Day: May 24, 2021

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Movie Review

Felix and the Hidden Treasure (2021) Movie Review

Felix and the Hidden Treasure – Enjoyable

Director: Nicola Lemay

Writer: Marc Robitaille (Screenplay)

Starring: (Voice Talents) Gabriel Lessard, Karine Vanasse, Guy Nadon, Marc Labreche, Antonie Durand, Tristian Harvey

Plot: Taking advantage of his mother’s absence as she departs on a cruise ship for some rest and relaxation, 12-year-old Félix sets out to find his father, a fisherman who disappeared at sea two years earlier.

Runtime: 1 Hour 30 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Felix and the Hidden Treasure starts when young Felix looks to take advantage of his mother’s cruise ship vacation to sneak off to go in search for his lost father Jack. Felix turns to Captain Tom to take him to island he believes he sank by, which will put the pair on an adventure that will see Tom meet someone from his past, living in a secret community on the island.

Thoughts on Felix and the Hidden Treasure

Characters – Felix is a 12-year-old boy that has been struggling with the disappearance of his father, he wants to go in search for him, turning to the one person he knows he can trust to help him. He has a sense for adventure and doesn’t want to give up on the hope of finding his father. Tom is the elderly captain that is willing to help Felix go in search for his father, being on of his old friends who has his own story on the oceans. Madeleine is the woman that has created her own community that will have her keeping people on her island, giving her a chance at something people would want to. We do spend a lot of time with the mother Mylene and Aunt that are trying to get Felix’s baby sister to talk for the first time. Each character does get their moment to shine, be it the innocent or the evil character, or over the top rich person.

Story – The story here follows a young boy that sets sail in hope of finding his missing father who was lost at sea, turning to an experienced captain in hope of guidance, only for the pair to find the bigger problem going on within the open ocean. This is a story that will give our lead character an adventure which will give him a chance of putting his family back together, with him believing his life is changing and falling apart. Felix does remain positive through his journey, knowing how important this could be and not wanting to worry his mother. The journey itself does bring a legend of the ocean to life, which will show how people will do anything for what is there. The story does have the side story about Felix’s mother and Aunt, which will get a couple more laughs along the way and will often have some of the more serious moments.

Themes – Felix and the Hidden Treasure is an animated movie that will see our characters head out to sea in search for a lost loved one, taking the adventure out there. The animation does look beautiful with how the different worlds are created and we do get a lot of comedy from the supporting characters too.

Signature Entertainment presents Felix and the Hidden Treasure in Cinemas Nationwide 4th June with previews 28th May

 

Felix and the Hidden Treasure is an enjoyable family animation adventure.

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Movie Review

Skull: The Mask (2020) Shudder Movie Review

Skull: The Mask – Gory Crime Thriller

– Skull: The Mask – Photo Credit: Lucas Kappaz/Shudder

Director: Armando Fonseca, Kapel Furman

Writer: Armando Fonseca, Kapel Furman (Screenplay)

Starring: Natallia Rodrigues, Tristian Aronovich, Wilton Andrade, Ivo Muller, Ricardo Gelli, Guta Ruiz, Greta Antonio

Plot: The feature film is an action-packed horror flick depicting a supernatural serial killer based on pre-Colombian mythology in a hunt for revenge in the metropolis of São Paulo.


Tagline – A killer hunt for revenge.

Runtime: 1 Hour 30 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Skull: The Mask starts as an ancient skull from pre-Colombian history is discovered, Galvani Volta (Ruiz) returns to San Paulo for examination only for her partner Lilah (Antoine) to release the ancient evil behind the skull, leaving them both dead.

Detective Beatriz Obdias (Rodrigues) is leading the investigation into the murders, which will see her needing to confront her past and a stranger Manco Ramirez (Andrade) who is looking for his own form of revenge, in a race against time to learn the truth about what is going on.

Thoughts on Skull: The Mask

Characters & Performances – Beatriz Obdias is the detective with a dark past that is leading the investigation to the gory murders, finding herself drawn into the dark world of what could be behind them murders, while also a man trying to gain control of the artifact. She will use her past to help drive her to stop the bodies continuing to pile up. Natallia Rodrigues is great in her leading role, showing the strength needed to make her character standout among the police figure we meet. Manco Ramirez is the man that has been hunting down the killer, preparing for a battle he knows will have closure for something that previously happened in his life. The Skull becomes his own character, hunting down people, being the powerhouse that isn’t going to stop for anything or anyone who gets in his way. The mix of different characters do work for the film, bringing us the victims for the Skull, the people trying to gain control and others that have been waiting to fight for years.

Story – The story here follows an ancient artifact that gets bought to San Paulo where it gets the evil within it released on the city, with the people becoming the latest victims, while a detective and stranger are both trying to figure out how to stop the killer. This is a story that will give us plenty of bodies, play into mythology from pre-history that will add to the mystery about how to stop the killer, along with a detective needing to redeem herself with this case being the chance for it and the people that want to use the power for their own advantage. Everything in the story does come together well to give us the intense gory levels we get throughout the film, adding more to the story.

Themes – Skull: The Mask is a horror movie that will follow a killer that is relentless in killing people with a ritual style. We have a large bloody, gory body count, which will get to show off different levels of practical effects skills, with each being a different style of injury inflicted.

 

Skull: The Mask is a blood filled horror movie that is relentless in the kills we see throughout.

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Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – World Cinema – X – Skyfire (2019) Movie Review

We are under X because of actor Xueqi Wang

Director: Simon West

Writer: Wei Bu, Sidney King (Screenplay)

Starring: Jason Isaacs, Hannah Quinlivan, Xueqi Wang, Alice Rietveld, Shawn Dou, Liang Shi, Ryun Yu

Plot: Tianhuo Island is as beautiful as a paradise. It almost makes people forget that it is located in the “Ring of Fire” the world-famous Pacific Rim volcanic belt. The volcano erupted, and the fate of the people in the island was entangled.

Runtime: 1 Hour 37 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Skyfire starts when Meng Li (Quinlivan) is hired to help produce a safety system for Tianhuo Island’s new theme park hotel centre around the volcano that killer her mother. Her father Wentao (Wang) doesn’t want her there and believes she is in danger and even with her own concerns billionaire owner Jack Harris (Isaacs) isn’t interested in hearing no.

When the volcano starts erupting, Meng is near the crater, leading to her joining her father and other survivors in a race down the mountain before the main eruption happens.

Thoughts on Skyfire

Characters & Performances – Meng Li is the volcanologist who has returned to study the volcano which killed her mother, looking to prepare the island for a safe opening, using it as a way to deal with the previous loss of her mother. When it erupts she will have to find her way down the mountain before the main explosion, showing her skills in the field as well as on her feet. Hannah Quinlivan does a great job her giving us a character that will be the smartest person in the room. Wentao Li is Meng’s father that is visiting her, believing she is in danger, wanting to make sure she stays safe, using his own history with the volcano to finally rebuild the broken relationship with her. Xueqi Wang gives the great father figure in the film, not being afraid to join in the action either. Jack Harris is the billionaire that is making the tourist theme park, he is trying to keep everything honest, but he does have debts to pay, he does have an arrogant side, but when things go wrong, he does step up to do the right thing. Jason Isaacs gets to have a lot of fun with this role. We do have the typical supporting characters in the film, which will help on the journey down the mountain or be the problem in different situations.

Story – The story here follows the early stages of a volcano theme park hotel which is preparing for the larger investment only for the volcano to start erupting as we follow a group of people needing to get off the island before the main eruption. When it comes to the big disaster movies we know what we need in the story that is a race for survival, this one gives us that with ease. We add in the family drama between father and daughter, both needing to address the previous loss which has changed their lives. This does everything we need in a story, even though it does feel like a larger scale Dante’s Peak.

Themes – Skyfire is a big action movie, with massive action sequences that use the theme park ideas of the island to give us fresh approaches to similar sides, including a monorail track with people needing to jump between along with the typical volcano moments. The effects work for the most part, but we do have moments that you can see the CGI, they will add to the bigger sequences. The island location helps show us how rich people will look to make a profit out of the dangerous side of the world and once the disaster starts, shows us how hard to escape it would be.

Skyfire is a big action disaster movie you can enjoy the high tension race to survive.