wisemantonofski Reviews

Unbelievable (2019)

Puns Aside, Damn Good

[9/10 · 5 January 2020]

By no means easy viewing, this is a gripping and profound drama that leaves you simultaneously craving more and begging it to stop as the raw brutality on display deepens and intensifies. Emotional performances make up the unshakable core as the story unfolds, one compelling revelation to the next, told with such a mastery for forced perspective as to have you questioning everything you see; and cleverly threading the story of our compelling lead through the narrative so sparingly as to have her seem as forgotten as she must have felt.

Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker (2019)

Pure Sci-Fi Spectacle, What a Finale

[9/10 · 5 January 2020]

For as much ground as needed to be covered from a narrative perspective to satisfactorily wrap up this trilogy, Rise succeeds in almost every way, suffering only a first act bogged down by rushed exposition that tries to balance against equal amounts of action. Once it finds its feet however, the final act of the sequel trilogy is a passionate and loving send-off to the Skywalker Saga, rife with not only the stirring nostalgia of Awakens but the ground-breaking ambition of Jedi before it; and masterfully tying up all the loose ends and lingering questions left dangling by its predecessors without detracting from the glorious spectacle of the franchise's final battle.

Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017)

As Daring as it is Divisive

[8/10 · 5 January 2020]

There's a stark imbalance of tone and pace that can make it difficult to reconcile Jedi's light-hearted and action packed moments with those slower and more reserved, and make the film's second act feel as low on fuel as the Resistance fleet. At times more concerned with exploring the moralities of heroism, the consequences often unseen behind them and the grey areas between the Light Side and the Dark, it also embraces the explosive spectacle that made this franchise great; delivering some of the best action and most phenomenal cinematography Star Wars has ever seen.

Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015)

Welcome Back, Star Wars

[10/10 · 5 January 2020]

A perfectly balanced blend of charming love-letter to the style and structure of the original trilogy, infused with an emphatic freshness of humour and new ideas, creates what could be argued to be the purest straight Star Wars film of the entire saga. Paced to perfection as it hits the familiar narrative beats we come to expect, Awakens is alive with the over-the-top action and stirring sentimentality of the films we grew up with while also casting very modern shadow of intrigue and mystery that sets the mind whirring with possibilities as the story moves forward; a shot of pure adrenaline to the heart of the Star Wars fan in all of us that had laid dormant for ten years since Lucas completed his prequel trilogy.

The Mandalorian (2019– )

Story-Telling as Sharp as the Mando's Shooting

[9/10 · 5 January 2020]

A perfect blend of what we know about Star Wars and what we've never seen, Mandalorian takes the gritty and dirty tone that worked so well in Rogue One and dials it up in a way that calls back so beautifully to classic Western serials of the 1930s. Dialogue is cut down to the bare essentials, leaving only the remarkable expressionality of that gaunt T-shaped visor in its place and yet, we feel the Mando's conflict as we felt Vader's in the original trilogy, through an exceptional physical performance unrivaled in modern story-telling; and while the episodic nature of its tragically short stories can frustrate the impatient, the building blocks of character and consequence line up almost unseen to build a tense finale that exceeds all expectations.

Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)

The Final Encore of the Original Trilogy

[10/10 · 5 January 2020]

The final act of the original trilogy is a fanfare of good triumphing over evil and a celebration of everything that makes this franchise great, far lighter in tone than its predecessor and filled with the same burning heart of hope that made the original so endearing. There's a poetic symmetry to the way Jedi reflects the familiar plot points of its 1977 beginnings, giving us a clear look at how much our heroes and villains have grown and developed over the saga and showing us how much has changed in three short adventures; and culminating in a finale often imitated but never replicated in the annals of cinematic history.

Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

The Greatest Film Ever Made

[10/10 · 5 January 2020]

In the pantheon of great movie sequels, the line stops at Empire, having all the heart of the original while also taking the story down a new and darker path as it expands over countless new worlds and encompasses new ideas and themes. There is something for everyone here, from the bombastic battles on land and in space we've come to expect to meaningful explorations of the balance between good and evil, the light and the dark; it's everything a sequel should be and more, raising the bar as it raises the stakes and leading the franchise in bold new directions.

Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)

The Perfect Adventure

[9/10 · 5 January 2020]

It's as classic a story as has ever been told yet somehow Hope makes you feel like you're hearing it for the first time, with a host of characters that feel so familiar and close to our hearts as an audience as to make them feel like old friends we revisit with each viewing. But beyond that there is a level of passion in the way the film is crafted that is seldom seen in modern movie-making, as though the story of a band of freedom fighters battling a nigh indomitable foe also reflects that of a man with a dream to tell that story in an age before computers made film-making so much easier; and though it may feel like the most self-contained of the saga, it represents the humble beginnings of one of cinemas greatest franchises.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

A Great Franchise is Built on Hope

[8/10 · 5 January 2020]

Through and through this is more grim and dirty war story than the whimsical sci-fi adventure we were expecting, and that darker tone serves the film's thematic onslaught against everything we've come to expect from a Star Wars movie. Every character grows and changes over the course of the story, saturated in such gritty realism and told from a perspective we've never seen before, making this one of the most deeply personal experiences in the Star Wars saga; so lovingly crafted on a cinematographic level and boasting some of the greatest land and space battle sequences since the Battles of Hoth and Coruscant before it.

Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)

A Fresh and Bold Star Wars Adventure

[7/10 · 5 January 2020]

There's a warmth of tone and character to this installment that harkens back to the great heist adventure movies of the millennium decade, taking the classic slow grind find-a-crew and hit-a-mark structure and blasting it into the lightspeed of a sci-fi spectacle. Such a story is built on the foundations of enjoyable characters and Solo has them in spades, a self-contained adventure filled with all the thrills and swashbuckling swagger we come to expect from one of the franchise's most popular characters; and played out with some of the most spectacular space action we've seen.

Star Wars: Rebels (2014–2018)

It's About Family, the Heart of Any Great Star Wars Story

[10/10 · 5 January 2020]

Season One (2014) There's a familial heart to this first season which makes it immediately appealing, centering on building a strong foundation in the relationships of our main cast and giving us an idea how tightly knit they would become over the series. The first season flounders a little when it comes to properly conveying the threat of the Empire, a flaw which is rectified very efficiently by the arrival of Grand Moff Tarkin; and it builds to a bold and satisfying resolution that lets the audience know that, like Clone Wars before it, Rebels is not afraid to push boundaries and embrace the Darker Side of Star Wars stories.

Season Two (2015) Where the first season placed a lot of focus on Kanan and Ezra, the second expands that focus to envelop the entire crew, taking their small weekly victories and allowing the events of the series to greater influence those on a galactic scale. It builds on the familiar and begins to dabble in new and darker ideas, opening the story up to unimaginable levels of potential; and the raw emotion at the heart of the season's climactic finale, an epic confrontation years in the making, gives fans the duel they never knew they wanted and makes them pay for it tenfold in heart-wrenching tension.

Season Three (2016) By far the most stylistic and best looking the series has ever been, the third season deals heavily with the consequences of the previous two, moving the story forward and making our heroes pay for every small victory they have achieved. Though a thorough and calculated slow burn to the finale, we are rewarded with some of the most visually stunning sequences in Star Wars animation; building toward a conclusion so rife in tension and nail-biting action as to be worthy of Grand Admiral Thrawn's inclusion to the series.

Season Four (2017) The fourth and final season is by far the strongest and most coherent of the series, blending the classically episodic nature of previous seasons into one long continuous story that grows and evolves week on week. But even through a season of some of the best action and most revolutionary additions to the mythology, the heart of the show is still its family of central characters and their powerful bond; forcing them to choose between their allegiances to the Rebellion and their relationships with each other as they face their hardest challenges and most tragic losses ever.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008–2020)

Star Wars in its Purest Form

[8/10 · 5 January 2020]

Season One (2008) There's a tentative caution to the first season that does more to hamper its potential than protect it from the backlash suffered by its predecessor, while some stories experiment with new structures and ideas, they do so with the safety net of some of the saga's most beloved characters. However, the season's true strength lies in the depth of character it brings to the clones, exploring countless different personalities and arcs so vibrant and enriched that you'd struggle to believe they were all played by the same exceptionally talented voice actor.

Season Two (2009) Far more streamlined and consistent than the first, the second season takes the series in a bold new direction and is never afraid to embrace the Dark Side of story-telling, giving us our first real look at Anakin's inner conflict as the war drags on. There is a greater willingness to depend upon entirely original characters like Cad Bane, building stories centered around new players with familiar faces in supporting roles scattered fleetingly through the season; and a lot of the weaker comic relief of the first season is dialled down to a minimum, leaving room for more classic Star Wars wit in its place.

Season Three (2010) There is a clear divide somewhere at the halfway point of this season that makes it simultaneously some of the strongest and weakest stories in the show, taking distinct ideas from the history of the franchise and exploring them fully to either the success or failure of each episode depending on the subject. But while many may roll their eyes at the examination of sci-fi psuedo-politics, few can deny the fascination with which this season blurs the monochromatic morality of the Star Wars universe; putting strong and relatable characters on both sides of the conflict while expanding the lore in new and mythos-defining ways.

Season Four (2011) By far the most coherent and satisfying collection of episodes in the show's repertoire, the fourth season plays out like a 22-part movie with a strong and cohesive plot that rarely deviates or distracts as it builds to its momentous climax. Where the previous series explored the potential for good on both sides, the fourth explores the opposite with questionable morality on display in some of the show's best episodes; and while even greater depth of character is lent to strong series regulars, the long-awaited resurrection at the heart of the season's final arc is its crowning achievement and takes the show to new heights never thought possible.

Season Five (2012) The fifth and (to-date) final season is an amalgamation of everything that made this show great, in fact some of the best Star Wars content in canon, and exists as a twenty-episode microcosm of the entire series. There is a distinct sense of resolution and closure to each multi-part story, each exploring a different aspect of the Star Wars legacy, and it brings us some of the highest highs and most brutal lows in the emotional journeys of our heroes and villains; and at the heart of it all is the final resolution of an arc we never even realised we were following from the very first season as Ahsoka faces the stark realities of life as a Jedi, the cruel restrictions of that life and tackles harsh choices that call-back so perfectly to the rise and fall of Anakin himself as to make this an indispensable chapter in the Skywalker Saga.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008)

More Deserving of Prequel Ire than the Live-Action Films

[5/10 · 5 January 2020]

Though supported by a great voice cast and classic Star Wars imagery, there's a crudeness to the execution of this somewhat rushed theatrical project that leaves a taste in the mouth akin to watching a series of unpolished computer game cut-scenes cobbled together and strung across a narrative too flimsy to hold them. The faces are familiar, the voices close to home, but this is a far-cry from the Clone Wars we had theorised about since we first heard the term; and it's a disservice to what the series would later achieve that this first outing scared off so many potential viewers.

Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)

Crown Jewel of the Prequel Trilogy

[8/10 · 5 January 2020]

The final installment of the prequel trilogy is a perfectly balanced coming-together of modern sci-fi adventure and classic Shakespearean tragedy, able to switch its tone back and forth with little to no warning from some of the lightest to darkest moments in the saga. It's unapologetic is its melodrama, unforgiving in its calamity and woven into the saga so precisely and with such cyclical purpose as to rewrite history and have you believe that Sith was always there; before the original trilogy was even completed.

Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)

The Saga Darkens

[7/10 · 5 January 2020]

While the first two acts play out like a kind of murder mystery in space, entwined in the admitted cheese of the central romantic plot, the third goes above and beyond in providing a sci-fi spectacle the likes of which would never be outdone in the saga's live-action ventures. It does everything a sequel should do, building on returning characters while delighting in walk-on one shotters and bold new additions to the already impressive collection of players in the story; and while some of the romance can fall flat, the raw passion as Christensen captures Anakin's frustration and rage gives Clones some of the more dramatic moments in the saga.

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)

An Introduction to Star Wars for a New Age

[6/10 · 5 January 2020]

There's something fundamentally appealing to the wide-eyed optimism of this saga's beginnings, while not being blessed with characters or set-pieces as memorable as perhaps could have been desired or had been seen before. But in spite of its flaws, Phantom succeeds in being colourful, funny and tense enough to catch the wandering eye of an unsuspecting child passing the screen and puts out just enough intrigue and excitement as to enthrall a new generation of fans into its world of space wizards and droid armies.

Joker (I) (2019)

Making the Villain the Main Character, Without Making Him a Hero

[9/10 · 7 October 2019]

This is a deeply disturbing and uncomfortable cinematic experience, its atmosphere as brutal as its score is devastating, layered with multiple conflicting tones and an underlying senselessness of societal irony. But perhaps its greatest achievement is the performance at the heart of this grim character study, so alien, so irredeemable and so uncompromising in its amorality as to render it the antithesis of a relatable figure; told through a lens of masterful misdirection that fully realises the Clown Prince of Crime in a manner never seen before.

It Chapter Two (2019)

Its Predecessor Proves a Tough Act to Follow

[7/10 · 13 September 2019]

There's a lot to like in this follow up, from pitch-perfect casting, exceptionally creepy atmosphere and constantly uncomfortable suspense to another scene-stealing performance from the eerily surreal Skarsgard. What's missing is a lot of the heart of the young cast, who show up on occasion to remind us how much better their chemistry was and how, when turned against unsuspecting children rather than seasoned adults with various coping techniques, It's over-the-top scares and shape-shifting antics were far more effective.

Jaws (1975)

Spielberg Changes the Game Again

[10/10 · 13 September 2019]

A thriller in a league of its own that, like the creature and soundtrack it made legendary, grips you from the first scene and never lets go. This is a masterclass in suspense and unbearably cranking tension, playing on almost universal fears and exaggerating them tenfold; all the while making each character as human and relatable as the last, investing the audience in their survival in a way lesser films in the genre fail to do. Further proof, if need be, that Spielberg is one of the greatest masters of his art this past century has seen.

The Iron Lady (2011)

A Performance Which Outshines its Movie

[6/10 · 13 September 2019]

There are two radically different stories at play here; a rather rushed biopic of the career of Margaret Thatcher and a charming story about an elderly woman coming to terms with losing her husband and growing beyond that dependency. Ironically, the film is at its best when it indulges the latter rather than haphazardly catapulting through the former, taking a story which could have fully explored one or two of Thatcher's greatest battles and instead trying to do them all with little coherence or focus on any of them; which is a terrible disservice to the spectacularly immersive performance of Meryl Streep

The Haunting of Hill House (2018)

A Master-Class in Psychological Horror

[10/10 · 13 September 2019]

Season One (2018) Never before has any kind of media inspired such primordial dread in my heart as I watch it unfold, encompassing a vast spectrum of emotions from paranoia to utterly indescribable heartbreak and doing it in a manner so hypnotic and unassuming that it puts all modern horror to shame. There is an undeniable artistry to every shot, every frame and every beat of the story, every moment of suffocating tension is a sensory thrill ride; and when the few big scares strike they do so with an expert execution that leaves the blood chilled in place of the traditional laugh to shake it off.

To Boldly Flee (2012 Video)

A Good Story, if a Little Clunky

[6/10 · 13 September 2019]

There's a remarkably deep and personal story at the heart of this piece, telling of the disillusionment of independent creators in the face of increasingly strict and unfair online regulation, the changing landscape of Youtube as a community and a group of friends banding together in the face of it. With that said, that message is ultimately bogged down in an overly self-indulgent slog through dragged out wasteland scenes between oases of tradionally clever satire, all of which would have benefited from someone less personally invested in the story in the editing room.

Suburban Knights (2011 Video)

Some of the Walker Brothers' Best Work

[6/10 · 13 September 2019]

There's a far more prominent narrative structure to this follow-up that surpasses its predecessor in almost every way, ranging from absurdist comic gold to brief moments of bogged down exposition. The film is at its best when it explores and brutally parodies the classic tropes of the adventure fantasy genre, from frustrating plots to ridiculous costume, and in doing so it stands not only as a harsh critic of those stories but as a charming love letter to parody as a film genre.

Kickassia (2010 Video)

A Love-Letter to the Fans

[5/10 · 13 September 2019]

It's easy to look at this and say it's a run-of-the-mill passion project on par with the average student film, it pays tribute to fans with a series of cleverly written and executed set pieces with comedy classic to the source material that lands more often than fails. What lets it down however, is a failure to utilise the vast spectrum of personality featured in the Channel Awesome line-up, relegating a large chunk of the cast to fleeting and unremarkable background roles in a scenario which could have explored their different personas with more depth and intricacy.

The Lion King (2019)

Head Without the Heart

[7/10 · 13 September 2019]

There's something fundamentally awe-inspiring in the level of digital detail on display here, from photo-real animals acting out a story we've all grown up with to lovingly intricate recreations of iconic shots from the animated classic, it's a landmark of computer generated effects as much as its predecessor was to hand drawn animation. However for all its artistry, the digital character models almost utterly fail to capture the raw emotion of their '94 counterparts, leaving a lot dependant on the delivery of dialogue which is oftentimes flat and lifeless; while odd choices on some of the film's best songs do more to hinder the flow of the narrative than complement it.