ABC Review Round-up: August 2018-

Mission Impossible: Fallout Utterly ridiculous but very entertaining. Suspension of disbelief is required, following the many plot twists that probably don't logically add up thankfully isn't. It's a good way to avoid the predictability of action films by treating the plot more like heist thrillers.

Honourable Mention: Henry Cavill's moustache was not worth all the fuss in the end but for anyone angry at him after Justice League this provides some excellent catharsis.

Venom
Incompetent studio handling cripples what otherwise seems like a solid if forgettable core production. As expected Tom Hardy's insane alien bromance and comic acting prowess elevate this above a complete factory-line processed spam mess but for those ambivalent to Mr Hardy there's little else here to recommend.

Honourable Mention: For leaning so far into the ridiculous side of the concept that you turned a horror movie monster into a buddy cop scenario with romantic undertones.

The Favourite

Dark, sterile and uncomfortable one moment and jarringly daft the next. The cast and camera wield the tension expertly producing a morbidly humorous, curiously twisted affair.

Honourable Mention: Olivia Coleman's performance nailing both comedic and dramatic aspects plus the bridge between them, more naturally than the rest of the perhaps tonally dissonant story.

Avengers: Endgame

A grand, heartfelt send-off for fans and cast alike. Not quite as polished or perfectly balanced as Infinity War but still willing to attempt new ideas and directions even if not all of them land.

Honourable Mention: To pretty much every actor behind a major character. Some of them have inhabited these roles for over a decade now and the mastery is so solid these characters will be quite untouchable by any other actor for some time.

John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum

A riotous ballet of ridiculously entertaining action. Unparalleled in the aforementioned, somewhat wonky in its slower moments and world-building.That said, it remains an intriguing, goofy underworld and one of the best action films in recent memory.

Honourable Mention: One of this series' strengths has always been its humour but with chapter three some of it almost transcends to commentary on the action film genre overall.

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood
More of an elongated namedrop than a movie. Wistful nostalgic meandering that has plenty of admirably authentic visuals but also forgets or seems unconcerned with implementing much in the way of plot points, stakes, engagement for the audience and an actual film to enjoy as opposed to a lounging stylised documentary.

Honourable Mention: Almost all the actors give solid to excellent performances...If only their characters got to do something.

Joker

A clumsy juggling act of themes, messages and intentions. Joaquin gives a terrific performance and some of the writing suggests the film could have said something really poignant about mental illness. Unfortunately the other half is tropey, on the nose theming and DC execs breathing down the neck of the film, trying to shoehorn in more Batman references that are irrelevant, done to death and embarrassingly forced.

Dishonourable Mention: To the degenerate, shameless murder-baiting articles written about this film when in fact all it will likely inspire is cringey memes, Halloween costumes and clueless DC execs trying to bandwagon off of it for years to come.