Rocketman Shows How To Do A Music Biopic Right

Just as Avatar ushered in a barrage of movies released in digital 3D and It ensured that no Stephen King book would be spared from a film adaptation, the box office success of Bohemian Rhapsody has guaranteed that the music biopic is about to be omnipresent in cinema once again. After nearly a decade of dormancy only interrupted by Straight Outta Compton, that Freddie Mercury biopic made more than enough money to ensure that the subgenre won't be facing an absence like that for quite a long time. If we're gonna get a whole heap of music biopics, can more of them be like Rocketman? Imaginatively made, fun to watch, actually thoughtful when it comes to exploring its real-life subject, as Anakin Skywalker might say, now this is music biopic filmmaking!

Ben Mendelsohn Excels In An Otherwise Average Take On The Robin Hood Mythos

Robin Hood has been a fixture of movie theater screens for exactly 110 years now, with everyone from Percy Stow to Errol Flynn to Disney to Mel Brooks to Ridley Scott giving their own unique take on the Robin Hood mythos. The newest take on this material comes from director Otto Bathurst, making his feature film directorial debut with this project, working from a script by Ben Chandler and David James Kelly that reworks the Robin Hood mythos into something that kind of wants to make the character into a superhero but also into a grounded n' gritty individual as well as a figure of political intrigue. Why they didn't also try to make him into a screwball comedy leading man while they were at it is beyond me.

I Spy A Disappointing Sequel Called Kingsman: The Golden Circle

The newest Kingsman adventure follows the typical trajectory of many sequels in that it decides to blow up the scale of its predecessor to massive proportions. "Go Big Or Go Home" as they say and Kingsman: The Golden Circle does go big but it wasn't long into this films running time that I was wondering when I'd be able to go home. Turns out Kingsman: The Golden Circle has also followed the trajectory of many underwhelming sequels in that it's traded in fun and wit for simply a larger scale for its narrative. At least it's able to contribute to 2017's lovely trend of John Denver songs popping up across various pieces of cinema (Logan Lucky, Okja and Free Fire are among the other 2017 titles to make use of this man's music).

Sing Needs A Tune-Up

The highest piece of praise I can offer Sing is that it's the best motion picture created by Illumination Entertainment since the very first Despicable Me movie back in 2010. But considering that in the six year span since the first Despicable Me they've only made the likes of Hop, that forgettable Lorax movie, two middling Despicable Me follow-ups and this summer's blah The Secret Life Of Pets, that's not a high bar to clear. Even worse, taken on its own merits, Sing is just an average, inoffensive but extremely unmemorable kind of movie, one without much of anything in the way of a distinctive identity to lodge it into ones mind once the credits begin to roll.

Eddie The Eagle Review

Eddie The Eagle is a feature film adaptation of real life figure Eddie Edwards (here played by Taron Edgerton), whose life-long ambitions to participate in the Olympics seem to have a chance of coming true when he discovers the art of ski jumping. With more than a little help from former athlete Bronson Peary (Hugh Jackman), Eddie hopes to beat the odds and fulfill his sports-related dreams. Basically, what ya have here is the prime premise for a conventional inspirational sports drama, and Eddie The Eagle embraces the conventions of this subgenre with aplomb, flaunting its hokey tendencies the way Jeff Wells parades his own blatantly sexist attitude towards women.

Kingsman: The Secret Service Review

On His Kingman's Secret Service

There's a self-referential streak in Kingsman: The Secret Service surrounding the tone of spy movies in the past and present that starts with Harry Hart (Colin Firth) feeling current spy movies are too serious for his taste. It's an interesting gag, mainly because Kingsman feels like it's combination of the older James Bond films (which director Matthew Vaughn heavily hearkened in his last movie X-Men: First Class) and the more entries in the spy genre. The over-the-top style and more light hearted tone found in earlier spy films is found in spades, as is the sleek modern action of more recent adventures starring the likes of Jason Bourne.