Summer Roundup

SPOILERS AHEAD

Phew! I haven't been on here in a while, and for that I can only apologise. I've been really busy writing my dissertation, which is on aesthetic disgust in art horror cinema. It's been a very fun and interesting project, but I haven't had a whole lot of time for other things! I thought I owed it to you all - and myself - to come on here and do a bit of a roundup, though. So today, I'll be talking through everything I've been watching recently, both in the cinema and at home!

LOKI

2021

dir. Kate Herron

Okay. I have a lot to say about Loki - so much that it could probably be its own post. However, I will try to keep it brief. I really wasn't bothered about Loki before it came out. There. I said it. Of the three Marvel shows airing on D+ at the beginning of the year, I was most looking forward to The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and I wasn't all that interested in Wandavision or Loki. I have since watched half of Wandavision (which I LOVE), and I have watched all of Loki (which I watched weekly).

It took me 6 days to watch the first episode of Loki. After that, I was hooked. I couldn't wait for each new episode to come out, and I was avidly discussing theories with my friends. I fell in love with Loki - a character I hadn't been bothered about before - as well as the new characters the show introduced: Mobius, Hunter B-15, Sylvie, even Casey, who hardly got any screentime and managed to steal all of our hearts anyway. The second episode of Loki is probably one of my favourite episodes of television ever. Episode five was similarly amazing, and Richard E. Grant put in a star turn as Classic Loki.

However.

I - and many others - felt as though Loki ended up being sidelined in his own show. The show wasn't really about Loki at all - it was about setting up the next phase of the MCU. Which, fair enough, something has to set it up, but I don't think it was fair to Loki or Loki fans to use his show as a vehicle to do so. The finale episode felt lacklustre and anticlimactic, and while Jonathan Majors was incredible as He Who Remains, I just couldn't get excited about it. Not only that, but I'm really not a fan of the Loki and Sylvie romance - it felt shoehorned in, in a show where no romance was necessary. Plus, I feel as though it is a gross misjudgement to call Loki a narcissist, and to say "well, of course he would fall for himself!". I also don't think it's possible to call the romance an act of 'self-love'. For one, I don't think Loki is actually much of a narcissist at all - I think he truly, deep down, despises himself. He may posture, and act as though he thinks he's all that, but really we know that he sees himself as a monster. Therefore, I just can't see him falling for himself as realistic.

Not only that, the show kept flip-flopping on whether it wanted Loki and Sylvie to be 'the same' or not. One minute, Sylvie was asserting her independence and the fact that she wasn't a Loki; the next minute, Loki and Sylvie are referred to as 'Lokis' plural. I think, at the end of the day, it comes down to the fact that even though Loki and Sylvie may have had different upbringings and different lives, they are fundamentally the same. That's what makes me so uncomfortable about their 'romance'.

I think Loki ultimately had an interesting arc throughout the show. I think seeing his entire life play out early on in episode one was sobering for him, and his following actions were impacted as a result. I did feel as though he kind of faded into the background in what was supposed to be his own show, though.

In saying that, I still really enjoyed it. I loved seeing Loki and Mobius together - Tom Hiddleston and Owen Wilson have the best chemistry, and I can't wait to see them again in season two. The score was excellent (HUGE props to Natalie Holt), and the production design was pretty spot on. The set for Shuroo (the town in episode three, on Lamentis) was insane. If you haven't seen the Assembled episode on D+ that shows you lots of behind the scenes stuff, you should definitely check it out.

WHAT IF...?

2021

dir. Bryan Andrews

In a similar vane, let's talk about What If. This was destined to be different due to the fact that it is animated rather than live action. The animation style isn't necessarily my favourite, but it does look cool. It's fun to see our favourites reimagined in a different style!

It's a shame that some actors didn't return for What If: Scarlett Johannsson, Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, to name but a few. However, in the first episode, we got to see - or, rather, hear - Josh Keaton as Steve Rogers, instead of Evans. Now, I was already familiar with Josh's voice; he brought me to tears many, many times when he voiced Takashi Shirogane (aka Shiro) in Netflix's Voltron: Legendary Defender. Shiro was my favourite character in VLD, so Josh already had a place in my heart. Hearing him as Steve Rogers was pretty special, and I thought he was an excellent choice. It was also really fun to hear him in dialogue with Sebastian Stan's Bucky Barnes, who is my favourite MCU character. I've heard some criticism of Seb's voice acting, but I personally thought he was great. Besides Josh, who has voice acting experience, I loved both Seb and Dominic Cooper's (Howard Stark) performances; I thought they did a really good job of carrying their characters' charm into a different medium.

The first episode of What If is, essentially, an attempt at a recreation of The First Avenger. However, the result is a two hour movie condensed into half an hour. Thus, the pacing feels really off, sometimes jarring. It was still enjoyable enough, though - Sebastian Stan is, as always, a highlight. It's a nice concept, especially considering it means that Bucky Barnes is never subjected to HYDRA's torture, and never becomes The Winter Soldier. Steve, having never had the serum, also never becomes Cap, never puts the Valkyrie in the ice, and never ends up in the future. The pair of them hopefully survive the war and get to go home to Brooklyn.

Peggy Carter is an awesome character, and she was definitely a great choice to take up the Cap mantle for the episode. However, there is talk of Captain Carter appearing in further MCU projects, which I can't say I'm as excited about. I feel as though Sam Wilson - who is Captain America now, remember - deserves the spotlight.

Overall, I thought the first episode was fine. I'm looking forward to the rest of the episodes, especially T'Challa as Star-Lord (which I haven't had a chance to watch yet), and zombie Avengers! We'll see how it goes...

ANOTHER ROUND

2020

dir. Thomas Vinterburg

I loved this movie - I honestly thought it was excellent. I knew it was going to be good, but I don't think I expected it to be quite so good. Mads Mikkelsen is spellbinding; his ability to say so much without saying anything at all is truly incredible. He plays Martin so wonderfully, and really brings him and the dilemmas he struggles through to life. The rest of the cast are excellent, and the core four have such great chemistry - their conversations feel so natural, you'd think they really were just four friends doing a (pretty ridiculous) experiment.

The film culminates in an insane dance sequence by Mikkelsen, which is one of my favourite movie scenes ever. The soundtrack for the scene - What A Life, by Scarlet Pleasure - is so catchy, and bookends the film beautifully. The final shot of the film is of Martin (Mikkelsen) leaping off the harbour. Director Thomas Vinterburg had something very interesting to say about the shot - that, depending on your perspective, Martin is either falling or flying. He chooses to believe that he is flying, but it is up to your individual interpretation. I think this is a stellar end to a stellar film, and I implore you to give it a watch! It deals with some heavy themes but balances them well with lighter, more comedic moments. The comedy doesn't cheapen the tone of the film, though, and it still delivers on the hard-hitting, teachable moments.

IN THE HEIGHTS

2021

dir. John M. Chu

I really wasn't expecting much going into In The Heights - I haven't seen Hamilton, so I'm not familiar with Lin Manuel Miranda's work - but I was pleasantly surprised. I don't think it did that well at the box office, actually, which is a bit of a shame. As someone with extremely limited musical experience, I thought the songs were great and very catchy. Most of the acting was pretty decent, but I felt as though the two main couples - Vanessa & Usnavi, and Benny & Nina - were lacking in chemistry. I wasn't convinced by their romances at all, and to be honest I didn't really care about them.

The sets were amazing, though, and the production design was clearly of a high standard. This was especially apparent with some of the bigger musical numbers, such as '$96,000'. I thought the staging for Abuela's final song - 'Paciencia Y Fe' - was beautiful, and made her death much more emotional. I really wasn't expecting her to die, and I actually shed a tear.

Overall, I thought the film was decent. I'd watch it again, for sure, and I have a few of the songs on my playlist. It's not one of my favourites, but I enjoyed it nonetheless!

SUPERNOVA

2021

dir. Harry MacQueen

Well. This one was a tearjerker. My friend and I had been looking forward to it for so long, and we were so excited when we finally got to see it. The film is fairly short, but is compact and feels the right length - any longer and it would've been too drawn out, I think. Colin Firth and Stanley Tucci were lovely to watch together, and had great chemistry. They both put in incredible performances; there is a fraught, tense scene between them in the latter half of the film that had me on edge with how intense and emotional their acting was. The ending is ambiguous but not unsatisfying; it allows you to create your own ending, to make it happier in your mind than it probably was in reality.

The score was composed by Keaton Henson, whose music I love. The whole way through the film I kept thinking, who composed this?! Then, when his name came up in the credits, everything made sense. It provided beautiful punctuation to some of the film's most emotional moments.

Something I really appreciated was that, although it is obvious that Tusker (Tucci) is suffering with dementia, the illness is never explicitly named. Not once is the word "dementia" spoken during the film. I really liked this - the illness is not given power in the narrative, because the illness is not what is important. What is important is Tusker, and Sam, and the life they have together.

Supernova is a heart-wrenching but affirming watch. It's only an hour and a half, so if you have some spare time and can find it, I'd recommend it. Just - get the tissues out.

A QUIET PLACE II

2021

dir. John Krasinski

Now, I'm not a huge fan of horror (she says, having written both of her dissertations on horror), but I love the Quiet Place films. I think the concept carried over from the first one really well, and I like that we still don't really know anything about the origin of the monsters. It proves that we don't need all of the information to be absolutely terrified of them. Millicent Simmonds was fantastic, and really carried the film for me. Her scenes with Cillian Murphy were excellent, especially the tense, fraught scene at the train station (if you know, you know). Emily Blunt is always a joy to watch, and plays the role so well even without John Krasinski to bounce off of.

One thing my dad said to me that I thought was pretty interesting was that the film highlighted the fact that humanity has also become monstrous, due to the circumstances. This is very well exemplified through the frankly terrifying scene at the docks, where Cillian and Millicent are ambushed by a group of people keen to steal their supplies.

Unfortunately, I did feel as though the film used parallels to excess - especially towards the end. Things started to feel predictable, which I thought was a shame. However, that being said, I did like the ending; it felt hopeful and heroic, and a fitting culmination to a hellish journey.

I think both this film and the prequel are masterclasses in building and sustaining tension. The manipulation of sound - and silence - is extraordinary and, at times, pretty damn scary. The story is compelling, and invites you to contemplate what you would do if you were in the same situation. I just know that I would give up.

THOR: RAGNAROK

2017

dir. Taika Waititi

I honestly cannot believe it took me so long to watch this film. My friends have been telling me to watch it for years, and after watching Loki I finally took the plunge. It immediately rocketed up to my top 5 MCU films (which I might make a post about...). There's not much I can really say about it except I absolutely loved it, and would watch it again in a heartbeat. Valkyrie is everything, and I can't wait to see more of her in the MCU.

STILLWATER

2021

dir. Tom McCarthy

Sigh. I was so looking forward to this film. The trailers made it look so thrilling, but in reality the film was boring, meandering its way to an unsatisfying conclusion. None of the characters are likeable or remotely interesting - with the exception of Maia, who is, like, nine - and you don't really want to root for any of them. It felt messy and tonally confused, as though it wasn't really sure what it was supposed to be. Thriller? Investigative drama? Social commentary? I don't know, and I don't think the film knew, either.

THE SUICIDE SQUAD

2021

dir. James Gunn

So, I went into this with really low expectations. I was actually pleasantly surprised, and found myself getting really invested in this ragtag team of 'villains'. Daniella Melchior was incredible as Ratcatcher 2, and provided the integral emotional heart of the film. I was worried that Harley Quinn would be relegated to the position of romantic conquest, but I was glad to see that wasn't the case! Her escape scene was awesome and reminded me of the elevator scene from Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

I do have a few criticisms of the film, though. Given what we've seen from James Gunn before - particularly the Guardians films - it was obvious that it was going to be packed full of comedy. I did feel as though the film was trying a bit too hard at times to make every line a zinger, but that was to be expected. It doesn't take itself too seriously, which does make it pretty enjoyable. Also, is it just me that thinks that we didn't really see Peter Capaldi's Thinker do...anything? I don't know what the original character is like but it felt like a bit of a waste to me.

Anyway, the film is definitely a decent watch and absolutely exceeded my expectations. It doesn't take a lot of thinking, and is the kind of thing you can just sit back and enjoy.

PS - Polka Dot Man deserved better, and I will die on this hill.

JUNGLE CRUISE

2021

dir. Jaume Collet-Serra

Okay, I actually really enjoyed this film. I've seen some people criticising it for all of the allusions to other films, but I thought those references were really fun. There's a bit of Indiana Jones, The Mummy, and I would argue Pirates of the Caribbean, too. Emily Blunt is, again, a joy to watch, and has great familial chemistry with Jack Whitehall. Dwayne Johnson is fine, as he usually is, although he's never been a favourite of mine. The romance between his and Emily's characters felt unnecessary to me, but then again it is a Disney film so we should really expect that kind of arc.

I thought the film also looked stunning, especially at the end when the Tears of the Moon was activated and all lit up with fluorescent pink petals. You can also really tell that the film is based off a ride; it has the same meandering, slightly predictable, journey-like feel that I can imagine the ride having. It made me really want to go on the ride, though!

Jungle Cruise is probably supposed to be geared more towards a younger demographic, but I honestly think it's an enjoyable watch for anyone. I mean, my dad went to see it and enjoyed it, and kept saying how much better it was than Stillwater. I can't give you a better recommendation than that!

So, that's it! I've been watching a lot of things for my dissertation recently - both versions of Suspiria, Midsommar, The Neon Demon, and copious amounts of Hannibal - so I haven't had loads of time to watch things for pleasure. I did start watching The Night Manager, which I enjoyed, but I haven't managed to get past the first episode yet. Have you been watching anything good recently, whether in the cinema or at home? What are you most looking forward to in the coming months? I can't wait for Shang-Chi to come out in September!

Thanks for reading, I hope you have a great week!