Film Reviews | January

Here's yet another post I'm trying out to see how it goes. I've decided to combine the films I've gone to see over the past month into one post instead of making multiple posts because some films won't have enough to write about or aren't interesting enough to have their own post. I prefer reading collective film posts anyway so I'll probably enjoy writing about all the films I've seen more like this. I've gone to the cinema a good few times this month but I don't know how often I'm going to go in the months ahead. I do love visiting the cinema and seeing all the new releases and I do see quite a lot of them so hopefully I do a few more of these posts at least. Without me talking anymore here's a brief review of all the new release films I've seen over the past month. This will be long.

The Revenant
This is a film I had high expectations for as it was super hyped in the media, especially portraying Leonardo DiCaprio's role to be outstanding, so I went into the cinema expecting a super amazing over-hyped film. The story itself is simple, a plot of revenge and betrayal. It's set in the snowy wilderness and when Leonardo's character, Glass, gets attacked by a bear he's left for dead and he seeks revenge of the guy who killed his son in the process of his abandonment. The film itself is really long and I feel like there was a few unnecessary scenes that could've made the film much more enjoyable. It was gory and brutal and the harsh realities of the cold climate were kind of chilling and terrifying to watch. There was a lot of violence as it was about survival. I really didn't enjoy it and I wouldn't watch it again. The effects and the acting were superb I'll give them that, but I just felt the film was tedious and unnecessarily violent, there was also very little dialogue for such a long film.

Room
This is probably my favourite film I've seen recently. It's about a young woman and her child who is five years old, that are held captive in a room for seven years by the mothers kidnapper. The film is extremely sad and really well captured. The feelings of isolation and claustrophobia are very strongly felt even from the start. The mother and son relationship is beautiful and the comparison and contrast between them is interesting. The film was heartbreaking and I did cry at one point. The cinematography was great and the child actor was so good I was so impressed. Also realizing that things like that really happen made it so much more terrifying than any horror film. I would recommend this film over The Revenant any day and I will surely watch it again.

Creed
I had never seen any of the Rocky films previously, I'd never been very interested in fight films. I find they're very predictable and you already know exactly what's going to happen even before you go into the cinema. Despite being predictable it was a good feel good film and it wasn't as boring as I thought it was going to be. It was good action and the fight scenes did make me cringe at times, I don't really understand why boxing like that is allowed but nonetheless it is a good watch, I've heard that it's one of the best Rocky films, I can't see myself watching the previous films anytime soon so I won't know very soon anyway.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens
This was probably the first film I'd seen in the new year and only looking back on the film now I can say I enjoyed it. I had never seen any Star Wars films previous to this, no one kill me, so I had no idea what to expect from this film. I did know the general gist of what had happened in previous films and I did know all the characters so it was a good start anyway. I thought what better time to get into the film franchise than now when it's had a full revamp and aims to bring a new era of Star Wars fans forward.
 Firstly I was super excited to see a female main character, especially as this is Daisy Ridley's first major film I was super impressed by her, the pressure on her must have been insane. Character wise, I loved every single character and it's so easy to like them or even just that they have a strong presence. It didn't take me long to understand the story, which is great for us new fans. Although unfortunately, story wise, I do feel like it's a copy of the original and lacks it's own originality, note that this is from someone who's never seen the original films. From what I already knew about the films it was exactly what I expected so I didn't think it was too great. I do think that the new characters could go somewhere different with the story in the next film hopefully. I also fell in love with the little robot BB8, he's probably one of the reasons I enjoyed the film.

In the Heart of the Sea
This was probably the least talked about film I've seen recently. It's a version of the Moby Dick story and as I've never read the book I can't compare the two. As the name suggests it's a sea faring journey to the heart of the sea to collect whale blubber and along the way they encounter Moby Dick. The film is mainly another film of survival trying to get home from a ship wreck. I did find it a little uncomfortable to watch at times but I thought it was done really well and Chris Hemsworth did a fantastic job. It's emotional and action packed and I wouldn't watch it if you're prone to sea-sickness.

Spotlight
I would say this is also a favourite view from this month. The story follows a group of reporters who are trying to write an article about the Catholic Church and abuse and find it hard to uncover what the church has tried so hard to keep hidden. I thought the film would've been boring and repetitive but it really wasn't it was entertaining and eye-opening. I found it heartbreaking at times because of the amount of truth behind it also. The acting was excellent and two of my favourite actors star in it, Rachel McAdams and Mark Ruffalo. It didn't have just one focal character but four and I think it made the story more intriguing for something that is seemingly so uneventful. I can't say too much about the film without giving it all away as it's a very low key plot film just like the events that inspired it. I would highly recommend this film.

I hope you enjoyed reading my rambles on the films I've seen recently and I will probably do more slightly shorter ones in the future, when I have less free time.

Has anyone else seen any of these films or seen a good one recently?