04 | July | 2020 | Movie Reviews 101

Director: Charles Braverman

Writer: Noah Jubelirer, Jeffrey Bloom (Screenplay)

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Lori Loughlin, Keifer Sutherland, Joe Spano, Darren Dalton, Evan Mirand, Don Michael Paul, Billy Zane

Plot: A group of high school students, led by a rich boy Derek, is sick of school violence and decides to become underground vigilantes named “Brotherhood of Justice”. It starts with the idea of “watching people”, but things quickly get out of control. “Brotherhood of Justice” turns out to be another gang of violence. Derek wants to stop it but it is too late, so he takes responsibility for it and gives himself to the law.

Tagline – They were the best kids in the neighborhood … until they decided it was time to fight back.

Runtime: 1 Hour 37 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: 80s Gang Warfare

Story: The Brotherhood of Justice starts as we meet the students are the school, we have wealthy Derek (Reeves) who people look up to mostly because of his wealth, his girlfriend Christie (Loughlin) who must work when not around school and the quiet Victor (Sutherland), the school has suffered a night of vandalism which has seen the increasing tension believe it has come from the minorities within the area.

Deciding to fight back Derek joins a gang known as the Brotherhood of Justice after his teacher Bob (Spano) pushes the students to stand up for themselves against the people that are causing problems who want to use their new gang to fightback causing their own havoc against what they see as the problem within the area.

Thoughts on The Brotherhood of Justice

Characters – Derek comes from a rich family, he has always been given anything he wants, never having to earn a thing in his life, seeing his brother fall victim of the drugs in town, he joins a local gang that want to mess and get revenge on people they believe are creating problems for the local community, which sees him pushing his girlfriend away as he tries to remain in control of the gang and their actions. Christie is the girlfriend of Derek’s she must work hard to get her a chance at college, she has less time to spend with Derek and notice the change coming from within him becoming closer to a classmate. Victor is the loner from school, he works hard in and out of school and will stand up for anybody who is in trouble, including the local gang. Bob is the teacher that pushes the students into trying to stand up for the problems happening at the school, he ends up cause the Brotherhood’s action without saying doing it.

Performances – Keanu Reeves in the leading role does show us that he can have the leadership appeal as an actor, while he doesn’t do everything we know he is capable of now, it is nice to see where he has come from, Kiefer Sutherland does play the loner character well, one that is older than his character in the mindset. Lori Loughlin doesn’t get enough screen time for which character should be getting more time.

Story – The story here follows a group of school student that decide to start their own gang in an attempt to get back at the people causing troubles in the school, only for their actions to be everything they are trying to stop. This is an interesting look at how student might try to stop the problems in their own school and how the power it gives can turn somebody into a violent person, seeing how the gang is getting gout of control. This is a story that could never happen now, though it could help if people start dealing with the problems without violence in the first place.

Action/Crime – The action side of the film revolves around the action of the gang, which is weak fights and a random car chase. This does also show how the crime side of the story that is unfolding.

Settings – The film does show us the school and the local hangouts for the students, showing how they are using everyday position to fight back.

Scene of the Movie – Dealing with the dealer.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The attacks on people for no reason.

Final Thoughts – This is an interesting look at the minds of students that want a change if they can be pushed into stopping problems in their world and just how far they might end up going.

Overall: School life gone too far.

Director: Tom Kingsley, Will Sharpe

Writer: Tom Kingsley, Will Sharpe (Screenplay)

Starring: Will Sharpe, Tiani Ghosh, Joe Thomas, Sophie Di Martino, Raph Shirley, Chris Langham, Sharon D Clarke

Plot: THE DARKEST UNIVERSE is BAFTA-nominated directors Will Sharpe and Tom Kingsley’s surreal and hilarious follow-up to the critically acclaimed BLACK POND. Described by Sharpe and Kingsley as ‘a romantic comedy set in space, or – to be more specific – planet Earth’, the film follows world-weary banker Zac on his search for his eccentric sister, Alice, who goes missing while on a narrowboat trip with her new boyfriend. Poignant, funny and thought-provoking in equal measure, The Darkest Universe is an otherworldly and truly original gem of a movie from two of the UK’s freshest young directors.

Runtime: 1 Hour 30 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Charming

Story: The Darkest Universe starts when Zac (Sharpe) starts the search for his autistic sister Alice (Ghosh) who has vanished on her boat with her boyfriend Toby (Thomas), we see how he gets the authorities involved, while placing posters along the canal, where she could have travelled along.

As the search continues, we learn more about the relationship Alice started and more about how Zac is putting his own life on hold in search for her, getting nowhere starting to push his friends and partner Eva (Di Martino) away.

Thoughts on The Darkest Universe

Characters – Zac is the brother who is desperately trying to find his sister, he has always loved her and cared for her and now she has gone missing he feels guilty for not being there for her, he creates a campaign to find her, he pushed people in his life away with his search. Alice is the autistic sister that has managed to cope with her own life with minimal care needed, only she does have her brother around if she needs him, she starts a relationship with Toby, the first person that understands her, she has gone missing, which puts concern in her brother’s life. Toby is the boyfriend of Alice, he understands her and helps her enjoy life more, he has gone missing with her though. Eva is the partner of Zac who is getting tired with having the pressure of Alice in Zac’s life.

Performances – Will Sharpe in the leading role is strong, we get to understand his concern and his own problems he is going through as a character. Tiani Ghosh does well giving us a true to life character you would imagine seeing, with the rest of the cast doing a good job through the film.

Story – The story here follows a brother in desperate search for his lost sister, which sees him questioning his own life and seeing what may have caused her to disappear in the first place. This is a story that focuses on siblings relationship, while showing how close family can be when dealing with mental problems, with this one using autism, we see what is means to both having one around, with how big losing one would be to damaging somebody. The timeline is slightly confusing at times because we do bounce between the blossoming relationship Alice is having, to Zac’s search for her, this could be smoother for a better understand to why everything happened.

Comedy/Mystery/Romance – The comedy in this film comes from seeing how Zac goes about trying to find his sister, it is does in a quirky way that balances serious with desperation, with the big mystery about what happens to Alice being the biggest part of the movie.

Settings – The film uses the settings to show the important locations for both Zac and Alice’s life, it shows that you can have memories in any locations in life.

Scene of the Movie – What really happened.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The timeline is messy.

Final Thoughts – This is a charming movie that shows siblings relationship will always have ups and downs, with the love between the two coming through strong.

Overall: Charming and Delightful.