311, Predator: Badlands

Let me take you back to 1987.  Arnie (in his 80's prime), supported by WWF's Jessie 'The Body' Ventura, Rocky's Carl Weathers & regular Arnie 'sidekick', Bill Duke (too name a few) set off into the Central American Jungle to track down what they believe is a renegade group of insurgents - only to discover an Alien being with one mission - seek and destroy!

38 years and 8 movies later we find ourselves at Predator: Badlands and it's fair to say the franchise has had it's ups and downs.  

Predator 2, Alien vs Predator, Alien vs Predator 2 (Requiem), Predators, The Predator, Prey, Predator - Killer of Killers (Animated) and now Predator: Badlands, it's fair to say that the script writers didn't spend too much time coming up with new titles!  I cant say I have seen all of the offerings but since Prey, I am onboard with where it's seemingly going - offering some more insight into the backstory of the 'Yautja' (the species we refer to as the Predators) and how they come to be wherever in the universe they are, and for whatever reason.

Badlands follows this trend as we meet a young Yautja (Dek) in training, trying to make his way as an elite warrior and about to embark on a 'life or death' mission to trap and bring home a Prey of his choosing which on completion, will see him welcomed into the respected ranks.  Failure?  Well, let's just say this isn't tolerated and only the successfull make the grade.

However, unbeknown to him - Daddy Yautja sees his youngest as the weakest link and has ordered elder brother (Kwei) to kill him which doesn't sit quite right with Kwei and I wont spoil what happens next, but it all kicks off and Dek ends up heading to Genna (the "Death Planet") to try and defeat the un-killable 'Kallisk' to redeem himself in his fathers eyes.

You have probably noticed that I haven't mentioned any actors yet in this most recent offering.  Well, the use of CGI is in abundance here and although there is body suit recognition for Dek, played by Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi (don't worry - I don't know him either) he remains unrecognisable as an actor and fully supported by voice overs and digitalisation.  The same can be said for the other Yautja, so it's left to the inclusion of Ellie Fanning (Maleficent) as the only really recognisable cast member and overall, it's a very small ensemble.

Once we get to Genna where the bulk of this movie takes place (and the prelude up to this point concludes with brief title sequence) it's fair to say the CGI ramps up even more!  From comparable 'Dinosaurs' to killer trees & plants, 'Death Planet' is a very fair assessment of the unfamiliar terrian that Dek is faced with.

Dek meets Thia (Fanning) quite early on following his arrival on Genna - and being a sentient A.I / Android, Thia becomes quite an unexpected ally initially for Dek in his pursuit of the Kallisk.  Thia is on Genna as a research project - knowing no human could survive the environment and having knowledge of the Kallisk, offers assistance to Dek as a 'tool' to help him obtain his trophy!

Fanning - on the whole (or at least half of her) is great.  The character is witty, funny, patronising and knowledgeable and is the perfect sidekick for Dek.  I won't go into too much detail about Tessa (Fannings other role in this) as I dont want to give everything away but she definately the Yang to Thia's Yin (put simply).

The setting is very reminiscent of Arnie's version all those years ago (albeit worlds apart) but the Jungle / Forrest setting is very comparable.  Thia has a language adaptive programme installed in her to speak the the Yautja's language but remain understandable to us, but you do have to deal with Dek's dialoguie in subtitles, although Dek's lines are short and defined - meaning it's not that hard to keep up with whats going on.

We get an insight into Thia's backstory too and you can't help but get flashbacks of the sort of 'Chewbacca / C3PO' relationship between our resiliant duo as they traverse through the environment - which makes more sense when you watch the movie.

That's not the only Star Wars comparative however as a lot of the monsters and lifeforms on Genna have a Star Wars feel about them - some playfull, some horrific but they are in abundance and almost every scene is either a 'run for your life' or 'fight to the death' moment.

The special effects are well done - Ellie Fanning is great and the story has pace and purpose so for me, all in all it's a bit of a winner!  

It doesn't have the rawness of Prey - or the basic survival instincts of Arnie's Predator, but I think it's a worthy addition to the franchise and if you likes some of its predecessors - definately one to watch.

(Images used in blog are sourced from Wikipedia, Los Angeles Times, Empire, Film Stories, The Times, Collider & Vanyaland)

   

310, Melania

Okay Amazon Prime - Lets get the bad bits out the way first.  

IMDB have ranked this 1.4 Stars (One of the 5 lowest ranked films on the platform) & Rotten Tomatoes gave it a critics score of just 7% (although it has an audience rating of 99%!)

Openly - it's been slammed as an egotystical self portrayal of first world problems that only seem to affect the top 0.0001% of the population and the whole concept was never really going to allow the promise of a 'tell all' behind the scenes documentary of what life is truly like for the wife of President Trump, especially in the 20 days leading up to his 2nd term as US President.  So what actually is 'Melania' - if it's not an 'access all areas' documentary?

Well - surprisingly enough - I found it to be quite interesteing.

Lets just agree that it's a very manicured and scripted 90 minutes of self produced positivity from Melania's perspective.  The doting Wife, Daugher, Mother and the orchestrator of home design and public event planning which does shed some insight into some of the 'behind the scenes' goings on of the innaugural dinner and the pre-empt to life (once more) in the White House.

Trump himself appears fleetingly - it feels honest, and respectful but with that said, there are a handfull of funny and witty quips from Melania 'behind the camera' that do raise a smile, especially with how distanced she sounds on some of the recorded phone calls with him and pretty much her dismissal of his polling successes but on the whole, Melania is portrayed as a very supportive First Lady, albeit very much in control of her own schedule.

We do see (or, what we are led to believe) is the inside of Melania's apartment within Trump Tower for a dress fitting, which is where we meet some of the ensemble cast - namely her designer / dresser (Herve Pierre) who does steal each scene he's in as well as the event coordinator (David Monn) who is behind some of the events Melania is working on.  The standout performance though is the hand made dress, presented by Herve that is nothing short of knockout and you do get a small glimpse of the 'fashionista' side of Melania - almost forgotton given her current standing.

There are filmed interviews with potential new 'staffers' - Invitation choosing, table dressings meetings and Art selection discussions for the White House that pad out the films duration but it really is all about Melania.  There are no sit down 'one to one' moments like you see in Drive to Survive and everything is shot pretty much in 3rd person, either on the move or on location with lots of voiceovers and very little straight to camera conversations.  There are lots of thoughtfull 'stares' set to patriotic soundtracks as this plane lands or that car pulls away and even the Secret Service guys get some face time, which I thought was a big 'no no' but hey, it's a new world!

We get to see inside the Capitol in footage that wouldn't have made the CNN Presidential coverage and if anything, this documentary is focussed on showing the indiviuality of the returning First Lady and the work she is doing towards numerous charities, much more than being just the wife of a President.

You don't get the open honesty and realism of let's say - 'Clarksons Farm' and if you honestly thought you would hear the first Lady slagging off her Husbands antics, then you are very much mistaken.

Okay - I'll agree with the critics that this isn't going to win any Documentary awards - but if Melania herself is of interest you, then this will give a voice to someone who on 'TV' is always two steps behind and pretty much unheard - allowing some small insight to life outside of being  'Mrs Trump' and highlights her own passions, challenges and steps to secure her and Baron's future (albeit financially, I'm sure they'll be okay) as the years tick by.

(Images used in blog are sourced from Wikipedia, Vanity Fair, Yahoo, New york Times, Common Sense Media & USA Today)

309, War Machine

Netflix have done it again! 

As a pretty big Alan Richardson fan, seeing him take the lead in a straight to Netflix movie always makes me smile.  Having watched him as far back as Hunger Games and even as Raphael in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Movies (as well as being a phenominal Jack Reacher of course!) means that for me, his sheer on-screen presence is very reminiscent of old Arnie movies -  but with better acting!  

War Machine is no different.  If you were to take the premise of Predator meets BattleShip you cant go far wrong - the Battleship reference?  Well, think training excercise goes awry as alien tech invades pre-planned war games and as for Predator, Man vs Machine using environment and skill to bring down said Alien foe.  It's a greast idea.

The set up is awesome too.  A fleeting initial presence from Jai Courtney as the younger brother - hell bent on convincing Richardson (as the older sibling) to apply for Army Ranger Training during a middle-eastern posting where sadly, things dont go as planned for either of them but following a tragedy, spurs on Richardson to complete his brothers dream of becoming a Ranger and as a result of the harrowing backstory - you are instantly behind Richardson, backing him 100% to succeed.

Basic Training is brutal - Richardson as the lonely soldier, distances himself from his camp mates which brings with it it's own level of trials and challenges, but see's hime stand out as the older, experienced ring leader and puts him on a pedestal that is put to the ultimate test after being thrown into the final 'Hell March' excercise, where things go badly wrong and the squad is faced with a force 'not of this world' and it takes all they have to work together and bring down this seemingly unbeatable force.

I think before you get into this - knowing it's an 'Alien / Sci-Fi' movie isn't too much of a spoiler alert.  Either way, it certainly doesn't take anything away from the realism of the whole movie.  The effects, both special and actual are outstanding.  It's a brutal and graphic war movie that as well as being visually impressive, manages to also hone in on individuals special circumstances without even giving them character names (most are referred too as their number - Richardson himself credited as '81') and this somehow manages to support the commaradory, without anything getting too personal which was cleverly written.

There are some grerat cameos as well - Jai Courtney (Suicide Squad) as mentioned before is in a very small role but does a good job - as do Dennis Quaid as Army Sgt Major Sheridan and Esai Morales (Gabriel in the more recent Mission Impossible movies) as Sgt Torres.

81's Team mates to me (and apologies to them) were all pretty unrecogniseable but I am sure have been in things I've seen but this movie really is all about Alan Richardson.  He is in every scene, has most of the dialogue and barrels through the 106 minutes with personality, emotion, dedication to the cause and a sheer unwillingness to stay down!  There are parts that certainly aren't for the faint hearted - the Alien machine itself kills without remorse and uses mostly rockets and laser guided missiles in very close proximity to exterminate it's prey - meaning the sad recipients of the brutal attacks are left in an awful mess at the end of it all.

The movie ends with the wider global impact of the invasion and does explain why the Army didn't step in to help this defenseless band of brothers and also opens up a potential story line for a sequel, but I'd be surprised if it sees the light of day.

War Machine is stand out piece of visual brilliance with some great acting and even better effects and for me, further secures Richardson as a a great leading actor - but also, following movies such as Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare & and Fast X, also shows him playing well with others and with 8 episodes of the new 'Jack Reacher' season out later this year, means we wont have to wait long to see him back at what he does best.

Who survives?  Well, I won't completely spoil the ending, but let's just say - don't get too attached to the rest of the Squad!

Enjoy!

(Images used in blog are sourced from ScriptShadow, Wikipedia, Empire, Bloody Disgusting, Flickering Myth & Hyperbeast)