mattjames1973 Reviews

Fallout (2024– )

Pretty good, especially for gamers

[7/10 · 14 April 2024]

This Prime adaptation of Bethesda's hugely successful game series does a surprisingly good job of both being a decent watch in it's own right, and of bringing the games to life.

Fallout was a well-chosen title to adapt: it's enormously rich in story, creativity, humour and atmosphere throughout. It's utterly immersive and full of fabulous, convincing characters and places.

The story begins in the claustrophobic confines of Vault 33, home to what's left of the human race in a post-apocalyptic world. And they're a surprisingly cheerful and phelgmatic bunch. Until circumstances oblige our heroine, Lucy, to leave the safe familiarity of the Vault and go exploring the unknown Wastelands above. And then all hell breaks loose.

If you have played the games, the look, tone, sounds and details will take you right back there, and there's very little to complain about. Many of the scenes, costumes, and characters will be delightfully familiar.

But is it great TV? Well, yes and no.

I really enjoyed Fallout, and honestly I think there is much to like about it. And it's clear that some people who haven't played the game, and indeed might not normally be fans of this genre, enjoyed it too - see the review by the usually hard-to-please Lucy Mangan in The Gurdian, for example.

However, personally I'm not convinced that it would be easy to 'get it' if you come to this cold.

What do I mean by that? Well, solidly delivered emotional or action scenes will frequently be punctuated by moments of very cheesy humour that could feel awkward, but again are true to the source material. The cheesiness is also quite effective relief from the very graphic (if cartoon-like) violence and horror.

Similarly, some of the sets and studio lighting really look like something straight out of 1970s TV (cardboard rocks and painted backdrops). But so what? It's a game adaptation - it's allowed to look slightly unreal, and even that production style feels deliberately chosen to add to the retro kitsch vibe.

Meanwhile, many of the characters are just great - Walton Goggins' The Ghoul chief among them, with honourable mentions to Sarita Choudhary as Moldava and Michael Emerson as Wilzig (aka The Head).

Elia Purnell does a fine and charming job of carrying the lead as Lucy MacLean, and it's great to see Kyle MacLachlan appearing as her father - again a welcome throwback to worthy forebearers of this show including Twin Peaks and Dune (you know, the other one). But yes, criticism of Aaron Moten's turn as Maximus is probably fair - his range of emotions seem broader when he's in the T60 suit than when he's out of it.

Give it a go, you might like it. If you played the game, I reckon it's a 9/10. If not, it's still fun if you go with the flow. And if you don't like it, well it's not the end of the world...

Road House (2024)

Drive right on by

[3/10 · 31 March 2024]

Take a well-loved original to remake, a genuinely A-list leading man who always delivers, and Amazon's production budget and know-how, and you're bound to come up with a winner, right?

Sadly, no.

I'm strongly guessing that about 95% of the budget went on Mr Gyllenhal's fee (seriously, I really hope he was paid well), with the next 4% going to Conor McGregor. Or maybe his friendly local pharmacist. Anyway, the casting of McGregor was an inspired bit of self-sabotage: most actors can be trained to carry off a well-choreographed fight scene, but it turns out that not every fighter can be turned into an actor. Who knew? By comparison, Mr T gave a nuanced and emotional performance as Clubber Lang, and John Cena looks ready for theatre.

The rest of the cast seems to be largely unknowns (Joaquim de Almeida being the only one I recognised personally, but maybe I'm out of date), and some of them (mostly the female characters) do a decent job. But since everybody labelled "bad guy" rose to the level of McGregor and was utterly plastic, it was really hard to give a damn about the overall narrative.

And despite Gyllenhal's best efforts (he's still charming and likeable, but you can see that it is definitely requiring effort) with so little to oppose and work with, even he can't quite sell the critical moments.

In short, do yourself a favour and spend a night in with Patrick Swayze. The original hasn't aged especially well, but it's still a better vintage than the remake.

Dancer in the Dark (2000)

Emotionally manipulative

[2/10 · 7 April 2023]

I have never left a theatre as angry as I did when I watched this film. Lars von Trier's goal is to make you miserable, and he will succeed. This is an emotionally brutal and manipulative film constructed not to carry a message, nor to exist as art, and certainly not to entertain you, but simply to indulge his exercise in making his audience as miserable as possible. His medium is the exploitation of a very vulnerable woman. He sets out to show the worst of human nature - the least fair, the least principled, the least decent that people can be. There is just no need for it - no benefit that can possibly accrue to anyone from watching this film.

Please, do yourself a favour and avoid it.

Molly's Game (2017)

A surprising little gem

[9/10 · 29 July 2022]

I knew nothing about this film before I watched it, except that Jessica Chastain is invariably worth watching, and Idris Elba ain't bad either. It's an unexpected gem based on the true story of a compelling character. It's witty, well-paced and creative in its story telling. Well worth a couple of hours of your time.

The Tomorrow War (2021)

Enjoyable hokum

[7/10 · 5 July 2021]

If you're watching an alien invasion / time travel movie with high expectations of scientific coherence and artistic merit, then more fool you. This is a daft, fun, well-produced movie for a beer and pizza night. Decent action sequences, likeable characters, enough semblance of a plot line to carry it through. It works great for what it is.

Seabiscuit (2003)

Watchable, but disjointed

[6/10 · 31 January 2021]

Seabiscuit is a watchable telling of the story of this remarkable racehorse and the team around him, but it lacks a bit of soul despite reasonable performances from top-class actors. I watched it back-to-back with the very similar Secretariat, and it suffers by comparison. Narrated historical photographs and film from the time are peppered through the movie, and if the history is familiar then that works fine - but it was hard for my kids to follow, even though they're smart and engaged, and this is a PG.

The Christmas Chronicles: Part Two (2020)

Leftovers

[4/10 · 18 December 2020]

Oh dear. The first CC was charming, funny, and fun. This one isn't. It's total hokum, with some of the worst acting, scripting and direction I've seen in a long time. And possibly the lamest bad guy any movie has ever had. Ever. Seriously, he's completely pointless. And everything else... well you get the idea.

The Christmas Chronicles (2018)

Well worth a watch

[8/10 · 12 December 2020]

Let's be honest, this isn't a great movie - but it is a great Christmas movie. If you want a family Christmas movie, have watched Elf once too often, are fed up with people sanctimoniously suggesting It's a Wonderful Life, try this. It's decent.

Cobra Kai (2018–2025)

Better than it has any right to be

[7/10 · 1 October 2020]

This should be total cheese. It even plays up to that expectation at points, especially in first season. But two seasons in they've created good characters, with tension and balance, moving along at a nice pace. No doubt that William Zabka is the star turn, bringing a depth that none of us could have imagined from the young Jonny Lawrence.

The Mandalorian (2019– )

Really decent - definitely deserves another series

[8/10 · 17 July 2020]

This is great - measured, humorous, plenty to like for adults and kids, and loads of potential left for Yoda minor to develop. It can't be easy to work with a lead who can't display any facial expression at all, but Favreau has succeeded in creating a strong character with good support around him. Nice job.

Predestination (I) (2014)

Well worth a watch

[8/10 · 25 July 2019]

This was much more interesting than most high-concept sci-fi movies, and it's great to see Ethan Hawke on good form. I could see where it was going pretty early but that didn't spoil the ride. Not too much violence either.

Elysium (I) (2013)

Moderately entertaining hokum

[5/10 · 10 June 2019]

This is OK, and surprisingly dramatic for a film essentially about the need for equitable access to healthcare. You know, with robots and spaceships. It doesn't overly concern itself with details like consistency or subtlety. Alice Braga and Matt Damon work with what they've got, but I can only imagine that Jodie Foster was (a) running low on cash and (b) taking the p*ss, as this is the most numbingly one-dimensional performance you'll ever see from a once-fine actress.

A Wrinkle in Time (2018)

Bizarrely campy nonsense

[2/10 · 19 October 2018]

This film would have rated as a bit sub-standard in 1972. The idea that it was made in 2018 beggars belief. Oprah? Oh, she's an alien goddess fairy godmother thing. Just give her lots of silver eyeshadow and a mermaid tail and it will be fine.

Terminal (I) (2018)

Written like a somewhat talented school student's drama project on noir

[4/10 · 6 October 2018]

For a while, Terminal threatens to become a properly interesting and highly stylised psycho noir movie, but rapid disintegrates under the weight of cliche, unnecessary devices and simply awful writing. The dialogue and plot development feel like the cut scenes in a video game c2004. Most of the character reveals are entirely predicatable, the one that isn't is so silly and unnecessary as to be doubly irritating.

I admire directors and actors willing to take a risk and do something different, and I did genuinely like this up to a point, but in the end I'm simply amazed that such an ensemble of actors with plenty of opportunities to make better and/or better paying movies would sign on for this. OK, Dexter Fetcher and MIke Myers do exactly what they always do, but what on earth was Margot Robbie thinking?

The Program (II) (2015)

Surprisingly weak film given the material

[5/10 · 1 August 2018]

I'm a cycling fan and a film lover. I cheered for Armstrong, followed his downfall, read all the books (Walsh, Hamilton, Landis etc). The true story has plenty of drama and incredible characters. However, this movie, which I really wanted to like, is a rather anaemic version of that story. Ben Foster works hard but just isn't as impactful, as imposing or as dramatic as Armstrong himself. Events move too quickly to really get the measure of them. Perhaps it's too big a story to tell, but the documentary versions do better.

Suburbicon (2017)

Bleak, pointless and ultimately not very entertaining

[4/10 · 29 March 2018]

I like Matt Damon and Julianne Moore, and so went into this with high hopes, but was left disappointed. There are no likeable or sympathetic characters here. There's nothing clever in the plot. There's no sharp dialogue. There's no important message. The most interesting characters barely get a line of dialogue. That would all be ok if it was somehow truly entertaining, but to be honest I was willing the credits to roll from pretty early on. Whether you're seeking dramatic social commentary or you just want an enjoyable distraction for two hours, look elsewhere.

Swallows and Amazons (2016)

Book lovers beware - butchers a timeless classic

[3/10 · 10 March 2017]

It was somewhat hard to judge this film on its own merits, as the heavy-handed and wholly unnecessary additions to the the source material were so distracting. My wife and I were excited to watch this with our kids of just the right age, but were then left very disappointed. If the production team didn't believe that Arthur Ransome's wonderful book was sufficiently exciting, why film it?

Right from the first scene material is added. And it's counter-productive: the book sees the children into their special adventure within just a few pages, where the film takes twenty minutes.

For a child reader the novel is a pure delight, and the adventures real and thrillingly out of reach but still within the contemplation of children; there's nothing too scary or beyond their control, and the young reader desperately wants to be part of that freedom and excitement. The film, however, strays into very adult territory, with situations genuinely outwith the children's control and full of real danger, and children would not want to be there. Peat diggers and pretend pirates seem scary but aren't: men with guns are.

At one point my 6 year old buried her head in my chest and said 'kids films aren't supposed to have guns!' Too true.

Nonetheless it's not wholly without merit. If you don't know the books sufficiently to suffer these frustrations, it's still an exciting tale of childhood adventure that is unimaginably permissive from a modern perspective, set in the stunning scenery of the English Lake a District. It still has charm, just far less than it might have had. The six child actors are nothing special, with only the re-named Tatty really delighting, but their performances are sufficient not to get in the way, in contrast say to the 2005 adaptation of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.

In summary: passable, but fans of the book should avoid the film.