Peter Rabbit (2018)

Peter Rabbit and his 3 sisters, and his friend are all enjoying their days in the forest. They spend a chunk of their time figuring out how to break into Mr McGregor’s vegetable garden for food. This was something that once belonged to them, when previous owners kept the fence down. 

Something happens to Mr McGregor, and one of his relatives move into their new property. Thomas McGregor is Mr McGregor’s Great Nephew, who hates rabbits just the same. He is ready to win over Bea, however, who is the opposite of him. A local, country girl, who lives to make the wildlife feel welcome.

I’m ready for this review to be short, because there is only so much to say about a film with mostly animated characters.

Let’s get the obvious out of the way… Domnhall Gleeson is an absolute dish. What an attractive man… oh, and I enjoy watching him act. The pairing of him and Rose Byrne was great. In a kids film you need a villain and a hero, right? These two played in perfectly, and there was still opportunity for there to be a message chucked in there. It was made obvious that Thomas was the bad character, and sometimes you meet someone nice that can change that. 

In terms of those casted to voice other characters, none of them offended me… except for James Corden. Don’t get me wrong, I now don’t think it was a bad match, but there were some moments when I just in the cinema thinking ‘Smithy, Smithy, Smithy… When is he going to say Gavaaaalaaaaaaaar?’. If this film wasn’t absolutely stuffed with comedy, it might not have been so bad, but the way the script was written really highlighted the humour that is portrayed perfectly by James Corden.

On the same note, this was belly laugh funny. Like, the kind that makes you turn around to the mental woman sat alone at the back, crying at everything (me). The comedy was so clever in some parts, and this is the definition of suitable for the whole family. An adult can sit in the cinema with their child, and not just have to tolerate it. There is a lot of subtle humour that would go straight over a child’s head, but is also filled with enough silliness, that it suits the audience it is aimed at.

Do we need to talk about CGI rabbits, and real humans working perfectly together, and being visually satisfying? It’s 2018, I feel like this should be expected, but it looked brilliantly edited, regardless. There was definite attention to detail paid at this point.

I was excited about this because I bloody love Peter Rabbit, just the same as I love Winnie the Pooh, it was a character that let me escape, and use my imagination as a child. I was scared that giving these characters recognisable voices was going to ruin it for me, and others that feel the same about Peter Rabbit, but it didn’t.

The script was well written, and well executed, the editing was pretty much spot on, and I had a blast. I laughed, my heart felt warm and fuzzy, and even when it got tense, I felt myself genuinely being bothered by what was happening.

Another must watch ‘kids’ film for 2018.

6.5/10

CINEMATES – S

Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)

I just don’t know how I feel. 

I am certain that needing to see a film twice just to get a firm opinion means it wasn’t great, especially when you don’t feel much different after the second time of watching it.

SO, the story – in case you aren’t aware. Rey has discovered she has abilities, and now that she has found Luke Skywalker, she is able to begin training to develop her skills. She is also battling the relationship she has with Kylo Ren, who appears to be getting stronger under the rule of Supreme Leader Snoke. Meanwhile, the Resistance are preparing for battle with the First order, and Finn, Rose and Poe are doing everything they can to make sure everyone in the Resistance survives, alongside Princess Leia.

Do you want the actual plot now? The plot that does not use any words from the Star Wars universe, that make The Last Jedi sound like it’s going to be a SICK film… One ship follows the other at close proximity, but never quite catches up. Two people try and find a man who can help them but they dick around doing it, while one other person uses the force to talk to another person, and has wet hair a lot.

I really don’t want to be the one that won’t let it go that Disney have ruined Star Wars, and it because of this - doesn’t make sense that this film especially, has been getting such high ratings. But I am going to have to be that one person still, because Disney have ruined Star Wars, and the internet does not make sense in relation to this film

I’m going to put aside all the issues I have with this film, because I am a fan of the extended universe. I have wasted hours of my life reading the books, comics, all the pieces of the internet I never thought existed, and it is painful to watch anything to doesn’t run alongside this perfectly. There are issues with this as a Star Wars film yes, like technicalities. For example – Snoke should be a true Sith, so therefore a) his eyes should be a different colour, and b) he 100% would not die how he did. Next up, why on earth did Maz show up? ALSO, someone explain the lack of consistency with Luke’s lightsabers? Lastly, when are Rey and Ben going to realise that their names are wrong, and they are brother and sister so that this shitshow can start to make some logical sense…?

Ignoring all of that though, it was a bad film. Forget that it is Star Wars, just for a minute and think about how disjointed this film was! There was no consistency in the plot. We skipped from different perspectives CONSTANTLY, which was at times frustrating, because a moving ship is not a good transition when you’ve already used it 3 times in a row. For what could be considered an action film, the action was honestly, appalling. Tell me a time that we had one good battle, this didn’t make you feel dizzy. Similarly, the effects in The Last Jedi this weren’t fantastic, the action and the effects together were on occasion extremely messy, and these things made the film seem so much longer the second-time round. The pacing was just so off, we spend ages doing one thing that was really not interesting, which meant there were certain points that lacked attention – such as, the fight scenes.

On a positive note. The score was great. It really redeemed this slightly catastrophic film. It is not only something needed to set the mood, but where there are 2 different ‘settings’ its necessary, just so that you know where you are in the universe. Especially in a plot hole filled film.

I do, however, have some problems with the cast. I am going no further with members of the original cast that – Mark Hamill sucks. But I have extremely warmed to Adam Driver. I really think he is doing a great job as Kylo Ren now, and we are really getting both sides of him. There are occasions when he is a whiney baby, but that’s more just a character fault, than something that is Adam Driver’s problem. He’s doing it well is what I’m trying to say, and he’s made me crave more Kylo Ren on screen. I’ve never been a fan of Rey, or Daisy Ridley, (sorry internet) so for now, I still nothing our new Jedi. Do I need to say much about John Boyega? He’s John Boyega, he’s great at what he does, and he again, plays a character with flaws very well. I don’t care all that much for Finn, but he’s doing his thing and it’s not horrible to watch.

Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t as bad as The Force Awakens, and I am not just being bitter because this was another Star Wars Film, that was not a great Star Wars film. I genuinely believe there were a lot of faults in this as an actual film. If I wasn’t a Star Wars fan, I believe I would still find this problematic. I was positive I would rate this film lowly before I even saw it, but I just don’t understand how the average person, Star Wars fan or not, can watch this film and not leave with questions.

I sincerely hope this gets cleared up in the spin-offs, because watching it twice in the cinema has not done anything to change my opinion. As it stands… I still just don’t know how I feel.

Good luck with the Carrie Fisher CGI Disney. I hope you do it well.

4/10

CINEMATES - S