Change Your Image
jamhough
Reviews
Willy's Wonderland (2021)
Some questionable creative choices let it down
I'm a fan of the Five Night's at Freddy's video game series and the similarities between the games and this film had me intrigued. Obviously going into Willy's Wonderland I wasn't expecting a cinematic classic and was looking forward to a fun B movie. Five Nights at Freddys, Nicholas Cage, some 80's inspired cheesy
horror, how could it go wrong!? Turns out pretty easily.
The film struggled to find an identity. Is it a horror? Well there's no real suspense or scares. Is it a comedy? The majority of the jokes fall flat. Is it an action film? Cage awkwardly beats up a couple of animatronics, so it has that going for it.
The decision for Nicholas Cage's character to be mute throughout the film was a brave decision and one that didn't work in my opinion. Would have probably have been better if they gave him some dialogue (Think Arnie levels in Terminator) especially early on as some scenes just felt empty.
Emily Tosta was good as the young heroine playing opposite Cage, although she probably needed a little bit more direction in the action scene's. Her character definitely came across as the most real, overcoming the limitations in script and direction.
Like most horror films the film is filled with stupid people making stupid decisions. Cage could easily have just left once he realised what was going on. But after every attack by an animatronic he went back to playing pinball and cleaning the restaurant like he was trying to become employee of the month. The group of teenagers who were too scared to enter and wanted to burn the building down to end the curse predictably ended up going inside. Then once inside rather than leaving again they split up and sneaked off to have sex.
Sadly a film that had the potential to be a cheesy fun filled over the top action scare fest just fell flat and even the star power of Nicholas Cage couldn't save it.
The Outpost (2018)
Low budget but it grows on you. Talon is great
I've been ignoring the Outpost for the past couple of years but after it got renewed for a 3rd season I decided to take the plunge and start watching it. This review is after watching the 1st season.
The 1st couple of episodes weren't great but like in most series it improves over time. This obviously doesn't have a big budget behind it but once the show finds it's feet it does the best with what it has. The fight and action scenes are very basic, I don't think we're going to see any epic battles but they do enough to inject some action into into the story. The lead actress is very charming and she excels with the script and production that she's given. She is definitely the highlight of the show! The same can't be said for the guy that plays Janzo; He's very hammy and I presume he must be friends with a producer or something as he isn't very good and not even Talon can save some of his scenes. The rest of the cast are generally ok, nobody is going to be winning any awards but with the exception or 1 or 2 hammy performances they are ok.
Overall this is worth watching if you've got the time to invest, just don't expect a fantasy epic. I'm looking forward to watching the 2nd season as I''m invested in Talon.
Ready Player One (2018)
Ok film that suffers from many flaws
This film is ok if you just want to watch something without over analysing it. The acting and action scenes are fine. But if you start to think about the plot to much you'll find a tonne of holes. I don't think anybody involved in this film has ever played a video game let alone VR.
An evil corporation in the future is looking to monetize a virtual world where everybody in the world basically plays on and the corporation will stop at nothing to do this (murder, slavery and every underhand tactic in the book) but rather than fight the problems in the real world (poverty, oppression etc) the heroes would rather fight against in game adverts.
The film is packed full of 80s pop culture references even though the target audience weren't born then.
The Order (2019)
Werewolves, magic and teen angst
The show is ok, not great but watchable. A middle tier netflix show.
The writing is a bit hit or miss and some of the characters are better developed than others. The main character seems to go into every situation seeing how he can make the situation worse with his personality. He's not really a character that you want to root behind.
It's not all bad though, the werewolf trio are a fun little group who are all interesting in their own way and offer some slight comic relief.
Overall if you've exhausted all of Netflix's top tier shows and looking for something to binge that you don't need to think about too hard this is worth a watch to pass a weekend in lockdown.
Cursed (2020)
Wasted potential
This show was a big disappointment. The overall production of the show just feels off... It's poorly written and feels like the majority of the actors are just phoning it in and taking that juicy Netflix money.
Some scenes even felt like and out and out parody.
I feel like if they created a show with feys and humans without shoehorning the King Arthur mythology into it, it could have been better. (Definitely couldn't have been worse!)
The great British hero Arthur is reduced to a thief and a liar. Portrayed by an actor with the personality and screen presence of a brush. And considering Arthur was famous for defeating the Saxons this show skips the entire British invasion of Saxons and Jutes and advances Britain 200 years into the future to the Vikings invasion.
Some of the fight scenes are ok but they do little to redeem the overall production and tone of the show.