Tag: Sci-Fi

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Movie Review

Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes (2020) Movie Review ‘One of the Best Time Travel Films in Years’

Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes – One of the Best Time Travel Movies in Years

 

Director: Junta Yamaguchi

Writer: Makoko Ueda (Screenplay)

Starring: Kazunari Tosa, Riko Fujitani, Gota Ishida, Masashi Suwa, Yoghifumi Sakai, Haruki Nakagawa

Plot: A cafe owner discovers that the TV in his cafe suddenly shows images from the future, but only two minutes into the future.

Runtime: 1 Hour 10 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes starts as Kato (Tosa) finishes his shift at work and head upstairs to relax, only to find himself, talking to himself in the future, through the TV screen in his room, from down in the café below.

As Kato has the two-minute conversation, he heads downstairs, finding himself having the same conversation, only this time as the TV screen side of the conversation. After Kato introduces this to his friends, the conversation becomes deeper, as they try to figure out what they can do with this newfound gift.

Thoughts on Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes

Thoughts – Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes is a time travel movie with a unique twist, that will make it one of the most intriguing movies you will ever see. Time travel films will always offer up a discussion, both with the audience and the character, with the last great discussion on screen being in Primer. Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes will also adopt the single take concept, which for the movie is even more unique, as we often get to see the conversations from both angles, which both asks questions and answers them. Any time travel movie will need to test the audience, which this does everything needed. The characters will go through the conversation about what they could do with this new gift, one that will always dive into becoming rich or getting the answers they want to make it through the situation. The performances are great too, showing the friends coming up with the ideas through the film. Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes is a time travel film that could easily be placed upon the best time travel films of all time.

Final Thoughts – Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes is easily one of the best time travel movies you will see.

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Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – Catch-Up 2021 – A – Ape Vs Monster (2021) Movie Review

Director: Daniel Lusko

Writer: George Michael Phillips (Screenplay)

Starring: Eric Roberts, Arianna Scott, Katie Sereika, Shayne Hartigan, Narek Kirekossian, Irina Pickard, Rudy Bentz

Plot: An ape crash-lands on Earth, which creates a sludge that makes him and a passing scorpion grow to giant-size, resulting in a fight for dominance.


Tagline – The greatest of all time!

Runtime: 1 Hour 28 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Ape vs. Monster starts when a joint US Russia experiment returns to Earth after decades away, the chimp that was piloting the craft has started to grow to enormous size, but remaining contained. Dr Linda Murphy (Scott) and Eva Kuleshov (Sereika) start looking for the truth about what has happened and when another creature starts growing too.

Linda and Eva must lead the charge to stop both the destruction monsters, leading them to a clash unlike anything mankind has seen before.

Thoughts on Ape Vs Monster

Thoughts – Ape vs Monster is the cheap version of Godzilla vs Kong, without managing to create the magic of the beauty of the behemoths battling it out. We dive into the scientific side of everything, which borrows the weaker side of Rampage, failing to capture what makes these types of movie so entertaining, watching big monsters fight. The human characters are given more screen time, but with that we get to see just how ordinary they are to the story, leaving everything feeling flat. The CGI doesn’t inspire either, even if we are expecting a lower standard, the Ape looks like anyone could have created within a few minutes, with no care put into what we see. This is a sloppy cash crab that is nowhere near the level it needs to be.

Final Thoughts – Ape vs Monster is a sloppy knock off, one of the weakest we have seen.

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Movie Review

The Matrix Resurrections (2021) Movie Review ‘An Interesting Sequel’

The Matrix Resurrections – Interesting Sequel

 

Director: Lana Wachowski

Writer: Lana Wachowski, David Mitchell, Aleksandar Hemon (Screenplay)

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jonathan Groff, Jessica Henwick, Neil Patrick Harris, Jada Pinkett Smith, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Christina Ricci

Plot: Return to a world of two realities: one, everyday life; the other, what lies behind it. To find out if his reality is a construct, to truly know himself, Mr. Anderson will have to choose to follow the white rabbit once more.


Tagline – It’s been another life, beyond the one…

Runtime: 2 Hours 28 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The Matrix Resurrections starts as Thomas Anderson (Reeves) a genius game designer who created a trilogy of games, finds himself questioning his own reality after getting a visit from Bugs (Henwick).

Bugs has been searching for Neo for years, now she has located Morpheus (Abdul-Mateen II), she can finally track down Neo to help him escape the Matrix and learn the truth about his connection to Trinity (Moss).

Thoughts on The Matrix Resurrections

Characters & Performances – Thomas Anderson is the genius game designer who is starting to struggle with his own reality, until he starts getting signs about his true self, Neo. Once he is out of the Matrix, he will learn the impact of his sacrifice and what it meant to a generation of people, what it changed in the world and why he has been bought back. Keanu Reeves will always be remembered for this role, you can see why he works so well for decades in this role, but it doesn’t feel like he gets to reach the potential he made Neo in the past. Trinity is now Tiffany inside the Matrix, married with children, she like Thomas doesn’t remember each other, she is the target of the search for Neo, as the question will be whether she can return to neo after all these years away. Carrie-Anne Moss is great here, almost getting to turn her role around while holding back on the combat side of everything involved. When it comes to the supporting cast Bugs is the standout, being the one that leads the search for Neo, putting her own position in the real-world home. We do get a returning Smith who has his own interesting arc, while Morpheus does feel underutilized, despite having a different design, which is one of the more unique aspects of the film. Nobody in these roles is bad, with a new look cast in these roles working if there was going to be more to come in the future.

Story – The story here follows Neo who has been put back into the Matrix, as he starts to see his world unfold again, where he will look to learn about what has changed in this world he saved before. This is a story that will rely on the fact you know what has happened in the franchise before, while spinning what started it in the first place on its head through a different world creation. It will constantly flash up reminders of what happened in those films too, which can become frustrating at times, pushing for the idea of undying love between Neo and Trinity. This does feel like a larger experience of how people are pulled out of the Matrix in the first place, rather than the bigger picture unfolding. This story will also have plenty of on the nose points about sequels, reboots and cashing in, which don’t work for the film.

Themes – The Matrix Resurrections is a sci-fi action film that will use the modern technology to replace certain factors used in the first trilogy, stepping away from payphone, turning to mirrors, while using a unique way to bring Morpheus to the big screen in the real-world. When it comes to the action in this film, nothing feels fresh, the slow-motion involved does feel overused, not gaining the shock effect we had from the original moments, becoming the largely forgettable part of the film.

Final Thoughts – The Matrix Resurrections is a sequel with plenty of ideas, a nice spin on what we were left with, but offers little in the action side of things.

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Movie Review

Cosmic Sin (2021) Movie Review

Director: Edward Drake

Writer: Edward Drake, Corey Large (Screenplay)

Starring: Frank Grillo, Bruce Willis, Brandon Thomas Lee, Corey Large, C’J; Perry, Perrey Reeves, Lochlyn Munro

Plot: Seven rogue soldiers launch a pre-emptive strike against a newly discovered alien civilization in the hopes of ending an interstellar war before it starts.

Runtime: 1 Hour 28 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Cosmic Sin starts when an alien civilization sends an attack back to Earth from their own planet, leading to General Ryle (Grillo), James Ford (Willis), Braxton Ryle (Lee), Dash (Large), Dr Goss (Reeves, and Marcus Bleck (Mandylor) leading a retaliation attack on the civilization.

Once the soldiers land on the planet, they learn others have come for the fight and the enemy is much deadlier than they first thought, needing to make a difficult decision to survive.

Thoughts on Cosmic Sin

Thoughts – Cosmic Sin is a sci-fi action film that sees the human race getting involved in a war against an alien civilization that could destroy humanity at a dramatic pace, leading to a group of soldiers looking to end the threat before it happens. When it comes to sci-fi stories, this does feel like it is just another version of a story we have seen before, with ‘Doom’ being the most notable version of the story. This is a story that could be an easy watch, but it tries to do more than it needs to, leading us down a path where everything is more in complicated battle between the soldiers themselves, leaving any moment of impact feeling flatter than it needs to be. We have Bruce Willis in here, which doesn’t help and with Frank Grillo also involved, we know where things are going with this film. The effects are not the strongest either, which doesn’t help with the bigger moments, where most of the human characters are walking around in what look like horrendously heavy suits.

Final Thoughts – Cosmic Sin is a simple action sci-fi movie that can kill the time without being ground breaking.

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Portal Runner (2021) Movie Review ‘Smart Sci-Fi Movie’

Portal Runner – Smart Sci-Fi Film

 

Director: Cornelia Duryee

Writer: Tallis Moore (Screenplay) J.D. Henning (Story)

Starring: Elise Eberle, Brian S Lewis, Denny McAuliffe, Shaunyce Omar, Carol Roscoe, Matt Shimkus, Sloane Morgan Siegel, Roy Luke

Plot: 15 year old Nolan is blessed with the ability to travel to parallel worlds– and cursed to be chased through them by a monstrous Evil. When he gets stuck in a parallel world, with a sister he’s never met, he must make allies and dig deep to destroy the creature– before it destroys him.

Runtime: 1 Hour 12 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Portal Runner starts when Nolan (Siegel) finds himself in a a new world, one where he has a sister Mae (Eberle), something he hasn’t had in the different worlds he has visited through the mirrors. Nolan is on the run from a figure that has been chasing him through each world, using the mirrors to travel, always on his tail.

Nolan must work with his new sister Mae to fight back against the figure chasing him, where the truth about the identity of the figure will be revelled.

Thoughts on Portal Runner

Characters & Performances – Nolan has been running through worlds in an attempt to escape from aa figure, each world always comes off routine to him until he reaches this next one, one that will see him experience a different family dynamic, while watching over his shoulder in fear of what could be coming for him. Sloane Morgan Siegel does give us a performance that will show the paranoia his character is going through, along with the calm of having a chance to be in a new, happy world. Mae is the sister that Nolan learns he has, she has only appeared in this one world, where she is the first person that makes Nolan want to stay in a world, she does start out as the typical older sister before needing to work with Nolan for answers. Elise Eberle does give us the typical teenage girl, before showing a different level to the performance with the different life her character has been through. In the supporting characters we get the popular Uncle Boon who does come off clumsy but caring and the kids mother Klara who is getting tired of the random events the two are getting through.

Story – The story here follows a teenager who has learnt how to travel through mirrors to different realities, in an attempt to stop a figure coming through after him, only to find himself in a picture perfect world, where he finally gets help in his battle against the evil chasing him. This is a smart idea for a sci-fi story, it will show the different dimension of reality that people could have come from, giving us an insight into a life with different outcomes, but making it clear, that Nolan can only stay in each on for a short amount of time. This also gets to play into the Y2K paranoia that surrounded the world, with the choice of time setting being the lead up to Christmas 1999. This is one that will keep us guessing as to what is happening, while giving us an ending that will make sense for the events.

Themes – Portal Runner is a sci-fi film that does give us the idea multiply universes that can be transported through different mirrors, while adding the horror of being chase through them by an unknown dangerous threat. The movie will keep nearly every scene within the home, even if it is through different universes, looking for answers.

Final Thoughts – Portal Runner is a smart engaging sci-fi movie, offering a bigger impact on different dimensions in the universe.

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Night Raiders (2021) Movie Review ‘Bleak Filled Sci-Fi Movie’

Night Raiders – Bleak Filled Sci-Fi Film

 

Director: Danis Goulet

Writer: Danis Goulet (Screenplay)

Starring: Elle-Maija Tailfeathers, Brooklyn Letexier-Hart, Alex Tarrant, Amanda Plummer, Shaun Sipos, Violet Nelson

Plot: A mother joins an underground band of vigilantes to try and rescue her daughter from a state-run institution.

Runtime: 1 Hour 37 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Night Raiders starts as we head into a future where the world has been in a war and children are kept in a state-run institution. Niska (Tailfeathers) has been raising her daughter Waseese (Letexier-Hart) off the grid, away from the scanners. When they find a scanner over their home, Niska must risk going into the city for help, seeing her daughter taken to the institution.

10-months-later Niska still regrets her choice, while adapting to the city, looking for a chance to save her daughter, while Waseese hasn’t fitted into the training programs. Niska gets to meet a group of vigilantes that have been trying to free children, little by little, which will see her join them in an attempt to rescue her daughter.

Thoughts on Night Raiders

Characters & Performances – Niska has been living off the radar with her daughter for years, but when her daughter gets injured, she is forced to let the institution take her. She is looking for a way to get her back, which will see her get the chance to work with the other vigilantes who have been saving children for years. She is desperate to make up for letting her child go and this is shown with how much she will risk to save her. Elle-Maija Tailfeathers is brilliant in this leading role, she keeps her character holding everything together in a world where letting emotions out will get her killed. Waseese is the daughter of Niska, she gets injured, which will see her needing to be taken to the institution, where she will learn more, but never fit in with the other children there. Brooklyn Letexier-Hart is great in her role too, which will see her doing a lot of isolation environments, never fitting in. when it comes to the rest of the characters, we get to meet the other survivors in the city, just trying to survive. The vigilantes living off the grid, looking to save the children the institution and the people running the institution, which is the one set of characters it would have been nice to learn more about.

Story – The story here follows a mother and daughter living in a world torn apart by war, where children are kept separate and trained, while the adults must find a way to survive. When the pair become separated, the mother will look to find a way to rescue her daughter from the institution she finds herself trapped in. This is a story that we might have seen certain points before, it has the journey the mother must make, after the difficult decision she must make. The idea the children are kept separate, did give us a mix of the dangers of Children of Men and the strictness of groups that the Hunger Games had where nobody could mix outside of their society. Most of the story does focus on the mother trying to save her daughter, not enough time is given to see what the institution is truly about, which ends up leaving us wanting to know more about the bigger picture going. Overall, the story does play out well though, filling the world with people that just want to be free.

Themes – Night Raiders is a dystopian sci-fi movie that will put us into a world where the world has changed, been taken apart by war and will show the small number of survivors needing to figure out how to survive against a group of military controlled people, holding the survivors to ransom. The world however big, does look broken, decaying and a place nobody would want to live, which is the strongest visual look behind the film.

Signature Entertainment presents Night Raiders on Digital Platforms 6th December

Final Thoughts – Night Raiders is a bleak filled world, waiting for the change for the hope of the characters.

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Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – Adventure – X – A-X-L (2018) Movie Review

Director: Oliver Daly

Writer: Oliver Daly (Screenplay)

Starring: Alex Neusraedter, Becky G, Alex MacNicoll, Dominic Rains, Thomas Jane, Lou Taylor Pucci, Patricia De Leon

Plot: A.X.L. is a top-secret, robotic dog who develops a special friendship with Miles and will go to any length to protect his new companion.


Tagline – Man’s best friend has evolved

Runtime: 1 Hour 38 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: A-X-L starts when off road biker Miles (Neustaedter) gets to learn how the wealthy riders like Sam Fontaine (MacNicoll) treat a threat to their position in the sport. Miles gets left injured in the desert where he ends up meet a robotic prototype dog A-X-L that he helps fix.

As Miles gets closer with A-X-L the two become bonded, but he needs to learn how to control him before he hurts someone or falls into the wrong hands, as the contractor awaits to much needed improvements in their robot.

Thoughts on A-X-L

Characters & Performances – Miles is a off road biker from a poor family that has always worked to improve himself, knowing about the hard work it takes to reach this level he will show his commitment and be willing to take a chance on making connections. His kind nature helps the robotic dog, giving the pair a connection which will show the true abilities of the AI inside its head. Alex Neustaedter does well in this role with a lot of the work being the stunt-based work. Sara Reyes has seen her family working for the rich biker family for years and getting left on the outside, taking a shine to the work mentality of Miles. She joins Miles in finding the reality to finding a solution for the pair. Becky G is entertaining through the film. A-X-L is the robotic dog built for weapon that escapes and gets rescued by Miles, where it gets to learn more about the world. Great at fitting into the world and looking like a creature that could well be made sooner than we think. We get to see the different military creators, the family of Miles and the bully figures against Miles. This is all the basic roles that do what is needed for the film.

Story – The story here follows a down on his luck off road biker that meets a robotic dog that has been left abandoned from its creature, leading to everyone trying to hunt for the dog, while Miles must find his own place in the world. This is a good opening to a world with the basics being down well to prepare the world for the potential of us having something bigger in the future. It does end up feeling like every origin idea we have seen before, but it does work for what we need for everything. It would have been nice to see more time with Miles and A-X-L, but it could have been a start to something bigger in the future.

Themes – A-X-L is an action sci-fi adventure that gives us entertaining action, the sci-fi creations needed for the robotic dog looks brilliant in the film, potentially being something we might well see in the future too. It might only look like the opening to something bigger.

 

A-X-L is an easy to watch sci-fi adventure film showing the change the future could happen.

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Movie Review

Alternate Ground (2021) Movie Review ‘Mystery Everywhere’

Alternate Ground – Mystery Everywhere

 

Director: Daniel Groom

Starring: Owen Myre, Ethan Boucher, Paul Noonan, Zachariah Supka, Devin Henry, Patience McStravick, Michael Anthony Coppola, Demitra Papadinis

Plot: When a teenage boy is found after disappearing overnight, his unexplained behavior causes concern within the family, and a lack of medical answers leads to a revelation of alien abduction.


Tagline – They need us…Anybody

Runtime: 1 Hour 32 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Alternate Ground starts when Riley McDowell (Myre) suddenly goes missing with his whole family searching for the young boy, his brother Bradley (Boucher) and parents Arthur (Coppola) and Joyce (Papadinis).

When Riley is found, he does seem to be different, with a darker side, losing spells of time, without any explanation. As everyone is searching for answers, Riley starts to show the effects what happened during his disappearance.

Thoughts on Alternate Ground

Characters & Performances – Riley McDowell is the boy that vanished suddenly overnight, only to be found on the edge of the road in a panicked state. His family are concerned about him, as he starts having spells of blacking out, events happening without anyone else knowing how to explain the events. The blackout will cause him great pain, as each visit will becoming more vivid and dangerous for Riley, as he tries to explain what he is going through. Owen Myre does give us a performance that is filled with the paranoia his character is going through during the events of the film. Arthur and Joyce are his parents that will do anything to help find answers, pushing past what they are willing to believe in search for the answers they need to save their son. Bradley is the older brother who is more reluctant to help as he doesn’t believe as easily to what is happening, before needing to step up and help. When we meet the rest of the characters, we have different people who will help in different ways along the way, some with real science, some with the truth, the mix involved will keep us guessing as to what is really happening.

Story – The story here follows a young boy that disappears overnight and is found without memories of how he ended up away from the home. The family will search for answers, but not everything is as simple as expected in this search. This is a story that will look to work on the ideas of abductions that can’t be explained, using the reports to create a story to show the troubles people would have been through when they reappear without answers, where most people can’t give them any answers, but something isn’t right with the person. This will give us plenty of mystery about the truth, where each interaction might offer something different.

Themes – Alternate Ground is a sci-fi mystery that will use the concepts of the stories of alien abductions, showing the side effects of what might have happened, leaning more towards the mystery, rather than using too much sci-fi side of things. The remote location will play into what is expected to be behind the alien abduction stories.

Final Thoughts – Alternate Ground is a mystery that will keep us guessing behind the abduction.

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Movie Review

Dune (2021) Movie Review ‘Epically Breath Taking’

Dune – Epically Breath Taking

Director: Denis Villeneuve

Writer: Jon Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve, Eric Roth (Screenplay) Frank Herbert (Novel)

Starring:

Plot: Feature adaptation of Frank Herbert’s science fiction novel, about the son of a noble family entrusted with the protection of the most valuable asset and most vital element in the galaxy.


Tagline – It Begins

Runtime: 2 Hours 35 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Dune starts when house Atreides Duke Leto (Isaac), Lady Jessica (Ferguson) and their son Paul (Chalamet) are assigned to a new dangerous planet Arrakis, formerly run by the ruthless Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Skarsgard), who isn’t happy about being replaced on the planet.

With Duke Leto looking to create peace with the natives, he sees his house come under attack, leading to Paul and Jessica needing to learn about the desert planet if they are ever going to be able to fight back.

Thoughts on Dune

Characters & Performances – Paul Atreides is the son of the Duke, he has been dealing with dreams about Arrakis before ever being there, seeing death coming along with a mysterious stranger in the dreams. He isn’t prepared to takeover, constantly learning from everyone around him. Lady Jessica is Paul’s mother that has gifted him her own powers, ones that can control people, she knows the threat this could if in the wrong hands, she will always put his safety first. This is a film that spends a lot of time on the characters, showing how most are important to Paul, be it people that trained him, people that have wronged him or the people he is dreaming off. The acting in the film is strong with most needing to remain on the calmer side of things, with only Jason Momoa enjoying the freedom to break this at times.

Story – The story here follows the son of a ruler that sees his family set to a dangerous planet where they are betrayed, leaving him to use the skills he has obtained in his young life to put together his plans to get revenge and bring a peace to the universe. This is only the beginning of the mega saga, opting to create the characters around Paul, with a couple of massive set pieces, diving into what is important in showing his journey, the people that are after him and the Spice, as well as being about throwing us into a world, with so much more to see. This is a story that will have everything you want from an introduction film, creating the sides and showing the early signs of what Paul could become.

Themes – Dune is the spectacular sci-fi movie that we have waited for this year, it creates a massive world, with Arrakis being the planet with little known other than danger, the centre of the greed within the emperor’s reign. This is a visually treat, with gorgeous scenery for the open spaces, while keeping the darker toner for the enclosed ones. The battle sequences might well look like everything we have seen before, the defence suits have a unique look, which has shown the improvement in the special effects since the original, with the grand appearance of the worms, being what will leave you jaw dropping.

Final Thoughts – Dune is the most beautiful visual experience of the year, making you want to come back for more.