michaeldavies335 Reviews

Morbius (2022)

A decent popcorn movie

[7/10 · 10 February 2024]

I put off watching this due to the low IMDb rating (5.2) and because of Leto's last incarnation of a superhero character ("Joker"). Didn't fancy watching anything too intense so thought I'd stick this on just to switch the brain off.

Not sure why it has such a bad rating. I actually enjoyed it. Decent pace, acting is good, graphics a bit overused but visually it was fantastic.

I'm not a Marvel fanboy and was unaware of the character of Morbius so not sure if it's not drifted too far from the source material that's annoyed people?

I suppose the only thing I'd have improved upon is Matt Smith's character. I think it may have helped if they had shown him crying in pain every day, or bed ridden to really make the fact he went behind his friends back and changed because it was that awful to live with such pain.

Otherwise, a decent 7/10 film to switch off from. Better than both Venom films as others have said.

The Orville: Identity, Part II (2019) Season 2, Episode 9

Excellent

[9/10 · 9 October 2022]

This episode is on par with Star Trek: DS9 Season 6 episode "Sacrifice of Angels" where Starfleet along with other members of the Alpha Quadrant retake DS9 from the Dominion. The Orville has established itself as a great replacement for we Trekkies who have been told Nu Trek isn't for them. The Orville has characters we care about stories that keep you engaged. Just like Star Trek used to be.

What a ride. Really superb writing, directing and acting. Action pact with thrills and spills. I look forward to every episode. They always manage to sprinkle just a good amount of comedy into the episode without spoiling it. Love it.

Trespass (1992)

Enjoyable film to switch off to

[7/10 · 18 September 2022]

Decent 90's movie - William Sadler and Bill Paxton have great on screen chemistry as two friends that come across a map of stashed gold stolen from a church 50 years ago. They see this as their opportunity out of their remedial lives being fireman if only they can find it hidden away in an abandoned factory.

It's a really enjoyable film and plot. Both main characters are ones you can care about what happens to them.

The biggest issue though are the supporting cast. "Ice Cube" and "Ice T" are absolutely terrible. Ice T is supposed to be the main protagonist but he has the acting skills of someone in a local volunteer community acting school. Ice Cube seems to have a constant look on his face like you've just ask him a maths question. If they had chosen better actors it would have been even better. They have been written as complete cliched black characters. Lots of "dissin" and swearing at each other.

The choice to show shoot scenes with someone holding a homemade video recorder is also a strange one. Doesn't add anything to the film whatsoever and in fact I found it ridiculous as well as The odd Dutch angle every now and again.

All in all an enjoyable way to kill a couple of hours.

The Pogmentary (2022)

The Perfect Modern Football

[1/10 · 23 June 2022]

Egotistical, overrated, definitely overpaid, lazy, bad attitude the perfect example of why I no longer watch football. Pogba spends more time in the mirror than training for the next game. The guy thinks he's some sort of god.

The Northman (2022)

So disappointed

[6/10 · 28 May 2022]

I remember seeing the teaser trailer for this months and months ago and feeling excited. Having been a fan of the Viking series as well as enjoying European history I was looking forward to it.

Pros: no Africans. In this modern Liberal 1984 esq world we live in where history is rewritten to suite a Far Left Liberal agenda it was great to see a historically accurate film based on European history/lore. Just White people which is very rare these days. Normally you'd see some ridiculous insert where they'd make out an African had contributed some way to our culture.

Conns: terrible editing, mixed directing - I would say it was as if 3 directors had been employed looking at the styles. Slow pace, no character development and of course Nicole Kidman's face - what has she done?!

Gemini Man (2019)

Give it a try

[7/10 · 11 February 2022]

I only recently got round to watching Gemini Man due to all the bad reviews. Decided to give it a go one Sunday evening and I must say I was surprised how good it was.

Will Smith turned in an excellent performance and you could really see it when when he came into contact with his clone and portrayed the seasoned man with lots of life experience, trying to advise his younger self.

I actually wasn't bothered by the faster frame rate that this was filmed in which has bothered others. Netflix only provided this as a HD release and not 4k so the smoother frame rate allowed this to seem higher quality than it was.

It will be a film I return back to every now and again as a good popcorn switch off movie.

The Handmaid's Tale: Baggage (2018) Season 2, Episode 3

Slow and preachy

[3/10 · 17 October 2021]

This show started off great - now it's full of LGBT and Interracial couples (black man/white woman of course). The only White couple with traditional views are the bad guys.

Renegade (II) (2019)

Wonderfully beautiful

[10/10 · 6 May 2021]

David Icke woke me up over 20 years ago to what the world really is. I've read all his books and watched his videos, he is a machine of knowledge. I see a few 1 Star reviews from the usual "thinks he's the son of god", "lizard people" and one even called him an ex snooker commentator(?). It proves they haven't even bothered to read the first page in any of his books. The Sheeple as he calls them.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Sacrifice of Angels (1997) Season 6, Episode 6

Emotional ride

[10/10 · 27 July 2020]

One of the best Star Trek episodes ever made in my opinion. Talk about an emotional ride. Great direction, excellent storyline and ending. I don't need to say anymore.

X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019)

Flat...

[4/10 · 2 July 2020]

Flat is the perfect word I would use to describe Dark Phoenix. My wife and I have recently started watching movies in order (finished all Marvel/Avengers movies In order starting with Iron Man a few weeks back). Then moved onto X-Men beginning with the year 2000 initial launch. Although dated it was still enjoyable, being in our mid 30's we grew up in the Superhero era where a few months couldn't go by without a new one coming out. And have thus seen all of the X-Men in the cinema bar Dark Phoenix due to the bad reviews.

If we move past the first 3 (X-Men/X2/Last Stand) we come to the new cast beginning with First Class. As mentioned we'd seen all but Dark Phoenix in the cinema - we thought they were superb. First Class was excellent, McAvoy and Fassbender had both done great service to the characters they were taking over from Patrick Stewart and Ian Mckellen. Days of Future Past is one of the greatest Superhero films made in our opinion. Nothing close to The Dark Knight Trilogy but we'd put it in a close 4th place. X-Men Apocalypse is as fun albeit not as good as precious two instalments.

Now we begin with Dark Phoenix - as the title we used explains - it was flat. Nothing happens from scene to scene to distinguish itself from the other. It's all very dreary and depressing. We looked at the timer at home when pausing the movie and an hour had gone with not much story development.

Characters were weak and not used - Quicksilver really should have been pushed to the forefront after being so important in the previous 2 instalments but he was WASTED by being in it for only 10 mins in total. "Mystique" or should I just say Jennifer Lawrence was paid million's upon millions of pounds to be in this film but apparently didn't like the makeup so wore as little as possible and died within the first 20 mins.

Magneto was only in this to tick a box I think as he didn't add anything.

The supposedly main villain was just like a wet piece of paper. Brought nothing to the scenes or story.

Very bad way to go out . The score is beautiful but not used correctly as it didn't add anything to the scenes to create excitement as it was too low.

The Orville (2017–2022)

Star Trek...kind of - Excellent, excellent, excellent

[10/10 · 20 December 2019]

I've just finished Season 2 having watched the show from the start in just a few days.

Being a huge Star Trek fan this reminded me of watching the Star Trek shows - minus the abysmal "Star Trek" (in name only) Discovery.

You could easily put the cast in Starfleet uniforms and it would easily pass as a new Trek show. It evolved so much from its first few episodes - from being a comedy to actually telling some really deep and meaningful stories. Just like Star Trek used to be. Unlike STD which is just depressing and has a "straight white man bad" mentality, boring characters who are only there to check the PC checklist.

Each character gets the perfect amount of episodes each to flesh out and you really get to care for them. The last 2 episodes for Season 2 were excellent, really really good story telling.

I don't know what the budget is for each episode but the graphics and sets are phenomenal.

I can't wait for Season 3.

The Flintstones (1994)

Take it for what it is

[8/10 · 20 November 2019]

Recently saw this again (multiple times) as my young daughters (3 & 7) found it on Netflix so it was on repeat!

I had seen it many years ago when it came out in the cinema and when it came on TV. Might have owned it on VHS as I'm only 35.

It's a classic mid 90's movie - lots of effort put into props and the style of the movie (better than getting drowned in CGI like these days), great score and cast.

Take it for what it is - an enjoyable family film for you to watch with the kids.

Star Trek: Enterprise: Damage (2004) Season 3, Episode 19

The last resort...

[9/10 · 18 November 2019]

An excellent episode. I wish we'd have seen more like this in Voyager.

From other reviews I've seen people mentioned that this isn't Star Trek because it's supposed to be a perfect world. Well as Sisko said once: "It's easy to be an a Saint in Paradise".

His ship is broken, his crew battered and bruised and the fate of Earth hangs in the balance if Archer doesn't get to the planned meeting with the Xindi scientist to stop the planet killing weapon.

This is set 100 years before Kirk remember, no Federation, no Prime Directive. This is the deepest Humans have ever been out into space and they're at the brink of extinction. Archer did what he had to do. "The good of the many out way the good of the one" in this case.

An excellent episode that pushes every character to the brink including the Captain.

Star Trek: Enterprise: Regeneration (2003) Season 2, Episode 23

Best Enterprise Episode...so far

[9/10 · 16 November 2019]

I've decided to start Enterprise from scratch. Admittedly I've never been a fan but have always classed it as Canon and dipped into it here and there over the years. To be fair it's ok, Scott Bakula as Captain Archer has earned his rightful place amongst the other Captains (Kirk, Picard, Sisko & Janeway) but as for the others, my initial feelings of this show were correct. The characters have practically zero development. I'm near the end of Season 2 and can't really remember much about them. Hoshi and Mayweather for sure, they must be the most undeveloped ones in Star Trek history.

Anyway back to the episode, I thought this was excellent, if the tone was like this throughout it would be great, I've found Enterprise episodes to be slow.

It starts off where the universally liked 1996 TNG Movie 'First Contact' left off. When the Enterprise-E destroyed the Borg Sphere after it was firing at the Montana missile site in 2063 some parts - along with Borg Drones - fell to Earth and landed in the Arctic Circle where they were to remain until being found 100 years later by scientists.

Predictably they get thawed out and woken up which results in the scientists being assimilated. They then escape Earth and make their way back to the Delta Quadrant to join the rest of the Borg Collective which are of course there in this time.

The Enterprise NX-01 are sent to intercept which they do and of course they get in a little trouble with them and ultimately have to deal with ship assimilation along with personnel - namely Phlox.

By the end of the episode they've destroyed the Borg ship and Dr Phlox has cured himself. The Borg Drones though did manage to get off a subspace message sent to the Delta Quadrant which T'Pol points out would take about 200 years to get to its destination.

Now this is 2019 - so unfortunately we have Discovery...which I prefer to call STD. Comments have mentioned the lack of Canon in this episode....and as any Trekkie will know, STD spits in the face of Canon and doesn't care about its source material, it's just interested in using Star Trek's established customer base (which isn't interested).

The 2 big things I didn't like were no explanation of how Archer's Captain's Logs weren't used to identify that the Borg had been in contact with Humans before the incident in 2364 (Q episode) and Dr Phlox being able to cure himself from being infected.

But I'll forgive them for that because this show is a Star Trek show and respects its history.

Replicas (2018)

Ok for a Sunday

[5/10 · 23 October 2019]

We all know that Keanu Reeves isn't the best actor - but he still has good screen presence.

Sci-Fi is my favourite genre - as this film is less than 2 hours long it was a good enough escape film to relax too on an evening.

Let's get into it:

Pro's:

Direction is pretty good, some slight Dutch angles now and again but overall the lighting and colour scheme is well done.

Concept - we've seen this type of movie before where a scientist is researching something and just so happens to need said research to save his family - a familiar plot but still enjoyable.

Cons - graphics....the robot is about 5 years ahead of The Lawnmower Man I would say. Very poor for a movie that was made in 2016 (released 2019).

William (Keanu) makes a decision which I felt needed more exploration and conflict. It seemed far too an easy decision was made without the character weighing it up - you'll know when you see it.

Acting - as mentioned in other reviews - not the best but to be honest I would blame the script, it is very poor and the dialogue is atrocious in some scenes.

Pace - I found the first act to be slow paced, the second was very enjoyable and if it would have remained at this level it would have been a much better film - Third Act - I found I was looking at my phone. The pace really slowed and didn't seem to find its rhythm again.

Ending - slightly satisfying albeit i found some questions unanswered. A very weird end to the movie which didn't really fit. It seemed like an after thought of "yeah this would be nice".

If you want to just sit back and watch a Sci-fi Movie then this'll do - don't expect much.

It Chapter Two (2019)

Too Long - Poor CGI

[5/10 · 20 October 2019]

Enjoyed the first movie, thought the aesthetics of the scenes were great, child actors were superb and Pennywise was truly terrifying.

Unfortunately this movie which is a continuation of the story set 27 years later falls flat. I wasn't aware of the run time (I watched it at home) so presumed it was around about the 2 hour mark when I put it on - very shocked to see this genre of movie come in at the near 3 hour mark. You can tell that they've just tried to put filler scenes in to stretch it out for some reason as it does drag. I found myself no longer becoming interested in the scenes because they were just full of jump scares.

These jump scares were mostly complied of very very poor CGI. It took me out of the movie multiple times. I said to my wife it's more like a Resident Evil or even Scooby-doo type film at those points.

I felt Pennywise didn't feature much either. Granted the fact he operates in the shadows adds to his mystery but I find it more scary when they showed a dark corner and all you hear is his voice. Much better than something running at you that looks like it's from Harry Potter.

Adult actors were all good but overall it was about 45 mins too long and ended up becoming boring to watch.

The Client (1994)

Slow Film

[4/10 · 30 August 2019]

The film has a huge high class amount of talent. I usually love these types of films, mid to late 1990's movies based around Law and Courtrooms. The acting is ok but I can't say I'll be remembering any of them.

Unfortunately it's a very slow film, I didn't care for any of the characters, certainly the young boy. It seemed so stupid that *SPOILER* he didn't just cooperate with the FBI and get protected. Instead scene after scene it was just how he could be as arrogant as possible and create more problems for himself.

Probably about 20 mins too long at just over 2 hours.

Cape Fear (1991)

I Don't Get It

[2/10 · 22 June 2019]

I love Martin Scorsese's work - Goodfellas, The Departed, Taxi Driver, Wolf of Wall Street etc etc but I was in shock when 20 minutes into the film I had to check who directed it due to some of the strange camera angles being used. The lighting and tone of the scene were almost 60's/70's like not as if the film was made in 1991. When I saw it was Scorsese I thought I'd give him the benefit of the doubt.

However for the first time in one of his movies I had to turn it off - 48 minutes in - because my wife and I couldn't go through another 1hr 14 minutes of it.

I looked on IMDb to check the rating as a usually do before selecting a new movie to watch - I find its usually 8/10 right in regard to how good a film is - seeing this as 7.1/10 I thought this was going to be excellent. Unfortunately we found it to be boring, poor acting and drawn out.

I was constantly waiting for something to happen, the scenes were too fast and not able to provide me with a sense of what exactly was going on to care.

Everything in my eyes was introduced within the order 5-10 mins and then it was catch up time. I really didn't get the motive of De Niro's character which would explain his actions. I knew he was a very intelligent sick individual- but I couldn't accept his animosity towards Nick Nolte's character.

Not for me - I usually love the character driven films of Scorsese - but this was very disappointing.

Murder Mystery (2019)

Relax and enjoy

[7/10 · 21 June 2019]

My wife and I have just finished watching this on a Friday night. It was exactly what we needed. Funny, unserious and we were able to switch off for a couple of hours and enjoy. This is what the film is all about, an old fashioned murder mystery, non pc stereotypes and well timed comedy. A good comedy movie.

Annihilation (I) (2018)

Awful, slow & unscensical mess

[2/10 · 21 March 2019]

2 Stars for visuals only. So very very slow paced even during the "action" scenes. Most of the acting was very below par, character development was zero. They added an affair story line in there (white woman/black man of course - this is Netflix) but didn't expand on it - apparently the husband found out but he never mentioned it.

As for plot - they've sent trained military men, animals and drones yet non have ever returned so they come up with the greatest idea yet.....send 5 women....only one of which has ever had any combat/survival training. What could go wrong? What was the next idea? School children?

As for the ending, tried to be smart with a cliff hanger but it didn't come off as there was no substance to it - nothing happened to explain the final scene.

Terrible.

Independence Day: Resurgence (2016)

What Happened?

[4/10 · 8 July 2016]

To begin with I must stress how much of a fan of the original 1996 Independence Day movie I am. For me, its my all time favourite film. Like most movie lovers there are certain films that you go back to now and again, purposely leaving 6 months or more until the next viewing just to make sure that you forget a scene here and there.

I've searched for years about the possibility of a sequel for Independence Day and when it was announced that there would be one, even so far as to have 2 sequels, I was very excited.

I went to view it last night trying to ignore the 5.6 IMDb rating, not reading reviews in case of any spoilers that were left in there and basically approaching it knowing it wasn't going to be a story driven movie like Shawshank or The Godfather. Unfortunately I left feeling very disappointed. I've given it 4/10 only because of the graphics which I thought were very impressive albeit relied upon too much, and the other reason was seeing the characters from the first movie.

My latter reason - the characters - brings me to my first point. Whilst as mentioned it was great to see them on the big screen again and involved in a new story I left feeling as if there had been no character development or at least no explanation as to how they got to where they were.

Take Jeff Goldblum's character David. One of his driving forces to get to the White House in the first movie was not only to inform the Presidency that the clock was ticking, but also to save his estranged wife - Constance (Margaret Colin). She was a massive subplot character yet she was no where to be seen nor was any explanation for her lack of appearance given. It took a quick search when I got home to find out like others have tried to, that she died in a car accident in the official prequel novel to this movie - Independence Day: Crucible. I didn't even know this existed, apparently it was released a month before Resurgence came out. I'm hoping that this will explain in more detail what happened. The character of David seems unaffected by her loss and the story hints at some romance between him and some English women that "he met at a conference".

Moving on to the next character - and in my opinion the most important one - President Whitmore. His leadership and amazing speeches gave humans hope and determination to fight back when the time came. In this movie he's just a bumbling old crazy man, all it would of taken was a quick 2 minute scene where they explain that after the original movie, Bill Pullman's character suffered from a PTSD due to the attack or that he worried so much about another attack that he lost his mind. Instead it came down to the telepathic connection he had from the original movie that made him into this weak character. Which brings me to his demise. I couldn't believe how poor his death scene was, and to be perfectly honest with you, it was all for nothing. Yeah he destroyed the Queen's (more about her later) mini ship, but she survived the explosion due to her having a personal shield, so it was all in vain...and as for his "Happy 4th July" line before pressing the button to set off the bomb, there was no build up whatsoever, as soon as it happened I had to double take and thought to myself - "is that it?". Just remember back when Randy Quaid's character gave his final line "Hello boyyyys, I'mmmm backkkkkk!" after taking the jet into a vertical flight and then boom, huge explosion, the destroyer is defeated and lots of "USA! USA!". Although cheesy, it gives me goosebumps every time.

My last point on original characters and this will be quick is of Jasmine - Will Smith's wife to be. Again like Contance for David Levinstein - Jasmine was a driving force for Captain Steven Hiller. In this movie she's now moved on from being a stripper to apparently being pretty high up in a Hospital. Again, zero explanation, another chance to have a quick 2 minute scene perhaps with her son Dilan. This would of been perfect timing to discuss Will Smith's character - Cpt Steven Hiller - having died. Her death was also very weak, her character was wasted and never mentioned again.

Now moving on to the new characters - this is going to be very brief. Poor acting, unlikable and it felt more like Hunger Games: In Space. This of course helped with the inclusion of Liam Hemsworth - the cheaper brother. Not at all interesting and forgettable.

All in all it was a very bad film, I feel I could write all day about what I thought went wrong with this movie but if you've gotten this far down my babbling then I thank you and will save you from the rest. I just sit here shaking my head at a missed opportunity.

To finalise, in my mind, this movie for me will not be connected to the original Independence Day. I'll still watch the 1996 movie as if the final scene was the end of the story to be told.

I just wish to say this to Roland Emmerich for producing this poor sequel to a cinematic classic:

• "In the words of my generation...Up Yours!"

Battleship (2012)

One of the WORST films i've ever seen!

[1/10 · 12 April 2012]

Well - where do i start?! I remember the trailer for Battleship being in the cinemas way back in July 2011 and like other people no doubt thought wow! But after months and months of waiting and watching the other trailers being released i've been totally let down.

Don't get me wrong, i wasn't entering the cinema expecting a beautiful storyline with deep insights into the human psyche! But i was expecting a movie - instead i was treated to a pile of crap - thats the only way i can describe it! I'm a big movie fan - my favourite film in regard to entertainment value is Independence Day. I think i was expecting a modern version of this but i in fact insult Independence Day by mentioning Battleship in the same breath.

The film begins with promise - good pace, some interesting scientific scenes and slight comedy. But after 15 minutes it went from an 8/10 movie to a 1/10 movie and stayed there. I actually only stayed in the cinema until the end due to paying £20 to watch the film.

I'd like to go into the story but there isn't one so i'll just make some bullet points as to why its so terrible: *****SPOILER ALERTS***** * Liam Neilson only being in it for a total of about 5 minutes screen time * Rhianna getting hit by the alien and while only weighing 6 stone wet through getting straight up again...oh yes and of course having a cap glued to her head the whole film, even though being thrown in the water.

You know what...i'm not going to waste my time PLEASE DON'T GO AND WATCH THIS! SAVE YOUR MONEY!!!

Underworld: Awakening (2012)

AMAZING! The BEST of the Underworlds!

[7/10 · 22 January 2012]

Well, where do i start - I think I'll begin by stating this is the best Underworld movie in the entire series. A bold statement, but one i think a lot of people will agree with.

The first 10 minutes is non stop action but goes at a pace that isn't difficult to keep up with. There's some great 3D scenes involving Selene and the Police. By the time it slows down the adrenaline is pumping and you find yourself with a smile on your face awaiting for whats coming next.

I thought the entire movie went at an excellent pace, slowing down when needed to establish the plot - it stays true to the previous 2 films obviously not including the prequel, yet becomes its own movie not recycling stories from the others. All the actors are well cast and I was kept guessing throughout the movie at what direction they would go in being surprised a number of times.

Kate Beckinsale was fantastic in this, she has a way of coming across as a realistic heroine without the over the top Girl Power that we see in other movies.

I walked out of the IMAX cinema fully pleased and thrilled with the film that has now been added to the excellent Underworld series. I for one cannot wait until the next film arrives (hopefully)!!!

Stargate (1994)

A Great Movie...

[9/10 · 27 December 2007]

This has to be one of the best movies ever made in my opinion. Yes, like all movies it has its negative points, but, its up there with the best.

A great cast, James Spader as Dr. Daniel Jackson is especially good in this filmk, Jae Davidson who plays Ra plays a 100% evil and realistic character.

The whole storyline of an Alien coming to earth and creating the Egyptian culture by becoming a God, is in my opinion a realistic storyline. Personally as a believer in UFO's etc the film really does form a strong argument of how it could of happened.

I have personally given it a 9/10 score, the graphics are still realistic since it was made 11 years ago.

I am a minor fan of the spin-off show SG-1 but would of loved to have seen a sequel to this on the big screen! All in all, a fantastic, fun filled movie with everything you want out of a Sci-Fi movie!