henrybodill Reviews

Django Unchained (2012)

Tarantino does it again

[10/10 · 24 January 2024]

Quentin Tarantino is considered one of the revered names in cinema and he has only cemented himself once again with his spectacular spaghetti western.

A stand out performance from Dicaprio, Samuel L Jackson, Jamie Foxx and Christoph Waltz make this film what it is. I had to say I wasn't sure on Foxx taking such a big role but I was blown away by his performance as Django, plus accompanied by Christoph Waltz who deservedly won a academy award for his performance as Dr. Schultz. Dicaprio once again plays a superb role as Calvin Candie although he was a bit worried about playing the role due to some of his very explicit lines he got the reassurance from Samuel L Jackson and helped Dicaprio to put on a gripping performance.

The cinematography of this film coupled with its soundtrack and costume design make this film sensational. This film is very rewatchable and with a very satisfying ending I cannot recommend this film enough.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)

Average not much more to be said

[4/10 · 24 January 2024]

As a big fan of black panther I like many others had my doubts about this movie but also had hopes of marvel being able to regain some prestige after having some flops recently. The tribute to Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa was very touching and gave me high hopes, although the cgi in this scene was very obvious and the buildings stuck out like a sore thumb.

The story itself is a bit bland with the main villain being quite random and whilst opening up a new world to marvel fans it also creates a lot of confusion.

As a female dominated cast the actresses had a ok performance with some standout moments, however the introduction of the iron heart it left me very confused and very dissatisfied as they have taken the legacy and brilliant performance of Robert Downey Jr as iron man and handed it to a very bland and boringly sarcastic character.

The cgi was a bit hit and miss throughout the film with the attack on wakanda being very well put together but other scenes not so much. It has also been clear through many Marvel films that revenge is never truly enacted with the main character as seen in Spider-Man no way home and I think marvel is missing a big trick here as Shuri could have had more of a character development if she was to kill Namor.

The ending of the film was touching with Nakai and her son but unfortunately a short post credits scene cannot help this film in terms lacking story.

All in all a very subpar film and I wouldn't recommend unless you are a very big fan of Shuri or the Black Panther series in general.

Ford v Ferrari (2019)

A Christian Bale and Matt Damon masterclass

[8/10 · 24 January 2024]

I haven't quite seen a film based around car racing and quite like this film, the high octane race scenes and the high drama business go hand in hand. Bale plays Ken miles extremely well and lets his own personality shine with his sarcasm and jokes. Matt Damon also has a good performance which I think is vastly underrated. The visuals for the movie are great and they portray mid 60's racing perfectly from the cars all the way down to the small details such as car sponsors and advertisements. The accuracy of the film in terms of the historical sense were spot on and really immersed the audience into the film.

A few scenes were a bit dull but didn't hinder the performance all that much.

The bittersweet ending may make or break some people's thoughts on the film but ultimately it is the historical events.

All in all Le Mans 66 is a future classic in the car film genre so a definite watch for anybody who hasn't seen it.

I Am Paul Walker (2018)

A touching tribute

[8/10 · 23 January 2024]

As a big fan of Paul Walker my review may be a bit biased but I think that this documentary is a touching tribute to one of hollywoods best actors of the past decade. As you may know Paul Walker was most notably known as Brian O'Connor from the fast and furious franchise but this documentary also acknowledges his other roles he played whether that be as a young child actor or in his later films also. We get a great insight into walkers childhood through many home videos and interviews with his mother, father, uncle, siblings and friends including probably his closest friend in the acting world Tyrese. The documentary focuses on Walker trying to balance between a peaceful life surfing and spending time with his daughter and the demanding Hollywood lifestyle. The only criticism I have of this is that they didn't get an interview with his wife, daughter or any other of his co stars this could have been due to them not wanting to speak on the matter as I can imagine it is still very sensitive even to this day.

All in all a very heartfelt tribute to a great actor, family man and good friend. RIP Paul Walker.

Remember Me (I) (2010)

Tragic masterpiece

[10/10 · 23 January 2024]

I watched this film expecting very little but I was left speechless at the end, when people think of Robert Pattinson they think of Harry Potter, Twilight or The Batman but I think this a a true hidden gem in his acting career, the film is quite solemn and glum at parts and does leave the audience with a slight unfulfilled sense at the ending as whilst everybody moves on it's not the ending many fans would have hoped for, however there is a contrast with some of the scenes being very sincere and heartfelt despite the t depressing nature of the film, Tyler (Pattinson) is a bit of an introvert and doesn't have a clear vision of his future as many young people still don't have today. His character was very relatable and I think resonates with a lot of young people. Pierce Brosnan plays a very great part as Tyler's wealthy law firm father and the scene in the boardroom should have got more credit than it did.

As for the design of the film overall the dark and quite depressing look of Tyler's student dorm is sharply contrasted to most of the outside shots that are very bright and busy, I think the team did this to portray Tyler as stuck in his own head in that dorm but when he is out with his girlfriend or his younger sister he can be a bit more carefree as there is someone to talk to and things going on around him.

Ultimately this film despite being quite depressing at points and a very bitter ending is one of my favourite films of all time, everything about it is sublime and I think Pattinson should be very happy with his performance.

Black Widow (2021)

One of marvels worst.

[3/10 · 10 October 2021]

I had high expectations for this film as it being Marvels 2nd female lead film. However within the first 40 minutes I found myself bored out of my mind, the story is extremely bland in my opinion with the exception of the taskmaster character being a throwback to older fans.

The film repeats them being a broken family over and over with the viewers losing interest in the film. One positive thing I have to say is the start of the film had a lot of action which enticed me to watch more. I personally find the Black Widow character like a cardboard box, very bland along with the other characters. Not much personality is put into the characters which is a shame as there is a lot of potential. The fight scenes are solid except for parts in the 3rd acts where CGI is very noticeable which is a shame for Marvel.

In comparison films like Shang Chi and Spider Man far from home blows Black Widow out of the water. So in conclusion a poor film on Marvels behalf and definitely a film fans won't remember for a while.