Ireviewstuff_exe

Hercule Poirot, Batman, Sherlock Holmes and now of course, Benoit Blanc. Some of the great detectives of all time. Does Christian Bale's Augustus Landor join them? Not quite, but that doesn't mean he isn't an interesting character. Landor, a man troubled by the death of his wife and the seeming disappearance of his daughter, is summoned by West Point Academy, to solve the murder of a cadet at the Academy. Displeased with the information available, he enlists the help of a young Edgar Allan Poe, played by Harry Melling, who has certainly come a long way from playing Dudley Dursley in the Harry Potter series. Bale and Melling's talents are fully on display here. Both of them really disappear into their respective roles and honestly, are the most enjoyable parts of the movie. They are what makes it worth watching. Their riveting performances, the pretty visuals and the well written dialogue are the main reasons to check this movie out. The specific storyline isn't great however. This is one of those movies with an ending that makes you think it's over, but the movie continues on for a half hour afterward resolving further issues that we weren't really wondering about during the runtime. With that being said, it manages to remain intriguing despite it being overlong. Another somewhat hindrance is that the plot feels very linear and this movie doesn't do much to differentiate itself from others like it. This is probably the movie's biggest flaw. Although all the shots are in focus, although all the actors turned up, although the premise is unique and interesting, this movie isn't easily accessible. It's slow paced and takes a while to get into motion. If you stay patient and keep invested, you will be rewarded with an actually quite clever plot twist that I at least, didn't see coming. Despite the twists and premise being unique at times it can feel like a gothic take on Rian Johnson's Knives Out, with several similarities between the two being present. All in all though, if you're a fan of the genre or want to see two actors at the very top of their game in Bale and Melling, then I'd definitely put this on your Netflix watchlist.

Final Verdict: Two excellent performances save a fairly standard Murder Mystery movie, worth watching for Bale and Melling alone

Overall rating: 7/10 71/100.

Black Panther Wakanda Forever is a fitting and touching tribute to Chadwick Boseman. You can tell that they purposely dialled down the usual MCU humour to give this movie the somber tone it needed. The memorial scenes at the beginning and ending of the movie are handled very well. They are respectful of his legacy and poignant. And although the beating heart of the first movie in Boseman isn't there, Letitia Wright still manages to pull off a rousing and impressive performance, stepping into Chadwick's shoes and taking up the mantle of The Black Panther. Another superb performance inside of this movie is Angela Basset as Queen Ramonda. With her scenes at the UN and the throne room being highlights. Tenoch Huerta is also very good as Namor. Who although is different from the comics is very interesting as a character. Another bright spot in the movie is the visuals. Coogler really nailed it here. There are many simply breathtaking shots especially in the underwater scenes and Wakandan scenes. Another strength is the side characters. Riri Williams played by Dominique Thorne is fun when on screen and it made me more excited for her Disney + show. As always, Winston Duke's M'Baku was very cool. And Martin Freeman returns again as Everett Ross and although he has a minor part to play in the movie's story, he is still enjoyable. Despite all these positives the movie definitely isn't perfect. It is overlong and perhaps too light on action (although when there is action it is done very well), the movie sometimes feels too slow-paced and it potentially could have devoted more of it's runtime to paying respect to Chadwick Boseman. Another odd thing I noticed was the designs of some of the characters and costumes. Some of them feel slightly derivative at times. Especially Namor's people, who look a lot like the people from Avatar. Which was especially funny since the cinema I watched it at played trailers for Way of the Water before the movie started. Another odd thing that I noticed was Ironheart's suit. It looks more like the Red Power Ranger suit or Samus's suit then a Iron Man style suit, with that being said though, it was nice to see some Iron Man style action again.

All in all, I really liked this movie and thought it was a fitting tribute to Boseman.

I'll give it an 8/10.

The Curse of Bridge Hollow is very similar to a lot of recent Netflix originals. In the sense that isn't exactly a well written or well made movie, but it does provide some entertainment for an hour and a half. Although it is mostly entertaining and there are a few funny jokes here and there, the movie is one that relies on far too many Pop-Culture references. At times it seems the movie goes out of its way to hit the viewer over the head with a string of pretty unnecessary and outdated lines or costumes with multiple references to popular characters like Cruella De Vil and Spider-Gwen. Another time a teenage girl references Tik Tok, stating that she plans to upload a video later on. It's stuff like this that unfortunately frequently distracts the viewer from the movie's plot. It is also very obvious that stuff like this was included because the writers thought that teenagers would find it relatable. In reality however, in a few years all of these references will have passed their use-by date and inherently that will make the movie feel out of touch. Another distracting thing about the movie is a way some of the Action sequences are shot. In some scenes, the camera is very shaky and unfocused and it's hard to make sense of what is actually taking place. This pulls the viewer out of the experience and makes it harder to enjoy it. Another mediocre aspect of this movie is the acting. It isn't very good in some parts and most of the cast is either too wooden, or they are over-acting.

With that being said, if you're into movies of this type and are looking for a fun Halloween movie with plenty of mild scares and occasionally funny jokes, then The Curse of Bridge Hollow might be for you.

Overall Rating: 5/10 Would I recommend?

Only if you like light-hearted family movies like this one.