Kingsman: The Golden Circle

DO YOU KNOW WHO'S A DISH? TARON EGERTON IS A DISH. And we're back for the second installment of Kingsman, Kingsman The Golden Circle. Let's get stuck in. Eggsy is back, running the Kingman's Taylor business, got his girlfriend, his friends and his dog and manages to escape ex Kingsman Charlie. Though turns out he's the only one to escape, as we see in the trailer someone, Julianne Moore, bombs Kingsman and him and Merlin are left with their doomsday plan, The Statesmen. 

The style of the film is very much the same as the first. The dare I say it, iconic, church scene in the first is mimicked multiple times throughout Golden Circle. The following of arms, legs, faces, weapons as the action moves, sometimes in close quarters. Yes it's impressive camerawork and editing but it's a bit overwhelming. Though on the contrary because it's used so frequently it becomes the standard, and almost less effective. One of the things I enjoy about the film, and others of the same suite, is the framing of some shots. I noticed this in the trailer, there are some frames of the film that look straight from a comic strip, because they are. Kingsman's first volume was released in 2012 followed by Kingsman: The Red Diamond next year. I enjoy this and some of the landscapes and fantasy benefit from it.

Again, similar to the first, the sound was in your face. Loud and to the point. Fits the style and scenes well. Though I will admit most are forgettable. There's a beautiful rendition of Take Me Home, Country Roads that you'll remember and of course a song from a flamboyant cameo but that's about it. 

Other than being a babe Taron Egerton is becoming a pretty decent actor. He's endearing and cool and Eggsy, shows a real range of character with everyone he interacts with. Deals with loss, albeit rather briefly and carries himself a little higher than the previous film. He shows growth and kills it with the stunt work. I found there was quite an interesting fighting style, especially for a man. I say that because we don't often see fight scene with the subjects using their entire bodies, I don't just mean kicking I mean uses legs as full force or restraints. Black Widow seems to  swing herself around with her legs all the time but it was great to see some men get in on the gymnastics too. 

There's not a great deal to say about many of the actors because there's so goddamn many of them. Let's reel through, Mark Strong was fantastic, got a decent level of depth to the character that I think strengthens the first films performance. Colin Firth is good but his character is not satisfying, not down to his performance but due to the character just being kind of sad to watch for the most part. Julianne Moore is sickly sweet as the villain Poppy, though the abstract environment and circumstance in which we see her dips in and out of the suspended disbelief of the world. Halle Berry is was good in what felt like 40 seconds of her, same goes for Channing Tatum and Jeff Bridges who were in the film surprisingly little considering the ad campaign.

It felt a lot more American, not just because of Pedro Pascal's Southern drawl and lasso wielding showmanship. There's an arrogant president, with an unnecessarily heavy moral question lining the film regarding drug use and a wholly unnecessary novelty trip to Glastonbury to make sure the culture difference is seen. Trust me, going to Glasto did not need to happen, but hey you'll get a close up of a long bodied woman so there we are. 

It's bloated and long, fun yes, original not so much. Suffered from the ever common sequel trope of seeing what you liked in the first and shoving it down your neck in the second (see Gaurdians of the Galaxy 2) 6/10 


CINEMATES - A

mother! (2017)

Right let's get stuck in. Not a horror and not for the majority of the public. Darren Aronofsky is known for being a bit weird and pushing the boat out and that he does. From the trailers it appears almost like a home invasion and gives very little away. Javier Bardem and his wife Jennifer Lawrence live in a large house, he gets serious writers block and is happy to let strangers who are fans of his writing into their home, much to J Law's dismay. 

Not a great of narrative here I'm not gonna lie to you. This takes a lot of text from the bible. And the idea of Earth/Mother(!) Nature. The two guests come in and the wife tempts Bardem like Eve with an apple, their two sons arrive like Cain and Abel and fight and we know how that ends. Lawrence is used pretty much as a vessel for Bardem's baby, who is then treated like Jesus once born. If you've ever been in a church and had to drink some wine and have some bread or a cracker you're gonna know how this guy turns out. Throughout the film Lawrence sees a frog like the plague and water rains in the house like Noah's ark. Alongside the idea that Lawrence is playing Mother Earth. She's redoing the house, wanting to make her own paradise, with us pesky humans coming in and ruining it. Guests literally laugh in her face when she says it's 'her' house even though she's very clearly at one with it. I'm sure there's many other connections that went over my head but none seemed to have a goal. 

This is a no spoilers review, so I'll be pretty general. Though a spoiler suggests there's a twist or plot that I could ruin but there's not really a narrative give a surprise to. As for creepy or uncomfortable, I was expecting more. Just more frequency. There's a single cliche of closing a door and someone being stood behind but other than that, no real jarring scenes until the end. There's a long scene of Jennifer Lawrence in the house trying to find her husband and escape which descends quickly into a riot. Watching a heavily pregnant woman surrounded by madness is uncomfortable to watch but it's only after the birth that things get worse.

The cast was good because I didn't like any of them. No one should be likeable here. Bardem's character is driven by vanity and fame and ignores everything his wife does for him. Any gratification he gives her is superficial, everything is for him, being able to write and being recognised for that. As the intrusion continues and Bardem becomes less and less caring and more delighted that there's a claustrophobic amount of people despite his wife's distress. He does show some emotion well but rarely inline with Lawrence's character. Performance good, character bad.

Lawrence was okay. She managed to show a slither of a personality from a lack of character. I know she's an Academy Award winner but she sometimes appears as if she hates the fact shes there, like a kid grumpy they're in a lesson they don't like. But this doesn't come through too much here, her character slowly tries to build a backbone and stand up for what she wants instead of waiting for her husband to sort it for her. Though quite pathetic she is the most relatable of the characters. It's as if she's living in a dream world and she's the only one that responses in a realistic way. She's frustrated when the first guest, Ed Harris, stays even with her clear discomfort. Annoyed that he smokes in the house when she specifically said not too, she responds to this by 'accidentally' knocking his lighter out of reach. Follows suit when Michelle Pfeiffer, his wife, arrives. She asks Lawrence personal questions invading her privacy physically and mentally and in turn Lawrence 'loses' some of her clothes when doing laundry. The petty actions are understandable and somewhat ground the bizarre world they're in. 

The cinematography was nice yes but not quite breathtaking. Appeared to be mostly natural lighting, very warm, not dissimilar to this year's It Comes at Night (2017). With the single location things can get close to boring. Themes of fire are laid heavily from the off, and this is continued with the imagery right to the end. The sound though was quite impressive but not the best I've heard this year.

If you're a fan of Aronofsky you're gonna be a slight bit more prepared and open to the film. It makes you never want to host a party and never want to marry Javier Bardem. As clever as it thinks it is it isn't satisfying enough to be that provocative. But hey maybe that's the point. 

It's not a horror its more like an annoyance. It's metaphor over story 5/10 

CINEMATES - A

American Assassin (2017)

If you didn't know, this is a part of a hugely successful franchise of books. 15 in total, all best sellers about Mitch Rapp an anti terrorist vigilante. I've never read them nor do I have any idea how it levels up to the movie. What I knew going in was that that cute boy from Teen Wolf seeks revenge on someone because the killed his girlfriend, the end. Now that is basically it, the people that killed his girlfriend/fiance were terrorists, motives unknown other than to incite terror, who storm a beach in Spain and claim many innocent lives. Rapp trains himself up to kill them from the inside out which of course gains attention from the CIA who convince him to join and be trained up by Michael Keaton.

The opening to me was a little uncomfortable but I don't know for the right reasons, possibly because I didn't see it coming but I didn't like it. Sunny happy couple on a beach then men with guns and dead bodies everywhere. It was abrupt, which was the point. It happen very quickly, which again, was the point. It was averagely shot with the madness and it's the first time I've personally seen a terrorist attack on a beach depicted in cinema and it was a little odd. Not to say we're desensitised to seeing a bomb in a city on film but yeah we kinda are, better the devil you know. I don't think it was shot well enough for the weight of it.

The beginning leans on stereotypical Arabic terrorists. Mitch's heartbroken state leads him to have a beard, which lets us know that time has passed. He learns Arabic and memorises the Qu’ran and manages to convince some baddies that he can be a loyal baddie too. Thankfully the shooting and the initiation happen very quickly and later we learn its about 18 months later. 

The action was okay, was surprised that it was an 18 before and after seeing the movie. There is of course some violence, a short torture scene towards the end and multiple shootings and a few stabbings throughout. And some boobs. Action was for the most part alright though nothing to chat about. The training that the Mitch and the other assassins to be go through is quite interesting to watch. The use of VR headsets is a cool concept which they casually use was a nice touch.


Dylan O'Brien is a cutey patooty. I'm a fan of his even though he's not done a great deal of various work yet. I was a fan of him in guilty pleasure teen drama Teen Wolf and enjoyed him in the Maze Runner franchise but I was open to see what he can do in something a bit different. We see the character briefly in love and happy but for the most part we see a broken man. He trains as an MMA fighter, he throws knives and goes to gun ranges each time trying to hone in on skills that he's decided he'll need to murder a bunch of people. I think he shows the extreme of which he's gone quite well with this. He frequently over steps almost robotically, as if his limit or goal is further than everyone else's and he doesn't even think about it. He's relatively emotionless but not entirely dead behind the eyes. He's told not to let things get personal and he learns to kind of do this. Overall I was impressed with him to be honest, his action scenes were great and I believed he was someone I haven't seen before. 

Bar Keaton the rest of the cast were forgettable. Keaton plays the veteran assassin maker, he has a history with Sanaa Lathan who plays Irene Kennedy the CIA agent that saw the potential in Mitch. He was friends with her father so gets small parental nods each way now and again, which I think was enough. Keaton is great and believable when pushing people, the action that he did was fun too. Though there's an interrogation scene with Keaton that appears a bit much you end up forgiving it because of his build up. 

Sound was whatever and so was cinematography. I know it's not the type of film that generally demands gorgeous shots but still come on, it's all over the place, US, Rome, London and we never reeeally get to see anything that shows you you're in a different country. Captured gunshots and punches in a more real sense as opposed to being more stylised but still wasn't used to add to the scenes very well. 

Left itself open to a sequel because of course it did, the character is built and there's a dozen stories to go from. Whether it reaches a large enough audience to warrant that we'll see. 5/10 take it or leave it, fancying O'Brien helps.

CINEMATES - A

It (2017)

I don't even know where to begin. Bloody brilliant. It was overwhelming even with the huge reception it was given. For those who don't know much on the story, the quiet town of Derry has a mysterious thing, It, that comes out every 27 years to feed on children. The Stephen King novel takes place both in the 80s and 27 years later so we see the story from the character's perspective as both kids and adults. This film, unlike the 1990's mini series, just covers the children's side over the course of a year. 

So It is a horror movie, now is it scary? Yes, yes it is and I am so happy to say that. The creature takes the form of whatever you fear the most, for the most part it's Pennywise the iconic clown played by Bill Skarsgård. The film plays on so many fears and phobias that no one is safe. It's fun. There's multiple jumps but never cheap ones. You're constantly tense and on edge. The suspense was incredible, every other scene was a build up to something else, there was a constant level of foreboding at every corner. For me that happened almost instantly, if you know anything about the story, little Georgie in his raincoat with his paper boat makes you uneasy to think about. No spoilers but there's a scene where Pennywise chases someone up the stairs and I got that same feeling I did as a kid when I'd run up the stairs in the dark because I thought something was gonna snap at my ankles. The scares you were bracing yourself for were great, the surprise ones were great too. 

Lets talk Pennywise. Skarsgård kills it, young guy with a mixture of things under his belt is definitely gonna be a common name after this. His Pennywise starts childish and inoffensive yet creepy and builds to being completely menacing. His look constantly makes you uneasy, he drools talking to the children he wants to eat. His eyes drift in and out of focus and often in different directions. His movements are fantastically intertwined with visual effects and camera work. He runs with speed and aggression and the camera shudders in response. His body moves unworldly, twists and revolts and transforms at will. Absolutely fascinating to watch. Unless you're scared of clowns you'll find that every second he's on screen you can't help but stare at every inch of him. Incredible. Calling it now, number one Halloween costume 2018.

Let's get it out the way the kids are all adorable. Finn Wolfhard we already know and love from Netflix Stranger Things (2016), huge career ahead of him. Naturally funny as Richie, definitely showed the friendship with the others. Jack Dylan Grazer is cute as a goddamn button as Eddie Kaspbrak, forced hypochondriac by his mother. I noticed him in the trailer as appearing genuinely terrified and that shook me up. He's brilliant. Jaeden Lieberher plays our stuttering main man Bill Denbrough and he hits the balance of fear and sadness and shines bravery through them both. Jeremy Ray Taylor is endearing as ever as new kid Ben, who fits seamlessly into the Losers Club. And Chosen Jacobs does well, he has a brief sentimental moment about his family where he gets to stretch his sad muscles amongst the fear and kills it. Wyatt Oleff is great as Stanley showing his struggles more than the rest of the group, which if you've read the book is heartbreaking to see. And Sophia Lillis, was perfect. I watched her as if I recognised her because she just looked exactly how I imagined her to be. She was gorgeous and cool as the 80's girl next door. Showed genuine fear and independence in turn of that, definitely one to watch.

The rest of the cast were great. Though there are no real adults. Very few lines of dialogue from authority, parents and otherwise, and they're all a little off. It is very much a film about the kids and they smash it. 

Cinematography is great right off the bat. Also, major points for this, doesn't get too dark. It's in the sewers yet we can see everything! Amazing! No chickening out here, they show you everything, you don't miss a thing unless you close your eyes. Which is great, no cop outs. Editing is great too, there's some great comedic moments which land well because of the editing. For me the stand out performance is the sound. Absolutely incredible. I saw this in Imax and I'm so pleased I did. They use a familiar heavy bass that you feel creeping up and harsh silences that make you hold your breath. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if there's an Oscar nod in that department, or for costume and make up either for that matter. 

Well rounded horror, Mama (2013) director Andy Muschietti proves he knows what he's doing. One of the best films of the year. You're doing yourself a disservice if you don't watch this in the cinema 8.5/10

CINEMATES - A

Wind River (2017)

If you're outside of the UK you may have something similar, but here Odeon cinemas runs something call Screen Unseen. It's £5 a ticket and it's a guaranteed preview. I've been to a few now and they're always great films and this was no exception. I hadn't heard much about this in the UK but saw a trailer months ago when I was in Canada. The trailer seems somewhat intriguing, didn't give much more than, a body was found in the snow, whodunit. I personally thought the way they showed some of the Native American traditions seemed a little cliche in the trailer but this was thankfully not the case in the film. 

Jeremy Renner plays Cory Lambert, a wildlife service agent who finds the body of a teenage girl barefoot 6 miles from the nearest lodge. The mystery of potential murder and rape bares the right for an FBI agent, Jane Banner, Elizabeth Olsen, to investigate. She relies on Lambert who knows the land and the people to put more peices together. It was great to see the two of them together outside of Marvel, they're good and they bounce off of each other well. Renner handles his character well, he's a divorced father who's lost one of his children, its a heavy role to play but it all comes out gradually. Good development for him and same for Banner, we aren't given the same character history but you don't always need every chapter to know the person and we get to know her well enough without. 

The rest of the cast was great a lot of familiar faces, for some reason there doesn't seem to be many Native American actors in big features, Gil Birmingham being the one of the most recognisable. A lot of new faces as well as surprise appearance from someone I didn't know was featured, I won't give away any names but it's a great scene.


Sound is something and nothing, was used well with some scenes with gunshots, you won't miss those. And of course uses the silence of the snow where they can. Being set on a reservation in Wyoming it's pretty hard for it too look bad. Snow is always easy to shoot right? Great landscapes, great wide shots. The use of animals is symbolic as they often are. Renner's character is a hunter and in the opening shot you see him hunting a wolf, immediately showing his behaviour with predators. The next prey he's hired to find is a mountain lion, turns out it's a family with two cubs and we get a gorgeous shot of them and again it hints at the bigger picture. His job is to eliminate predators for the greater good and that he does. 

As Renner and Olsen figure out the crime and the culprit we get a head strong flashback of what actually happened. Knowing how things turn out in an uncomfortable scene makes it more uncomfortable. Knowing the awful fate of the character just fills you with dread, you're waiting to see something you don't want to see. It's a great scene, well placed in the story, well portrayed by all cast included. And unfortunately it's almost satisfying to see something awful happen because it confirms the mystery. Then after that follows apt justice which is then genuinely satisfying. 

I think the pacing was a little off, but the subject matter and frankly the location I think eases that. There is a chunk of not much going on, in some parts it feels a bit dragged. Which I honestly think the story gives some allowance to. It adds to the boredom some of the people feel, the long days filled with nothing and nothing around them. That being said it doesn't excuse it completely. There's some great tension but it's not always consistent. 

Definitely worth the watch, performances are great, the ending leaves you appeased yet uneasy 7/10

CINEMATES - A

Patti Cake$ (2017)

P B N J. P P B N J. Don't worry that will be be in your head for days after watching this film. Patti Cake$ is wonderful. Small film, relatively small release and I wouldn't say has had a great deal of advertising. Nonetheless I heard of the film a few weeks ago, story seemed unoriginal but fun and the trailer sold me. Patti Cake$ is the story of underdog Patricia, AKA Patti Cakes$ AKA Killa P trying to break out of New Jersey and start her live over as a rapper. 

So the casting was spot on. Completely. Australian actor Danielle Macdonald killed it as Jersey born Patti Dombrowski. Carries the characters troubles well, shows off her hard work in all aspects of her life. And of course raps incredibly well. So after P we have B (P B N J) B is for Basterd, played by Mamoudou Athie, an outsider who Patti meets with her best friend Jheri at an open mic event. He screams for people to break out and not to be sheep whilst rocking facial piercings and a single white contact lens. His quietness is a contrast to Patti though they are compatible. Jheri, played by Siddharth Dhananjay, Patti's best friend is an extrovert like her, enthusiastic and passionate about music. He pushes her to become her best and it works, he's there for her debatably more than he's there for himself but they make a great team. See also his youtube channel Dhananjaythefirst and you can see why his performance seems so genuine. 

Patti's Nana plays a big part in Patti Cake$ career and not just her life, the first time we see her Patti is keen to share a new limerick she's made up and Nana is joyous to hear it. She believes in her granddaughter and it's clear that Patti wouldn't be the Killa P we end up loving without that. She even gets to perform on one of the tracks. It's apparent Patti gets her support here and not from her alcoholic attention seeking mother. Bridget Everett who we usually see in comedic roles pushes herself to a more dramatic character. Granted yes there's comedy in the film but not often with her, she has an understandable sadness to her. Manages to be somewhat redeemable even though she's not particularly likeable. 

I personally loved the style of the film. It opens with a big rap number, lots of colour and aesthetics, smoke, lights, make up and Patti giving it her all. Then she wakes up. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the film from one characters perspective, getting her point of view is great. We see her dreams and daydreams, and how she perceives different characters and key moments in the film. I loved the editing of the film too, it mirrored this, went well not only with the music but with the theme of the moment. Some parts were cut as if to be a music video, not just performances but how Patti saw the world. Emphasising how big of an influence music has on her life. 

And the music was great. Original music was fantastic, written by Jason Binnick and director Geremy Jasper. Being his feature length directorial and writing debut, alongside being composer for the film. And fair play to him, great piece all round there. You can tell the few things he's work on previously have been music related but this is the film to show that off in if any. Still needs a little work, a little rough around the edges but that is to be expected from someone with less experience. And with the fact he did so much on one project, that is often a recipe for a clustered film. 

Yes it hits that, life is hard for a fat girl thing but it doesn't rely on it. It's a tiny slice of who the character is and makes Patti much more than just a cliche

Predictable? Yes. Unsatisfying? Not in the slightest. It'll get you in the mood for live music and you'll undoubtedly be listening to the soundtrack on the way home 7/10

CINEMATES - A

Logan Lucky (2017)

In an ideal world, we all know I’d like to start calling Channing Tatum a dish, but let’s discuss the film first, shall we? Trying to make an action/comedy/feel good/crime movie can be either a complete flop, or an utter success. For me, Logan Lucky was the latter.

Logan Lucky is the story of the Logan Family. The first character we meet is Jimmy, a hard-working dad from West Virginia trying to do the best he can for his daughter, as and when he is able to see her. He is told by his ex that they will be moving away so he turns to his brother Clyde, and sister Mellie for support when he plots to steal funds from a speedway company. In order to do this they get in touch with convict Joe Bang, who is known for his successes in this area.

This story seems pretty heavy, but I was really surprised to see that it is actually quite a light, easy film, this however, does not make it any less gripping.

Around 120 minutes long, you have enough time to understand enough about the main characters, and empathise with their situation and warm to their characters. This isn’t so much the case for those in smaller roles, such as sister Mellie – it took me a while at least, to realise she was actually a sister, but this wasn’t necessarily problematic. Although a strong story, it seems to lack in some parts, and this is simply due to things not being clearly explained. For example, I won’t give it away, but something that you wouldn’t necessarily expect from this film because of how the story is set up happens, but I just don’t really understand why it did. Even with flashbacks, and later reflection from the characters, some points just don’t really add up, and perhaps this is something that desired more attention to detail.

As I said above, I think it is definitely a challenge to mix action, and comedy. But this film does it wonderfully. Whether it is the subtle comments made by the characters, or the bigger scenes displayed outrage at the fact that the next A Song of Ice and Fire books are not release (oh man, how I related to this), I think there is something there to suit everyone’s tastes.

The cast, really did do their job. Tatum, who plays Jimmy suited this role perfectly, he really did not struggle to fit this character, or consistently present this. I have never been too sure about Adam Driver, since the only (unfortunately) memorable performance of his for me, is Kylo Ren in The Force Awakens. Sadly, this put me off the idea of anything he is in, but he has gone back up in my good and I can firmly say his performance was impressive. Similarly, I can’t say I’ve ever been stunned by any of Daniel Craig’s performances until now, his character was convincing, and he was definitely suitably casted for the role of Joe Bang. This character – someone determined, criminal, yet extremely witty made this film for me. Probably my favourite part of this.

I can’t say much for the score or cinematography in this film, but honestly – for once this didn’t bother me, I can’t say that I missed there not being an obvious score, simply because there was so much going on. I mean, there was definitely one there, but I couldn’t tell you what it was.

Overall, this was a refreshing bit of cinema, and I’m glad I gave it a chance. Believe the hype it has, but it honestly is worth the watch. Great story, great cast, great film.

7/10.

CINEMATES - S