I said before the stunts are truly fantastic, not only are they jaw dropping but they have such a gigantic scale to them that really makes them even more special. When you combine that with excellent filmmaking, editing and sharp cinematography you get beautiful results. There’s truly so much craftsmanship in Dead Reckoning Part One to the point where you are just in awe, that’s a major element that blockbusters seem to miss…the awe factor a moment (or moments) in a film that make the viewer step back and just look at the screen in amazement. The Mission Impossible films accomplish that quite often but in Dead Reckoning Part One they turn it up to eleven and make sure that it’s known.

The action scenes are also just as fantastic as they have always been in this franchise, it’s electrifying, focused and so well done. Once again it shows a huge amount of craftsmanship that went into the action scenes and really gives the film the classic action film feel that is truly exciting to have. The writing which includes themes such as fate and AI are absolutely well done and do something completely different with the topics. Finally the film has plenty of tense moments including the nuclear bomb scene that will absolutely bring you at the edge of your seat.

Overall Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One is a fantastic installment into the series, there’s so much to absolutely love about the film and it really gets you excited to see how the next film is going to be.

Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One is available on all VOD platforms.

10/10 A+

The Equalizer 3 is a decent conclusion to the trilogy.

Since giving up his life as a government assassin, Robert McCall finds solace in serving justice on behalf of the oppressed. Now living in Southern Italy, he soon discovers his new friends are under the control of local crime bosses. As events turn deadly, McCall becomes their protector by taking on the mafia.

The Equalizer 3 is the final installment of The Equalizer trilogy. The Equalizer films are mostly known for Denzel Washington giving a fantastic performance in each movie and some quite brutal kills. The first film was quite great while the second movie was forgettable and really did not do a whole lot in terms of moving the series forward.

The Equalizer 3 is more or less the same thing as the previous two movies, it’s definitely an improvement over the last movie but isn’t as good as the first. Once again Denzel Washington as Robert McCall is fantastic, he completely hits out of the park and puts a satisfying conclusion to the character. Dakota Fanning and the rest of the cast are also pretty solid here although Washington is the clear standout.

The action scenes are quite great, although most of the action scenes are at the beginning and the final act of the film. The story combined with the scenery (this time taking place in Italy) helps the movie run at a decent pace to make sure not to make the viewer lose interest from the story. With that being said the middle does suffer from being a bit too familiar but the way director Antoine Fuqua wraps up the story and uses his style that fans of Fuqua will immediately notice helps give the movie the extra push it needs.

Although the villains lack depth and aren’t particularly interesting, the cinematography combined with the action scenes and scenery is just wonderful to look at and has a surprising amount of detail. The movie itself almost feels like part slasher film and it works quite well.

The Equalizer 3 isn’t going to break any new ground, but if you are fan of the previous two movies you are definitely going to like this one.

The Equalizer 3 is available on VOD Platforms.

6/10 C+

Quick Review: Til Death Do Us Part

After running away on her wedding day, a bride must fight for survival against her vengeful fiance and seven deadly groomsmen. In the ultimate showdown, the groomsmen soon discover that she has no intention of going back to the life she left behind.

Til Death Do Us Part is what happens when you mix Ready Or Not and John Wick then proceed to somehow make it terrible.

Honestly there is very little to be said here because the movie itself just does not care about having a plot that is coherent, the editing is atrocious combined writing that is straight out of a poorly written soap opera. The characters have no personality outside of their character traits, the action is incredibly bland and fails to engage the viewer.

There’s a couple shots here that look fine enough but that’s not nearly enough to save this movie from being a complete and total disaster, it’s a shame because had this movie been campy and took itself way less seriously there could have been some entertainment value here.

Til Death Do Us Part is available on all VOD platforms.

1/10 F

Blue Beetle has heart but not much else.

Jaime Reyes suddenly finds himself in possession of an ancient relic of alien biotechnology called the Scarab. When the Scarab chooses Jaime to be its symbiotic host, he’s bestowed with an incredible suit of armor that’s capable of extraordinary and unpredictable powers, forever changing his destiny as he becomes the superhero Blue Beetle.

Blue Beetle is the third DCEU film to be released this year and I can at least give the movie this it was better than Shazam: Fury Of The Gods and The Flash…that is still not saying much because Blue Beetle isn’t much better.

What Blue Beetle’s whole concept of family themes is a really strong idea, it’s been done numerous times before in a lot of comic book movies but at least with a handful of scenes Blue Beetle attempts to make the idea it’s own. There’s some genuinely solid performances from Xolo Maridueña, Bruna Marquezine and George Lopez, the heartfelt moments between the members of the family are undeniably beautiful and have so much emotion too them. The film bringing out the heart and family dynamic from the film works so much stronger than the typical comic book movie parts of the film.

Which is unfortunately where the movie lands into generic territory, it doesn’t do anything really exciting with it’s action scenes despite having interesting framing, there’s some neat shots here with some neon lighting but the movie doesn’t do anything with it. They kind of just throw in a handful of generic action scenes and don’t do anything else, combine that with such dull villains that really don’t get any sort of character outside of one or two personality traits and you have a ton of action scenes that are hard for the viewer to cling on to.

I don’t think Blue Beetle is a bad movie it’s just a bit of a disappointment, with every interesting choice the movie makes and actually executes quite well (including some darker moments.) there’s a lot of playing too safe towards the end of the movie, where it starts to morph into the usual below average comic book movie.

Blue Beetle is available on all VOD platforms.

5/10 C

The Retirement Plan is a terrible action comedy.

Ashley and her daughter turn to Matt, her estranged beach bum father, to help escape a ruthless crime boss.

You would be forgiven if you thought The Retirement Plan was a Netflix original, it has a lot of the similarities that make a bad Netflix original an overdone plot, very few good jokes and a chore to sit through.

The cast at the very least does seem like they are having fun, Nicolas Cage, Ron Perlman and Ashley Greene definitely try the best they can with such a lousy script that only has a handful of moments that are passable at best.

Honestly the main issues here are the plot is very by the numbers and a majority of the movie has no impact at all, the movie attempts to use many twists and double crosses but none of that really matters since the characters are written so poorly. The interactions between Bobo (played by Ron Perlman) and Sarah (played by Thalia Campbell) while somewhat decent ultimately doesn’t lead anywhere, it’s just another kid gets kidnapped and talks to one of the henchmen sort of subplot.

Not even Nicolas Cage can really save this movie, he isn’t really given a whole lot to work with and doesn’t have many lines where he could use his charm, it’s a very limited action comedy with no substance to it at all.

The Retirement Plan is available on all VOD Platforms.

3/10 D-

Indiana Jones and the Dial Of Destiny is a weak closer to the franchise.

Archaeologist Indiana Jones races against time to retrieve a legendary artifact that can change the course of history.

Indiana Jones and the Dial Of Destiny is the fifth and final film of the franchise and serves as a sequel to Crystal Skull. Indiana Jones needs no introduction it’s one of the first films most people think of when they hear the word “movie” or “film” the first three movies of the franchise are fantastic in their own ways, it’s what makes the first three films so rewatchable they all have their own personalities and fantastic moments. Then came Crystal Skull which while it’s not one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen, in context with the Indiana Jones series It’s pretty horrendous. James Mangold (Logan, Ford V. Ferrari, and Lost City Of Z) being in the director’s chair gave me some sort of hope that Dial Of Destiny could turn the ship around and get it back on track…it did not.

The movie does have it’s positives, the acting overall is pretty decent. Harrison Ford and Phoebe Waller-Bridge turn in some solid performances and the rest of the cast do a decent job in their own right. John Williams’s score is of course always great and actually gives the movie the life it needed (especially during a lot of scenes that came off as soulless.)

The major problem with Dial Of Destiny is it really lacks the energetic and spark of the first three movies, it strangely feels much slower and tries to fit in with the modern Hollywood landscape. Which ultimately backfires on it and ends up being a very below average adventure movie because of it, when you combine that with a very lackluster script that doesn’t execute it’s story well you have yourself a slog of a movie.

The character’s are just not great despite the acting and chemistry being quite solid, there was very little character moments and development to make the viewer care for a lot of these characters. As much as I liked Phoebe Waller-Bridge her character was just not well written, that goes for the villains as well who completely lack in memorability.

Overall Indiana Jones and the Dial Of Destiny is better than Crystal Skull but is an incredibly weak closer to the franchise.

Indiana Jones and the Dial Of Destiny is available on all VOD platforms.

4/10 D+

Spy Kids: Armageddon…why?

When the children of the world’s greatest secret agents unwittingly help a powerful game developer unleash a computer virus that gives him control of all technology, they must become spies themselves to save their parents and the world.

Spy Kids: Armageddon is the fifth Spy Kids movie and serves as a reboot to the series, a reboot that was absolutely not needed as well as offering nothing new to the series.

Look I’m well past the age demographic of these movies and I did not go into this movie expecting a masterpiece, however Spy Kids: Armageddon completely misses so much of what made Spy Kids so fun in the first place. I’m not going to act like the Spy Kids movies are well written pieces of cinema but at least the first two had charm too it.

With Armageddon there is very little charm, the cast don’t work nearly as well at all. Zackery Levi and Gina Rodriguez as the parents are uninteresting and really phone it in. Connor Esterson and Everly Carganilla as the leads have some decent moments and at the very least do seem like they are having some bit of fun in certain scenes.

It doesn’t help that Armageddon reuses so many plot elements from other movies and makes them worse, for example there’s the part when the family has to fend off skeletons which is from Spy Kids 2, the movie being centered around video games and set inside a video game that’s Spy Kids 3D. Heck even character traits are reused such as a lot of the jokes being at the expense of the brother, the parents not telling the kids they are spies and the sister having a comeback roast. It’s absolute laziness and wants to come off as a throwback type of movie but it isn’t really a throwback when you are just using the exact same ideas but only somehow making them worse.

Everything else that isn’t reused is quite forgettable, some of the action scenes for some reason take themselves a bit too seriously which is completely odd considering the whole point of why people like the first two Spy Kids movies is they don’t take themselves seriously. It’s a very odd tone shift that completely doesn’t work at all.

Overall Spy Kids: Armageddon was a terrible reboot that offered nothing new to the series, I’m sure the age demographic will get a kick out of this one. Everyone else not so much.

Spy Kids Armageddon is available on Netflix.

1/10 F