Lomax343

Well, it starts off very Stephen King. This the Life of unassuming accountant Chuck Muntz, told in three chapters - in reverse order.

Chapter Three (the first one we see) is full of classic King weirdness. I loved it, and really wanted to see where it was going - presumably to be revealed in Chapters Two and One.

Only nothing was revealed.

Chapter Two showed one incident from the life of the adult Chuck, as he encounters a drumming busker between accountancy seminars, and goes where the rhythm takes him. This scene is enthralling and moving, but seems to have very little connection to Chapter Three.

In Chapter One we see the young chuck (wonderfully played by Benjamin Pajak) who's been brought up by his grandparents after the death of his parents in a car crash. His grandfather is played by Mark Hammill, who I didn't recognise behind that huge moustache.

The only weird thing in this chapter is that there's a locked room at the top of the house which no-one must ever enter. This however, is forgotten as a charming tale enfolds, which explains Chuck's actions in Chapter Two.

Confused? Me too.

It seemed that we were seeing two unconnected films bolted together for no very good reason. An expanded Chapter Three would've made a very good Stephen King film. A separate film consisting of Chapters Two and One (possibly with an expanded role for Jacob Tremblay who briefly appears as Teenage Chuck) would've made a great film.

Still, the good outweighs the puzzling, and the film is a rewarding and enjoyable watch.

Confession first: I discovered the Red Sonja comics as a young person mumble years ago, and they appealed to me for two reasons. First, the obvious reason a beautiful sword-wielding woman would appeal to a teenage boy; second, for her unique back-story and impressive collection of personality disorders.

I've long thought that Red Sonja deserved a film. She has, however, been short-changed in this area. To be sure, this effort is far superior to the abomination featuring Brigitte Neilsen and Arnold Schwarzenegger, but it still left much to be desired. Most importantly, they threw away almost all that is canon about Red Sonja - the traumatic experience in her youth, the intervention by her goddess, and her idiosyncratic oath/curse.

Does this matter? Well, I think it does if you're going to call the film Red Sonja.

Leaving that aside, this film is not without merit. Matilda Lutz has decent acting chops, and enough charisma to give the film a solid centre. Among the supporting cast, however, Wallis Day as Annistja (a character who does have personality disorders) steals every scene she's in, and would've made a better Sonja. So, possibly, would Danica Davis in the small role of Teresia.

The film copes well with Sonja's famous outfit, there are a few laughs between the swordfights, and Robert Sheehan is just villainous enough as Draygen (who has a personality that would make Freud bite his pencil in two). The horse was good, as well. As for the actual plot - well, it was never going to be the most important part of the film (though, to be fair, it does pack one very good surprise).

In sum: Is this a good adventure film? Up to a point.

Is this a good Red Sonja film? No.

Somewhere in Britain in what appears to be the seventeenth century, a small village finds that its way of life, pretty much unchanged for generations beyond count, is under threat from outsiders.

The first outsiders are two men and a woman who are accused of arson - even though the fire was almost certainly started by villagers under the influence of magic mushrooms. The second is a map-maker (beautifully played by Arinze Kene) brought in by the lord of the manor, Master Kent (Harry Melling) to chart the village with a view to increasing it's wealth through raising more sheep. Last there is Master Jordan (Frank Dillane, who's performance is both understated and wonderfully sinister). He's the cousin of Kent's late wife, and announces that he's now the legal owner of the village and intends to evict everyone to turn the place entirely over to sheep.

Also key to events is Walt (Caleb Landry Jones) an outsider who was Kent's boyhood friend who married a village girl (now deceased) and is simultaneously part of the village and not part.

Oddly for the seventeenth century, there is no priest or any other religious figure either in the community or amongst the outsiders.

Suspicion and paranoia erupt; a crime is committed (we never do find out who perpetrated it); neighbour turns against neighbour; Kent and Walt are revealed to be seriously lacking in backbone; and things end with a scene out of Fiddler on the Roof.

The cinematography is excellent and the landscape is a character in and of itself - but the film overall is a disappointment. The viewer is led to expect that there will be some sort of climax - presumably a bloody one - but the film just tails off into nothing.