Director: Hasraf Dulull

Writer: Hasraf Dulull, Gary Hall (Screenplay)

Starring: Katee Sackhoff, Julie Cox, Steven Cree, Ray Fearon, Noush Skaugen

Plot: After a failed mission to Mars, A.I./ARTI is now used for the 2036 mission with a few human supervisors. A monolith of unknown origin is found there. It will have a big effect on Earth.

Runtime: 1 Hour 34 Minutes

There may be spoilers the rest of the review

Verdict: Interesting Sci-Fi Thriller

Story: 2036 Origin Unknown starts in 2030 when an exploratory mission to Mars goes horribly wrong, six years later A.I. is being used for all missions with human supervisors. Mack (Sackhoff) is the current supervisor and when the next unmanned mission heads to the surface, Mack must work with the A.I. system ARTi.

When the mission discovers an unknown monolith, Mack tries to figure out what is inside, but it becomes clear she will need to work with ARTi to get to the bottom of it, which is could be the biggest discovery in space history.

Thoughts on 2036 Origin Unknown

Characters – Mack is one of the supervisors that is working with the A.I. she lost her father in the Mars mission and after making a discovery on Mars, she starts investigating the truth, where she must challenge the authority figures in her job. Lena is the boss and sister of Mack, she is keeping the secrets, knowing parts of the truth though never giving anything away. ARTi is the A.I. system that is always looking to learn, it is in control of the missions as it seems to be the smartest choice after the error lost lives.

Performances – Katee Sackhoff is the star of this movie, she is in nearly every single scene keeping us engaged in the story as we believe she learn just as she does. The rest of the cast does get their moments, but they are clearly in the supporting roles only.

Story – The story gets to ask us the big question when it comes to exploring space and using A.I. to assist us. First off watching any film that looks at the ideas of exploring for new life on other planets is going to be interesting, we see the risk of this from the opening sequence. Secondly looking at the idea of A.I. controlling human decisions is always going to be one that is an interesting watch, we have been using this as a plot device since 2001 a Space Odyssey, it has always played out two ways, either a warning or a blessing which is for us to decide through the film. we get a story which will make you think about whether you would make the same decisions as Mack or not.

Sci-Fi – Travelling through space to Mars, trying to discover new life, with new technology in the future, could we get any more sci-fi heavy than this? The best part of the sci-fi side of the film is that is does feel like it could happen in the not too distant future.

Settings – The film keeps most of the film in the control room with Mack which is nice because of the isolated environment of her decision processes happening, when we get shots of Mars or space it does take us out of the main story at times.

Special Effects – The effects are mostly used for the exterior shots, we know we can’t actually film on Mars, so we get a vision of what that would be like with the special effects playing a heavy part of this.

Scene of the Movie – The final act.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The Mars shots.

Final Thoughts – This is a smart sci-fi film that does make you think, it doesn’t hold back from how far it will go and Sackhoff in the lead role keeps the film engaging.

Overall: Smart Sci-fi film.

Rating

Opinion Battles Results

Favourite 90s Animation

This round we have had an excellent selection of 90s Animation but just which one was the most popular?

2^nd

Choice – South Park, Bigger Longer and Uncut, Ferngully The Last Rainforest

Players – Diana, Gill

Points – 1.5

1^st

Choice – The Lion King, Toy Story

Players – Darren, John, Movie Rob, Drew, S.G. Liput, Table 9 Mutant

Points – 9

If you want to take part in the next round, we are looking at favourite Film from 2017

send you choices to moviereviews101@yahoo.co.uk.

Closing Date – August 3^rd, 2018

Here is the table, (Drew – Drew’s Movie Reviews, Kim – Tranquil Dreams, Cinema Parrot Disco, Rob – Movie Rob, Damien Riley – Riley Film Reviews, Emma – Emma Explains It All, S.G. Liput – Rhyme and Reason, Rachel – 54 Disney Reviews, Tom – Plain Simple Tom Reviews, , Gill – Realweegiemidget Reviews, John – Johnrieber.com, Diana – DB Movie Blog, Milo – Stuff and That) can anyone take this league by storm like last year?

Director: Peyton Reed

Writer: Chris McKenna, Erick Sommers, Paul Rudd, Andrew Barrer, Gabriel Ferrari (Screenplay) Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, Jack Kirby (Comics)

Starring: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Pena, Walton Goggins, Hannah John-Kamen, Michelle Pfeiffer, Laurence Fishburne, Michael Douglas

Plot: As Scott Lang balances being both a Super Hero and a father, Hope van Dyne and Dr. Hank Pym present an urgent new mission that finds the Ant-Man fighting alongside The Wasp to uncover secrets from their past.

Tagline – Real heroes. Not actual size.

Runtime: 1 Hour 58 Minutes

There may be spoilers the rest of the review

Verdict: Mostly Forgettable

Story: Ant-Man and the Wasp starts as we learn Scott (Rudd) is under house arrest after getting involved during Captain America Civil War, his time is nearly up and he has no communication with Hank (Douglas) or Hope (Lilly). After getting a message through the quantum realm Hank and Hope take Paul to help them locate Janet (Pfeiffer) who they believe is still alive in there.

The idea is to go in and save her, only weapons dealer Sonny Birch (Goggins) wants the equipment to sell on the market and the mysterious Ava (John-Kamen) wants the energy to save her life. What follows is the team coming together to get the best of both worlds.

Thoughts on Ant-Man and the Wasp

Characters – Scott Lang is no longer aloud to be Ant-Man under house arrest for his action, he has started a business and tries to entertain his daughter within the house. He gets information which could save Janet, Hank’s wife and must risk staying ahead of the FBI to help, his joke timing is very hit or miss though. Hope is now the Wasp, a flying superhero with the same size shaping abilities as Ant-Man, she is getting the equipment together for the rescue attempt and handles most of the best fighting from the good team. Hank wants to save his wife and is willing to put differences aside, Dr Foster is the former partner of Hank’s that has theories that could help. Ava is the deadliest villain, she is a young woman that was a victim of quantum effects making her life constant pain, she wants to end it, she has been a ghost for SHEILD for years now. Luis the most entertaining character in the film by far, he gets laughs in every scene, gives natural reaction to the situations and could easily have his own movie. Sonny Birch is a weapons dealer, generic as they come.

Performances – Paul Rudd is fine in the leading role, he doesn’t seem to have the chemistry with the cast for the comedy though, not his fault, its more the character. Evangeline Lilly gets to have he good fight scenes showing off her character but the rest of solid enough. Douglas, Fishburne and Pfeiffer are ok, but they are mostly just trying to keep their names in big movies. Michael Pena is the scene stealer by a long way. Walton Goggins, well people said his character in Tomb Raider was generic, this is worse, he has nothing to work with. Hannah John-Kamen plays the most interesting character but struggles to make us either care or hate her character.

Story – The story here takes place 2-years after the events of Captain America Civil War, Scott is paying for being involved in that fight and now Hank needs his help to save his long thought of lost wife. Them being criminals now doesn’t make this easy as they must operate in secret which brings the attentions of other people that want the technology. This story is set over 2 days, the 2 days before Scott has his house arrest finishing, which gives the film a race against time and needing to make sure Scott is in his home whenever the FBI turn up. The science does make this hard to follow in places and the tone of the story does fill mix, Scott and Luis are always hitting jokes, but most of the rest of the story feels like it should be a lot darker.

Action/Adventure/Sci-fi – The action is the basics to what we would have come to expect, the fights with ghost are the highlights of the action. The adventure is trying to keep ahead of the FBI even after there is no evidence he is leaving the house. The sci-fi side of the film can easily go over heads, because of all the scientific conversations.

Settings – The film keeps the action in San Francisco which is fine, we know the iconic location there which get used at times through the film, it is the quantum realm which is the most beautiful and haunting places to visit.

Special Effects – The effects for the film can’t be faulted in anyway, they look fantastic and the scaling abilities all work for the film.

Scene of the Movie – End credits scene.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – It felt like Scott was telling jokes, rather than being naturally funny, like Thor.

Final Thoughts – This is largely forgettable from Marvel, not because it is bad, but because it follows Infinity War, which is the only film we want to see the next chapter of right now in this universe.

Overall: Pay check sequel for Disney.

Rating

Director: Greg Berlanti

Writer: Elizabeth Berger, Isaac Aptaker (Screenplay) Becky Albertalli (Novel)

Starring: Nick Robinson, Jennifer Garner, Josh Duhamel, Katherine Langford, Alexandra Shipp, Logan Miller, Keiynan Lonsdale

Plot: Simon Spier keeps a huge secret from his family, his friends, and all of his classmates: he’s gay. When that secret is threatened, Simon must face everyone and come to terms with his identity.

Tagline – Everyone deserves a great love story.

Runtime: 1 Hour 50 Minutes

There may be spoilers the rest of the review

Verdict: Must Watch Film of the Year

Story: Love, Simon starts as we meet Simon (Robinson) a normal high school kid, he isn’t the most popular, but has a close knit of friends in Leah (Langford), Abby (Shipp) and Nick (Lendeborg Jr), he acts like most high schoolers, only he has a secret, one he can’t tell anyone.

When he learns about another schoolmate has come out anonymously, he sees a friend he can talk to about his homosexuality, without the school learning his secret. As Simon tries to figure out who the mysterious Blue is even after getting blackmailed by a fellow student.

Thoughts on Love, Simon

Characters – Simon is the average high school student, he is holding in his own secret, he is gay, he doesn’t know how to come out because if the ridicule that could come his way. He connects with a fellow closest student and spends the year trying to figure out who the student is, until his secret becomes known he must try to keep it from coming out. Emily and Jack are the parents of Simon that have their own way to react to events with one being scientific and the other always trying to turn things into a joke. Leah, Abby and Nick are the three best friends that slowly become victims of the secret however hard Simon tries to keep things undercover, they would always support him.

Performances – Nick Robinson is fantastic in this role, this is a true breakout performance for the young actor, as we truly understand his characters mindset throughout. The rest of the cast know exactly how to bounce off Nick’s performance to make his and theirs better.

Story – The story follows the graduation years for Simon as he battles to understand how to come out as gay to his friends, family and the school. Seeing how difficult this moment is for the young man is such an interesting story, watching how he wants to figure out who his romantic anonymous interest is from little moments of their conversations is fascinating to see unfold. The story shows us just how difficult this moment could be for anyone going through the same situation and wanting to see people act like nothing changed.

Comedy/Romance – The comedy blends perfectly with drama of high school life and the romance just makes you feel like you want to see the happy ending.

Settings – The gives us the high school environment for the settings which shows us how the students act towards each part of the film.

Scene of the Movie – Ferris wheel.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – How do these high school kids have time for coffee before school?

Final Thoughts – This is one of the most important movies of the year, because it shows that whichever sexuality you choose to be, be it, don’t be worried what people will think. The story is told in such a charming way that will only leave you with a smile on your face.

Overall: Beautiful and important film.

Rating