November 20, 2020

Game of Death (2017) Movie Review

Director: Sebastien Landry, Laurence Morais-Lagace

Writer: Sebastien Landry, Laurence Morais-Lagace, Edouard H Bond, Philip Kalin-Hajdu (Screenplay)

Starring: Sam Earle, Victoria Diamond, Emelia Hellman, Catherine Saindon, Erniel Baez, Nick Serino

Plot: Kill or be killed is the golden rule of the Game of Death. Sucks for seven millennials who ignored that rule. Now each one’s head will explode unless they kill someone. Will they turn on each other to survive, or will this sunny day be the last for the innocent people of their middle-of-nowhere town?

Tagline – Game of Death, it’ll blow your mind

Runtime: 1 Hour 13 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Game of Death starts as we meet the seven millennial stoners, Tom (Earle), Beth (Diamond), Ashley (Hellman), Mary-Ann (Saindon), Tyler (Baez), Kenny (Serino) and Matthew (Vallieres) who are involved in their latest party of drug filled fun. The friends find a board game, called The Game of Death and decide to play it.

The game requires the players to kill to make the counter of 24 down to zero, or the players will be executed, when the friends don’t look to commit the murders, they start to learn the consequences, when their heads start to explode, leading to Tom going on a killing spree.

Thoughts on Game of Death

Characters – Tom is the one that takes control of the situation, he doesn’t hold back to try and save the woman he loves, he will kill anyone to make sure the numbers on the game decrease and they can be together. Beth follows Tom in completing the kills, even if she doesn’t want to be the one to pull the trigger, until she starts seeing the friends die. Ashley and Tyler look to become the voice of reasons during everything, only killing if they are about to be the ones killed, looking to stop the violence when it isn’t needed. With these being the main group of friends, they whole group doesn’t seem overly redeemable or interesting.

Performances – The performances in the film are mixed with Sam Earle hitting the psychotic level easily, while Victoria Diamond and Emelia Hellman branching on to both sides of the characters mindsets. Nobody becomes truly great, but they do end up letting us see just how far they will make their characters go.

Story – The story here follows seven friends who think they are playing a simple board game only for it to turn into a game that requires them to go on a killing spree or be killed by the game. This does show us how the young people will need to make a difficult decisions about survival, when they get caught up in the game of death, will they pull the trigger on a stranger or accept the fate which is coming towards them. It does have style to how the kills play out, with the number getting cruised over during one animated sequence.

Horror – The horror comes from first seeing what will happen to the friends if they don’t complete the kills, along with how they start completing the kills.

Settings – The film starts in what would be a normal family home for a party, before going to a location which would make sense if you were thrown into this game.

Special Effects – The effects do look very good, with the head explosions being the standout moments in the film.

Scene of the Movie – The first head explosion, that comes from nowhere.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Glosses over certain parts of the kills.

Final Thoughts – Game of Death is a stylish horror that makes Jumanji look like a children’s game.

Game of Death will be available on Digital Download from 26th November and can be bought here

ABC Film Challenge – Comedy – T – Tully (2018)

Director: Jason Reitman

Writer: Diablo Cody (Screenplay)

Starring: Charlize Theron, Mackenzie Davis, Ron Livingston, Asher Miles Fallica, Lia Frankland, Mark Duplass, Elaine Tan, Gameela Wright

Plot: A struggling mother of three forms an unexpected bond with the night nanny hired to help with her newborn baby.

Tagline – From the People Who Brought You Juno and Young Adult

Runtime: 1 Hour 35 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: True Look at Motherhood

Story: Tully starts when Marlo (Theron) and Drew (Livingston) are expecting their third child, with their second child struggling with a form of autism the stress is piling up on Marlo, her brother offers to hire them a night nanny to help with the lack of sleep, which will see her come just at night to let Marlo sleep.

Marlo slowly turns to the night nanny Tully (Davis) who does step in to help, giving Marlo the sleep required, Marlo starts to bond with Tully giving her a chance to talk to an adult about life as she gets to deal with the problems she has with her son Jonah (Fallica).

Thoughts on Tully

Characters – Marlo is a wife and mother, she is about to have her third child, she knows the workload that is coming her way with this one, only this time she is dealing with a child that in Jonah that has attention problems on top of the baby. She is lacking adult interaction which she gets with the night nanny, who shows her reflecting her younger life, making it happy and sad at the same time. This does show us just how difficult motherhood is going to be through the eyes of this character. Tully is the night nanny, she is younger full of energy, she will look after the baby during the night, while giving Marlo the conversation she requires in her life. Drew is the husband that is working a lot, he does help out afterwork an is willing to help Marlo. Jonah is the son that is having problems with growing up, the doctors can’t figure out what is wrong with him, he is loved by his parents, though they are struggling with his quirks.

Performances – Charlize Theron is wonderful in the leading role here, she commits to this role showing us just how difficult motherhood can be for any woman. Mackenzie Davis is great to watch too, she brings the energy to this role which shows us just how a younger person can deal with commitments others have. Ron Livingston does everything he needs to him the supporting role, with everybody in the film fitting their roles with ease.

Story – The story here shows just how difficult motherhood can be, we see how one woman gets help from a night nurse which does breed new life into her, helping her find her smile again, being able to cope with the added commitments of a third child in her life. In the story we do get to look at some of the real moments in motherhood, other films will have shied away from, it has moments that show the persona connection between the mother and child. We do get to see how adults with child do need conversation in life and once a baby has arrived it can be difficult to get those moments. We do see moments of how difficult raising a child that has learning difficulties can be, though we don’t get enough time on that side of the story, which does feel important when certain parts of the story are revealed.

Comedy/Mystery – If we look at the comedy in this film, we get to see moments that will give us a laugh, they do work well without being sent up jokes, more funny moments in life. The mystery does come from the life Tully lives away from the night nurse, with Marlo wondering how she can do everything else too.

Settings – The film keep the settings simple because we stay inside the house which shows how limited the life of a new mother can have, while we do see how the two different schools try to deal with Jonah.

Scene of the Movie – Become a tree.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – We could spend more time on the Jonah problems.

Final Thoughts – This is a wonderful look at motherhood and just how difficult it can be, with wonderful performances from the whole cast and a story that goes in a direction you wouldn’t imagine it going.

Overall: Motherhood the truth.

Rating