In Review
Welcome to In Review! Check out the latest reviews across film, TV, theatre and so much more…
Film Review - The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Story comes second and spectacle takes centre stage in The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
Fantastic Film Fest 2023 Review - Quantum Cowboys
Quantum Cowboys is a bold expedition into the Wild West, the mind-boggling multiverse, and the very capacity and parameters of the cinematic form itself.
Short Film Review - 2023 Oscar Nominated Short Films (Animated)
Another stellar line-up of the most imaginative pieces of art and cinema has to offer!
Film Review - We Are Still Here
We Are Still Here is aptly described by the saying “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts,” as it doesn’t particularly stand out for its technical or creative proficiencies, but rather because the message it manages is profound.
Film Review - Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio is a breath of fresh air in the animated feature landscape.
Film Review - Disney’s Strange World
Offering a slice of pulpy, moralistic sci-fi that feels like a throwback to before 2D animation had died, Strange World is good, lighthearted fun, gesturing gently at the hard-headed nature of father-son relationships.
Film Review - Entergalactic
While the plot is largely predictable, following the tropes and clichés of dozens of films before it, Cudi’s presence firmly sells this product as something of his own.
MIFF 2022 Film Review - Marcel the Shell with Shoes On
How far can you take the idea of a talking shell who wears shoes and stands one inch off the ground? Well, with the help of many celebrity cameos, dozens of viral videos, and a documentary maker with too much time on his hands, apparently there’s no limit.
MIFF 2022 Film Review - Battlecry
Japanese animator Yanakaya has made his feature debut with Battlecry, animated entirely on his own laptop. In embracing the rough limitations of solo 3D animation, the film looks like a videogame from the 90s.
MIFF 2022 Short Film Review - An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It
Warning: you may or may not want to quit your office job after watching, I did within 5 minutes of the film’s end. Nothing is real.
Film Review - Minions: The Rise of Gru
Set in the swingin’ 60’s, yet again following the hijinx of the minions after finally finding their purpose at the close of Minions, they immediately lose Gru again and retread the American countryside, this time to San Franbisco.
Film Review - My Sweet Monster
A “quirky and unique spin on the animated fairy tale genre” that is actually just as cliche as the rest of them.
Film Review - Lightyear
Lightyear is an absolute feat of digitised filmmaking and some of the best animation I’ve ever seen.
Film Review - The Bob’s Burgers Movie
Everyone I asked about The Bob’s Burgers Movie didn’t know it existed, and I’m ashamed to say this slipped under my radar up until its release as well. If it is destined for hidden gem status, it will fit right in with the show’s legacy in this truly underrated franchise.
Film Review: Pompo the Cinéphile
Complete with a Marlon Brando surrogate and nods to B-movie exploitation, it's clear that for the most part, Pompo The Cinéphile has its heart in the right place. Viewed purely as blissful escapism, it's a sugar-coated ode to the idea that with enough passion, anyone can make it.
Fantastic Film Fest 2022 Review - Absolute Denial
One of the defining contentions of the film is who is justified in this situation, or rather who is the true captor and who is the true victim? Is it David, an obsessive programmer who didn’t think of the consequences of his actions? Or is it Al, a supercomputer who didn’t ask to be made but will stop at nothing to be free?
Film Review: The Bad Guys
At its core the narrative is great on paper: the idea of taking traditionally villainous criminals and attempting to redeem them is ripe with potential, potential reaped by films like last year’s The Suicide Squad, and even Dreamworks’ own Megamind, but it’s the tropes it ends up using to get there that make it feel like it’s largely re-treading familiar ground.