RAYA might lose some points for its narrative being a very familiar shape with key story beats you could sleepwalk between, but it makes up for it by getting the casting right and being one of the most beautiful looking Disney animations of all time. Raya (Kelly Marie Tran) the last of the nation of Kumamdra’s Heart Clan must undertake a quest to reunite the lost shards of a magic gem that will keep a demonic darkness consuming her homeland at bay. Along the way she revives Sisu (Awkwafina) the last elemental dragon and her party of misfit allies grows as her enemies move to stop her. The film’s vibrant and fantastical world combines Cambodian, Thai and other Southeast Asian cultures and fills it with exciting chase and martial arts action sequences and breathtaking imagery. If Disney are to continue avoiding direct adaptations and tell more stories with diverse voices, inventing new fables rooted in specific cultures might just be the way to go. SSP
Review in Brief: Raya and the Last Dragon (2021)
Review in Brief: Fast & Furious 9 (2021)
If you like the FAST & FURIOUS movies, chances are you either prefer the earlier ones that were about street racing and family or you prefer the later ones that are about ignoring the laws of physics and family. If you’re in the latter camp, FAST & FURIOUS 9 could be just your kind of trash. The scattershot plot, such as it is, this time involves Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his crew going after another all-powerful device that’ll give baddies control of the world’s weapons arsenals, a scheme spearheaded by Dom’s long-lost evil brother Jakob (John Cena). The film is long, but thankfully there’s plenty of sparky character interplay and inventive action sequences involving military-grade electromagnets and people flying through the air and being miraculously caught on the hood/bonnet of people’s cars (returning director Justin Lin is still among the best in the business at this kind of thing) . It’s probably not going to bear much repeat viewing, but for now F9 is just the kind of park-your-brain spectacle you want to see on the biggest, loudest screen possible. SSP
Review in Brief: Bo Burnham: Inside (2021)
INSIDE is a feature film, no question. At the very least it’s a musical, with elements of documentary and insightful monologue mixed in. Comedy musician Bo Burnham spent over a year crafting a unique special for Netflix and decided to document the process and his rapidly degrading mental state during lockdown in addition to serving up a series witty and hilarious songs about isolation, the always-online world and millennial culture, including “White Woman’s Instagram” and “Welcome to the Internet” to name only the two funniest and most ear-wormy. It almost doesn’t matter whether Burnham really secluded himself to this extent throughout lockdown and throughout this project, the raw emotions behind the songs are genuine and applicable to the experiences of so many and if it is just a performance he’s giving then it’s a damn convincing one. Film, series of skits, performance art or something else, Inside could be the piece of popular culture for the Covid Generation. SSP
Review in Brief: The Father (2020)
There have been many dementia dramas but few that attempt to put audiences in the POV of the person slipping away. THE FATHER is best seen with as little prior reading as possible, the tricky-clever ways the very building blocks of storytelling on film are used to befuddle the viewer as much as an increasingly confused Anthony (Anthony Hopkins) is what marks the film out along with its stellar performances. Music also plays an important part in writer-director Florian Zeller’s conveying of emotion in a mixed-up reality, key classical motifs are played diegetically as Anthony wanders his flat and then non-diegetically as his memories and perceptions become untethered. It’s Hopkins’ show, but Olivia Colman, Imogen Poots, Olivia Williams, Rufus Sewell and Mark Gatiss all make their parts vivid and memorable, lighthouses to guide or mislead Anthony lost in the storm of his mind. SSP
Review in Brief: Rare Beasts (2019/21)
Billie Piper’s directorial debut RARE BEASTS is one of the funniest and most profound, but also perhaps the most uncomfortable of films to watch this year. From an opening dinner date scene incorporating discussion of “gummy blowjobs”, Piper is completely unafraid to really get into what makes so many of us such awful, lonely people. Mandy (Piper) in a thirty-something single mum to a son with behavioural needs (Toby Woolf) and a propensity to choose the worst kinds of men to have relationships with. But when the latest Mr Wrong, Pete (Leo Bill) comes along, Mandy wonders if this is really as good as it gets. There are plenty of gruelingly awkward conversations and frankly cruel exchanges here but Piper clearly has a natural and distinctive flair and guides her cast including David Thewlis and Kerry Fox as her embittered parents to deliver some of the finest honed performances of their careers. SSP
Luca (2021) Review
‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ at 25 – Review
Review in Brief: Nobody (2021)
More melancholy than TAKEN and far funnier than JOHN WICK, NOBODY doesn’t exactly lay new ground for films of its ilk but is really rather satisfying on its own terms. Hutch Mansell (Bob Odenkirk) is a suburban loser stuck in a rut only exacerbated his failure to protect his family during a home break-in. When Hutch lethally intervenes to protect a woman being intimidated by a gang of men on a bus, he kicks off a chain of events that brings him into conflict with the Russian mob and reveals his violent past. Yes, it’s another mild-mannered middle-aged man with a secret special set of skills, so the setup is somewhat laboured and clichéd. But once it gets going Nobody’s inventive and ultra-violent action and Odenkirk’s versatility and wry delivery win the day. Plus, it’s always nice to see Christopher Lloyd in things (as Hutch’s retired FBI dad) and getting to be far more kick-ass than usual. SSP
SSP Thinks Film 