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Tenet

After a long absence I have returned to the cinema, adorned with a mask, and armed with a large tub of popcorn – not the best combination. The film I returned to the cinema for was the summer sci-fi blockbuster tasked with saving cinema, Christopher Nolan’s Tenet. It won’t save cinema. Hopefully it won’t need to. But it is well worth a watch.

Nolan has a habit of distorting time and reality (sometimes both) in his films, as he did with the likes of Memento and Interstellar, and Tenet is no different. Both the film’s name and narrative are palindromic. It could have easily been called ‘radar’ or ‘reviver’, or they could have rolled the dice with ‘Never odd or even’. The film moves both forwards and backwards in time as the protagonist, Denzel’s son and former St. Louis Rams’ running back*, John David Washington battles to save the world in an international espionage thriller.

*(I don’t think he ever got a game, just thought it was an interesting fact)

The film was built on a very clever concept (inversion) but unfortunately you could see the main twists coming a mile off. You couldn’t fault the ambition of the film, but the execution, in terms of the storyline, was underwhelming. The film spends an incredible amount of time explaining itself to the audience through various character cameos and at one point Robert Pattinson’s character, Neil, in a nod to the audience, even asks the protagonist “does your brain hurt?” Spoiler alert – it does. Don’t worry about brushing up on the process of inversion, in which an object or a person can have their entropy reversed, thus moving backwards in space while others move forward, but in a ‘twilight world’ where guns catch bullets and exploded buildings reassemble, it makes sense for your brain to hurt a little. The protagonist is in a race against time, where time stands still, moves forward and moves backwards. It certainly makes for an incredible car chase or three.

Pattinson has successfully broken out of his previous typecast as he segues to his new role as Batman, whilst BlacKkKlansman star Washington is fantastic as the unnamed protagonist, or in effect, Nolan’s very own James Bond. At one point Neil asks “what the hell happened here?” to which the protagonist responds “it hasn’t happened yet.” Ironically, for a film moving both forwards and backwards, a key phrase from the film is “what’s happened, happened,” which is less reassuring than the cast of Love Island telling you “it is what it is.”

The concept might be confusing and the key points in the story-line are somewhat predictable, but it is an enjoyable ride nonetheless. The film is packed full of mind-blowing visuals and a soundtrack that never gives you a moment’s rest. Don’t try and understand it, just enjoy it. I think it might be more enjoyable on a second viewing, as there will be a number of Easter eggs for second time viewers, and it might even make sense by the time you watch it a third time.

Featured

My First Blog Post

A Wilde Friday night!

Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.
— Oscar Wilde.

This is the first post on my new blog. I’m just getting this new blog going, and WordPress auto-populated my new site with this quote and I’m gonna leave it there. In reality I’ve already written a few reviews already so I’ll probably stick those up almost straight away, like I’m flipping the bird. The name’s Nick, but you can call me butter fingers, because I”ll keep dropping things.

Dune

Dune is an epic sci-fi film directed by Denis Villeneuve (Sicario, Blade Runner 2049) with a screenplay by Jon Spaihts, Eric Roth and Villeneuve himself. The film is part one of a two-part adaptation of Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel of the same name – regarded by many as the greatest science fiction book of all time.

Set over 8,000 years from now, the film follows Paul Atreides (Timothee Chalamet – Call Me by Your Name), as his family are thrust into a war for the dangerous desert-like planet Arrakis – also known as Dune. The ongoing war is between the native Fremen (including Javier Bardem and Zendaya) and the enemy invaders, and former rulers of Arrakis, the House Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgard and Dave Bautista).

Moments before entering the cinema I quickly googled the run time (2hr 35 minutes) and 10 seconds in it says ‘Part One’ – I wondered what I’d got myself in for (Yes I like to do my research after watching the film). I’m not saying the mammoth world-building mission that takes place during the first hour was boring but there were two distinct snoring sounds in our screening (without mentioning any names of course).

It is the task of the Atreides family to contain or conciliate Dune’s indigenous people, the Fremen, but get sole commercial exploitation rights for the planet’s mineral, “Spice”, which, properly refined, gives the consumer superhuman mental powers. Incidentally, the film is a cross between Lawrence of Arabia in space and Lawrence of Arabia on Spice.

The story of Paul Atreides very much appears to be one of destiny. He is son of Duke Leto Atreides (Oscar Isaac – Ex Machina) and Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson – Mission Impossible). From his father he will inherit the ruling power and from his mother, a member of a Jedi-like sorceress cult – Bene Gesserit – he inherits mind-control powers and the weird intuitions that come along with it. Those weird intuitions and possible premonitions are the only place we see Zendaya – she may as well not be in the film – the trailer certainly overplays her involvement.

Hans Zimmer’s score is as relentless as it is compelling from the moment they step on the new planet, reverberating through the cinema during battles, fight scenes and attempted assassinations. Dune provides a combination of ancient civilization and unimaginable future technology, such as the dragonfly aircraft. It is arguably the greatest introduction to a new universe since The Fellowship of the Ring in 2001.

I would recommend a sense of patience for anyone diving into Dune for the first time – I certainly needed it. The film ends quite abruptly but leaves the audience wanting more. After 2.5 hours it was just getting going. Nonetheless, it is a spectacle that needs to be seen in the cinema. The final 90 minutes are definitely worth the opening 60 – alternatively, you could just have a nap!

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is an Asian-centric superhero origins story based on Marvel Comics and the 25th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film is directed by Destin Daniel Cretton (Just Mercy) from a screenplay written with Dave Callaham (Wonder Woman 1984) and Andrew Lanham (also Just Mercy) and is the first Marvel Studios film with a predominantly Asian cast.

Shang-Chi is compellingly played by Chinese-Canadian actor Simu Liu (Pacific Rim), who often takes the back seat to a variety of scene-stealing supporting turns – predominantly in the form of Awkwafina/Nora Lum (The Farewell), who plays his best friend Katy who provides the roles of Shang-Chi’s defender, drinking buddy and driver (well, fellow valet car-parker, but I wanted the alliteration).

This action-adventure fantasy utilises the anti-gravity fighting styles of wuxia fiction – as seen in Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon – combined with Avenger-type superpowers. Cretton navigates potential clichés such as flashback sequences and timeworn training montages (even Rocky had a montage!) with aplomb – even thrusting the film forward as we travel back in time.

The film reveals that Shang-Chi has been hiding some things from Katy, including his name (although as she points out, the two pronunciations are not particularly different), the fact that he has been trained to be a fighting weapon and his childhood as the son of a powerful secret crime-lord called The Mandarin (Tony Leung – The Grandmaster) who found power and eternal life with the 10 mysterious rings. In the original Marvel comic Shang-Chi was the son of the offensively-stereotyped Fu Manchu –the inimitable Tony Leung marks a wise rebrand!

Shang-Chi fled the order of the Ten Rings after his mother’s death, aged 14, but now they want him to return to support his father’s impossible mission. Some of the plot is best off ignored, while you embrace the frenetic fight scenes, special effects and entertaining cameos from Awkwafina and Ben Kingsley.

The film is complimentary and celebratory of Chinese culture without being tokenistic. The soundtrack is incredible and the two leads, Shang-Chi and Katy, manage an incredibly rare feat of remaining just friends throughout the whole film – I hope they don’t ruin this in a sequel. It is already rightfully regarded as one of the best MCU films to date – for me, it slots in as #2 behind Thor: Ragnarok. It is well worth a trip to the cinema to catch this while it is still on the big screen!

Clingfilm – that’s a wrap!

Free Guy

Free Guy is a sci-fi action comedy film in which Guy (Ryan Reynolds), a bank cashier, realises that he is actually a non-player character (NPC) in an open-world video game. The film is directed by Shawn Levy (Night at the Museum) from a screenplay by Matt Lieberman and Zak Penn (Ready Player One).

In a video game that resembles Grand Theft Auto and Cyberpunk 2077, Guy breaks out of his NPC-skin, thanks to a quirk in the algorithm that sees him hyper-evolve into an AI state of free will and agency. He then becomes a ‘real’ character, and racks up experience points as a good guy in a world full of bad guys. It is a clever, but probably under-explored concept that compares favourably to the likes of Ready Player One and The Truman Show. It never dwells on the existential crisis aspect for too long, instead focusing on the doomed postmodern romance with Molotov Girl (Millie Rusk – Jodie Comer) who unlike Guy, exists in the real world – whatever that is!

Free City is an online, open-world video game developed by Soonami Games. The source code used to create Free City was allegedly stolen from an unreleased game called Life Itself, developed by Walter “Keys” McKey (Joe Keery) and Millie Rusk. In real life, Keys works in the complaints department at Soonami, while Millie frequents Free City as her avatar Molotov Girl to find evidence of the code.

It sounds complicated and confusing – it isn’t really. It’s a light riff on the themes of virtual reality, artificial intelligence and the meaning of life (42 by the way!). Reynolds has a couple of thought-provoking-without-getting-too-deep scenes with Lil Rel Howery (Get Out), commenting on themes relating to friendship and free will.

There are a number of cheap gags thrown in concerning the other players in the game, including a tough-guy avatar – Revenjamin Buttons (yes, really) – played by Channing Tatum, who is actually a nerdy guy who spends his days in his mum’s basement. There are a number of cameo appearances from gamers and streamers who, in the film, provide commentary on Guy on their YouTube and Twitch channels – which can enhance the excitement and at times explain what’s going on to the non-gamers in the cinema audience.

Comer is magnificent whilst Reynolds plays a character we have seen from him ten times before. Comer’s camaraderie with Guy, in Free City, and Keys in the real-world is the glue that sticks the film together. Taika Waititi (Jojo Rabbit) is so bad it must be intentional as Soonami-owner Antwan – it gets a bit much at points. The scene towards the end with the servers doesn’t do his character any favours and also makes me question if the writers have any idea how servers work…

It’s funny, at times intentionally awkward, a nearly-commentary on many different things, but nonetheless an enjoyable watch. It will be an easy Friday-night watch when it comes to the usual streaming services – no need to rush to the cinema.

Clingfilm – That’s a wrap!

The Suicide Squad

The Suicide Squad is a DC Extended Universe (DCEU) superhero film based on the DC Comics team, Suicide Squad. The part-sequel, part-reimagining of the 2016 film of almost exactly the same name is written and directed by James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy) – if you didn’t know, I think you’d be able to tell!

Disposable super-villains Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Bloodsport (Idris Elba) and the ironically named Peacemaker (John Cena) and a collection of criminally-insane convicts join the shady Task Force X. Under the instruction of Viola Davis (The Help, How to Get Away with Murder), the squad are dropped off at the remote, enemy-inhabited and presumably-fictional island of Corto Maltese and are sent to destroy a Nazi-era laboratory and a giant starfish alien thing (Starro) – you know, the usual stuff!

Gunn demonstrates that there are ways to keep things edgy while offering enough crowd-pleasing action and humour to keep the film ticking over nicely. The epitome of this is where Bloodsport and Peacemaker turn the invasion of an enemy camp into a ridiculous game of one-upmanship as they pick off the bad guys one by one (well, sometimes more than one at once).

The film, despite its taskforce consisting of mutant sharks (that sound like Sylvester Stallone…), killer clowns and the criminally insane, somehow succeeds in re-framing its characters as victims, not just villains. As often seems to be the case with these DC Films, Harley Quinn leads the way – particularly in her own little mid-film jaunt away from the rest of the gang.

The storyline is terrible and some of the gore is over-the-top. Nonetheless, it is very funny, entertaining and a massive upgrade on the original film. Gunn expertly performs an early bait and switch manoeuvre on the film’s viewers – so don’t become too attached to any of the characters!

The story is weak and at points it makes little sense. However, it is a magnificent action spectacle worthy of the cinema, with enough genuinely funny moments for three films.

Clingfilm – That’s a wrap!

Black Widow

Black Widow is an American superhero film featuring the Marvel character of the same name. The film revolves around Natasha Romanoff’s (Scarlett Johansson) quests between the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films Civil War and Infinity War. This is now the 24^th film (how many?) in the MCU.

Black Widow was co-written by WandaVision creator Jac Schaeffer, along with Ned Benson, and directed by Cate Shortland, functioning as an origin story for Natasha Romanoff’s presence in the MCU. The film touches upon past family trauma, Black Widow’s identity crisis and her sisterly rivalry with Yelena (Florence Pugh – Little Women). The film expatiates on the key characters in a way that hadn’t been done before. It’s an enjoyable watch – even if some of the accents are a little flickering – here’s looking at you Ray!

The film reveals that the two sisters were in fact unrelated orphans, and their fake mother Melinda (Rachel Weisz – The Constant Gardener) and fake father Alexei (David Harbour – Hellboy) were previously on the payroll of, and now seeking revenge on, evil puppet-master Dreykov (Ray Winstone – Sexy Beast – the film not my opinion – and those bet365 adverts, “Please gamble responsibly”) who has been training an army of “widows”.

The unconventional family dynamic at the centre of the film keeps the film chugging along nicely, with a few chuckle-worthy moments thrown in for good measure. It requires no intricate knowledge of any previous MCU films, only a basic idea of who the Avengers are. It is an easy and enjoyable watch – I guess you know exactly what you’re getting with MCU films by now. There are enough funny moments – but it is no Thor: Ragnarok – but what is?

It is Johansson’s chance to bid adieu to a character that probably should have had her own solo film years ago. I guess there’s time for a Black Widow and Hawkeye spin-off TV series yet too. The film also finally reveals what happened in Budapest! For the uninitiated, this has served as an in-joke between the aforementioned pair, in their pre-Avengers days as killer spies.

It also wouldn’t be the biggest surprises ever if we were to see Harbour, as Captain America’s Soviet counterpart, Red Guardian, ascend to follow-up greatness of his own. I’ll write it if no-one else will!

Clingfilm – That’s a wrap!

Fast & Furious 9

F9: The Fast Saga is an American action film directed by Justin Lin, who returns following a seven-year break from the franchise – 20 years after the original – feel old yet? Fast 9 is the sequel to The Fate of the Furious (2017) and the tenth full-length film in the franchise. As you would expect, Fast 9 is a bonkers and over-the-top rollercoaster ride in which very little actual acting takes place.

Fast 9 is a mammoth action movie in which the villains smirk, nod and wink at you for the whole two and a half hours. For those familiar with the franchise, cyber-terrorist Cipher (Charlize Theron) is still at large, and hunting for a mysterious satellite device that could “reboot the world order.” Thue Ersted Rasmussen plays generic evil son-of-a-dictator and co-conspirator who reminds the audience that “Spoilt, rich pricks run the world!”

The film begins in 1989, when Jack Toretto participates in a race, with his sons Dominic and Jakob (Finn Cole – Peaky Blinders) in his pit crew. Following an argument with a rival racer, Toretto Senior’s car is spun out of the race, crashes into a wall and explodes. Potential foul play sets the scene for the bitter brotherly rivalry in Fast 9 between Dominic (Vin Diesel) and Jakob (John Cena).

It’s big, it’s stupid and the stunts are more ridiculous than ever. The script is formulaic – but it has worked eight times before so why change a winning formula. Locations include London, Tokyo, Edinburgh, and in one of the most Ludacris scenes in the franchise so far, a rocket-fueled adventure in a Pontiac Fiero, into outer space, featuring Roman (Tyrese Gibson) and Tej (Chris Bridges).

Earlier in the film, Tej presumably ironically claims: “As long as we obey the laws of physics, we’ll be fine.” I’m not sure this is a concept that the franchise obeys. Later, he’s in a Pontiac Fiero in outer space, and cars are getting thrown all over the road thanks to incredibly powerful magnets. I’ve seen these scenes described as Tenet for toddlers – it’s incredibly apt.

It has an unnecessarily convoluted plot and an inkeepingly terrible cameo from Helen Mirren. Despite its many flaws, it is a perfect take-your-brain-out film, with a few genuinely funny moments.

Clingfilm – That’s a wrap!

In the Heights

The film revolves around Usnavi (Anthony Ramos – Hamilton, A Star is Born), a New York bodega owner, who saves every penny he earns with a dream of owning a beach-front bar in the Dominican Republic. A framing device shows Usnavi, presumably on the beach he dreams of, telling his story to an enraptured audience of children.

The film is set in the Washington Heights district of Manhattan, a vibrant hub of Latin American communities, not the former United States Armed Forces housing complex in Tokyo (ooooh someone’s been to Japan…). In The Heights is a movie-musical version of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway hit from 2008. Miranda’s lyrics and story-telling seemingly came a very long way in the seven years between this musical and Hamilton’s premiere in January 2015.

Perhaps I came in with unrealistically high expectations, thinking that everything Miranda touches will turn to gold. I have seen Hamilton twice in London’s West End, numerous times on Disney Plus and a number of songs from the musical appear on my Spotify ‘most listened to’ every year. I won’t be in a rush to watch or re-listen to anything from this film.

There are a number of Easter Eggs for Hamilton fans including Christopher Jackson’s (George Washington) brief appearance as Mister Softee and the more notable King George III’s “You’ll be back” instrumental being used as on-hold music, as a character looks to pay off his daughter’s Stanford tuition fees – also a commentary on her precarious position at the University and potential return to the Heights instead.

I mean I have just watched the film so I should probably know what the main storylines are – I think they are two rather weak love stories and a search for the winning lottery ticket holder, of a ticket bought at Usnavi’s bodega – and the dreams that come along with it. Realistically, it fails from a social commentary perspective and just about has a storyline. I like musicals, I’m a fan of Miranda – but this was just a bit rubbish. One couple left the cinema after about 90 minutes of the 143 and I really couldn’t blame them. The storylines it does have could hardly be any more telegraphed and the limited messaging can be a little too on-the-nose – a power cut gives the film the opportunity to declare that its characters are not powerless.

Corey Hawkins, who played Dr Dre in Straight Outta Compton was very good as Benny, but probably only had about 2.5 songs in total. I won’t bore you with details of the love interests as nothing really happens there – it’s incredibly sanitised. I can only imagine it worked better on stage.

Miranda appears in the film on numerous occasions. The first time I thought, yeah fair enough, good to get your Stan Lee or Alfred Hitchcock-style cameo in early. Then we see him about five more times including a full song – Piragua (as Piragüero, a man who sells pyramid-shaped frozen ice desserts) – I thought it was incredibly self-indulgent and cringey. But maybe it is easier to watch if you don’t know who it is playing the character. DC won’t be in a hurry to make a Piraguaman spin-off that’s for sure.

For regular readers of the blog you might have noticed a slight selection bias creeping in – I watch films I think I will like, review them and usually recommend watching them – well, I’ve reviewed this one.

Clingfilm – That’s a wrap!

Nobody

Nobody is an American crime thriller starring Bob Odenkirk (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul) as Hutch Mansell, a seemingly ordinary man with two children and a wife (Becca – Connie Nielsen) and an unremarkable job as an office worker. Clever editing from director Ilya Naishuller gives a quick flick-book summary of the daily disappointments of Hutch’s life in which his son holds him in contempt and his wife drinks the last of his coffee.

When his house is broken into by burglars, who steal a priceless watch and his daughter’s kitty-kat bracelet, using his ‘particular set of skills’ and his dad’s long-expired FBI badge, he sets off on a mission to right a wrong, revealing his adeptness for violence that he has previously hidden from his family. It is an action-packed 91 minutes, laden with Tarantino-like gratuitous violence and clearly taking inspiration from Taken, John Wick and Home Alone.

After retrieving his watch, but failing to locate his daughter’s bracelet, the bus Hutch takes home is stopped by a gang of thugs and he takes out his frustration by savagely beating them under the pretence of protecting a young woman, making himself the target of a vengeful drug boss in the process.

As he finds himself in an ever-escalating situation, his father and brother are recruited to alleviate his circumstances. Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future) enjoys himself as his gun-toting father and along with RZA (The Man with the Iron Fists, although more famous as the de facto leader of Wu Tang Clan) as his brother, there’s a glimpse ahead to a somewhat inevitable sequel.

It has a colourful soundtrack which is deliberately incongruous and ironic at points, including Louis Armstrong’s ‘What a Wonderful World’, Andy Williams’ ‘The Impossible Dream’ and throughout the film, the Nina Simone version of ‘Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood’.

Written by Derek Kolstad (John Wick), Odenkirk features as his latest reinvented action star. The aforementioned bus scene reveals a durable but flawed fighter, limited by age and flexibility, making for more exciting and enjoyable fight scenes than any Neeson might find himself in. Although it is action-packed, it lacks the necessary humour you might expect from such a film with only one or two genuinely funny moments. It’s not as funny as it thinks it is, or could be. It is an easy and entertaining watch. I’m sure there’ll be a sequel – possibly a trilogy – and I will probably watch them too.

Clingfilm – that’s a wrap!

Cruella

Cruella is an American crime comedy prequel to Dodie Smith’s 1956 novel and 1961 Disney Film – ‘One Hundred and One Dalmatians’. The family-friendly heist movie features imperious performances from Emma Stone (La La Land, The Help) and Emma Thompson (Love Actually, Saving Mr. Banks) and a terrible English accent to rival that of Dick Van Dyke (Mary Poppins) or Don Cheadle (Ocean’s Eleven) from Paul Walter Hauser (Richard Jewell, Cobra Kai) as Horace. I’m a big fan of Hauser – he was brilliant in Richard Jewell and he even acted this role very well – but I was left somewhat distracted by his accent throughout the film.

The film is a live action prequel or origin story for everyone’s favourite character from ‘One Hundred and One Dalmatians’ – no not Pongo, Cruella herself. The film was obvious, but enjoyable, stupid, but entertaining and about half an hour too long. It incorporated a number of nods to the original film with characters called Anita and Roger and the classic scene where the dogs look like their owners – I have found myself playing along with this concept in real life ever since I first watched the film about 25 years ago – No I don’t mean I own a dopey-looking great Dane, I still look out for dogs that look like their owners.

The costumes were incredible, enabled by the storyline of two rival fashion designers briefly battling it out – the Baroness (Emma Thompson) and Cruella de Vil (Emma Stone). The soundtrack turned out tune after tune, including the likes of the Bee Gees, Rolling Stones and The Doors. However, my personal favourite ‘Time Of The Season’ by the Zombies was expertly juxtaposed with Cruella’s early fashion foray as a cleaner at Liberty department store. The film wasn’t exactly free-flowing but the set pieces were at least successful – hopefully this is similar to England at Euro 2020, which starts this weekend.

It is over-the-top, brainless, but fun – sometimes you just want to take your brain out and watch a film. It was easy to watch, although slightly too long. If you can ignore the half-hearted commentary on nature versus nurture and good versus evil and get past Hauser’s accent you will probably enjoy it. Australian director Craig Gillespie, most famous for his work on ‘I, Tonya’ will have already heard the rumours of a sequel, with his eyes lighting up with dollar signs (USD or AUD – either fine). However, spoiler alert – It’s not needed.

Clingfilm – That’s a wrap!

A Quiet Place 2

A Quiet Place 2 is a suspenseful and nervy horror-thriller, in which the Abbott family attempts to plot its way through a post-apocalyptic world inhabited by blind aliens with an acute sense of hearing. John Krasinksi writes and directs part two, featuring his real-life wife Emily Blunt (Evelyn), and not real-life children, Millicent Simmonds (Regan) and Noah Jupe (Marcus), reprising their roles from the first film.

The opening prologue, an action-packed and frenetic flashback sequence, partly a vehicle to introduce Cillian Murphy’s character (Emmett), is arguably the highlight of the film. The film begins on Day 1 (when the monsters first attacked) at a baseball game, in which it looks like Marcus would never have hit the ball if you gave him until Day 447 – fortunately for him the extra-terrestrials arrive before he strikes out. Carnage ensues, the family survives, very few others do, skip to Day 447 (approx.) and the terrifying silence that comes with it.

Despite the introduction of Cillian Murphy, Simmonds is the film’s real lead as she commences her quest to save the world or at least find a safe haven for her family. Family friend Emmett, who they bumped into 447 days after the baseball game, is recruited by Evelyn to ensure Regan’s safety. Regan shrewdly continues bare foot; Emmett is wearing clod-hopping boots (but apparently walks really quietly or something). As my partner says, “is that the only thing you’re questioning about this film?”

Well no, because we also see a gang of feral humans who survived 447 days beyond the apocalypse, suddenly forget that they can’t make a lot of noise otherwise the aliens will detect and destroy them. “Well are they the only two things you’re questioning about this film?” – Probably not.

However, it is an effective and engrossing follow-up to the original film. Simmonds is exceptional as the film’s lead. As Murphy said himself, Regan’s character “allows you to believe in more, and allows you to believe in yourself,” and this wouldn’t have been possible without Simmonds’ incredibly bold and confident performance alongside Murphy.

Throughout the film, the rest of the family also put themselves in unnecessarily dangerous circumstances to afford Krasinksi the opportunity to include some overly elaborate and artistically symmetrical situations.

The time will fly by; the film will make you jump and you will become desensitised to any non-Abbott family member death. The film ends very abruptly (like this blog piece) – now they need to tie it all together and complete the trilogy.

Clingfilm – That’s a wrap!

The film comes out on bank holiday Monday (31^st May) in the UK for those that are interested.