andrew-riddell-1 Reviews

Prey (I) (2022)

Joke!!

[3/10 · 14 August 2022]

If you can't sleep then this is the movie for you, I honestly found nothing great about this movie. The lead is hopeless, the predator can kill harder prey with ease but not a slim girl who can't kill anything.

Arnold struggled against the predator but not this girl, she has war paint and a tomahawk with some rope.

The Gray Man (2022)

Lives up to it's title

[2/10 · 25 July 2022]

Sorry to say that the movie just does not work, over the top action sequences and characters. The so called hero who is supposed to be invisible is easily found by all the baddies and gets a good beating on a regular basis.

I eventually had to give up on this movie as it was gray and dull.

Jurassic World Dominion (2022)

Time for Extinction For This Movie Series

[4/10 · 21 June 2022]

The original was a classic and the ones that followed varied from passable to good, unfortunately this movie would have been better never having been made. Not even the great Sam Neil and Jeff Goldblum could save it from medeocrity.

Firestarter (2022)

Burn the movie

[3/10 · 19 June 2022]

Oh dear a lesson in how not to make a remake, I can honestly say there is nothing better in this movie than the original. This really should be burned and forgotten about.

Reclaim (2014)

Reclaim the time back

[2/10 · 19 June 2022]

This is one movie you will use the fast forward button on a lot, it has a poor plot, poor acting by all involved. Unfortunately you can't reclaim the time back that you will lose watching this rubbish.

The Matrix Resurrections (I) (2021)

DNR

[2/10 · 4 June 2022]

Some movie franchises should be left alone and The Matrix is one of them, simply put this movie should have had a DNR. It lacks any cohesion, characters to care about and poor replacements for some of the original characters. It is not the fault of the actors who are playing Morpheus and Smith who do their best with what they have but they are not Laurence Fishburne or Hugo Weaving.

I chose to also take the red pill and to come out of the movie.

Dune (2021)

Not for me

[4/10 · 11 November 2021]

I loved the original movie and was so looking forward to the remake, whilst the Cgi was good I felt nothing for the characters who could have made of cardboard. For me the original wins hands down.

The Report (I) (2019)

A Must Watch

[9/10 · 22 October 2020]

Riveting movie about a hard to hear true story, Adam Driver once again shows what a fantastic actor he is becoming. The torture scenes are difficult to watch but need to be seen to understand why the investigation had to take place. Every actor and actress play their roles to an amazing standard, bravo to the movie industry for making this gem.

The Five Pennies (1959)

Simple Review

[9/10 · 30 August 2020]

It stars the great Danny Kaye, it has a heart string of a story, it has great music. All the right ingredients mixed together to make a unforgettable movie, if you haven't seen this yet then get it on your to watch list.

X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019)

More like Y-Men

[6/10 · 17 June 2019]

Wow this really is a mediocre X-Men movie, you would think that after all the movies that came before they would understand what we want from an X-Men movie !!! This is up there with the Fantastic Four movies, watchable but you can nick out for extra popcorn and a drink and you won't have lost much of the storyline. Sorry 20th Century Fox but this feels like a rushed movie to keep up with Disney. Where Disney hits most of the right notes, Fox is off key a LOT. McAvoy is outstanding which does help a bit but not enough to make this an X-Men classic.

The Secret Life of Pets 2 (2019)

Decent Sequel

[6/10 · 17 June 2019]

Though not as good as the original this sequel is still well worth a watch. Best of all is the sequence with the cats, those crazy felines are hilarious. It has car chases, The Matrix fight sequences and best of all Harrison Ford as the coolest dog in the world.

Us (II) (2019)

What Possesed US

[3/10 · 4 April 2019]

I am afraid that Us lives nowhere up to the expectations from Get Out, watch the trailer as it is better than the actual movie. The premise Of the story is there are duplicates of everyone on the planet who suddenly appear to wreak havoc. The movie didn't seem to know if it was a horror, sci-fi or comedy. It is never quite scary enough nor funny enough and this is the problem, it never quite gets going. Not one I will be buying when released on Blu-ray.

No Escape (I) (2015)

Mediocre Movie With Annoying Acting

[5/10 · 31 March 2019]

I actually wanted the family to get caught as they are so annoyingly stupid that they don't deserve to escape. I am not a huge Owen Wilson fan and this movie just adds to why, I have seen cardboard with more personality than Wilson.

His wife is a total pain in the ass who just cries constantly, no wonder the children are moaning all the time.

Tracker (2010)

Worth a Watch

[7/10 · 23 March 2019]

I love it when you watch a movie expecting it to be pretty poor and it turns out to be a good wee movie. This film meets all the criteria for a nice easy to watch film, great actors, beautifully shot and a few twists in the plot. Temuera Morrison plays Keremara a Maori wrongly accused of a crime, he has no option to go on the run as he will be hanged under British justice. Ray Winstone plays Van Diemen a war weary Boer newly arrived from South Africa after the Boer War, his reputation is well known by the British for tracking and fighting. Van Diemen takes up the chase for Keremara along with the British soldiers, will Keremara be caught, will he be killed by Van Diemen or will he find true justice. I found myself really caring about both the main characters and what the outcome for both of them. The first 15 minutes are slow but once the focus is on Keremara and Van Diemen the movie comes into it's own, well worth a watch folks.

Captain Marvel (2019)

Not so Marvelous

[7/10 · 20 March 2019]

I was pretty hyped when it was announced that Marvel Studios were making a Captain Marvel movie, the trailers didn't give away too much so my expectations were high. The start of the movie was a wee bit reminiscent of The Green Lantern training sequence, oh no surely not!! Well I thought give Capt 'Brie' Marvel a chance after all it has SJ in it, so it will get better. Unfortunately it just never grabs you and makes you feel anything for main character, in fact at one point I thought Captain Marvel was an animated character as she had no depth and was a bit unmarvelous. This is probably one of the weakest movies (Both Ant Man Movies) which is a real shame as in Marvel World she is a real kick ass character. Sorry Captain Marvel but Scarlett Witch and Black Widow are Queens of the Marvel Movie world.

Rampage (2018)

Uh what the hell

[3/10 · 26 January 2019]

Total Dwayne Johnson fan but really Dwayne !!

This is not going to get any Oscar nominations but surely Hollywood has to know that movies need at the very least a script.

The story revolves around three animals getting made huge by a substance when a space thingy falls to earth in the Zoo where Dwayne works. Of course Dwayne is loved by all including his best mate an Albino gorilla who he can talk to (yup Dr Dolittle stuff).

Of course when they become large there is a side effect, they get angry.

Never mind Dwayne and the future love of his life will save the day but only after the city is wrecked. A wee fight at the top of a sky scrapper with a giant gorilla (I am sure I have seen this before!!) followed by Dwayne getting through to his albino pal who kicks the other big two things. Finally the credits to tell you that you can leave the cinema or switch off the player and go to bed cause your eyes have been shutting for the past hour or so.

Stan & Ollie (2018)

Another Fine Movie You Will Enjoy

[9/10 · 26 January 2019]

A wee gem of a movie that is better than most of the highly advertised movies that have been out. You don't have to be a Laurel and Hardy fan to enjoy this movie. Amazing portrayal of the boys by Reilly and Coogan lift this movie from good to fantastic. They look and sound so much like the boys it is uncanny. The icing on the cake is the hilarious wives played by Shirley Henderson and Nina Arianda, they really only come into the movie in the last 15 min but what a interaction. Go and see this and enjoy a movie where the special effects don't take over the story, where the comedy is not reliant on swearing and sexual innuendos. In my top ten of movies for 2019 no matter what else is out this year.

The Upside (2017)

Well I loved it

[8/10 · 19 January 2019]

This is not an Oscar winning movie but then again it was never meant to be, It is however extremely funny with a dash of drama. Kevin Hart finally gets a chance to show a bit of acting outside of over the top comedy. In my opinion this is his best movie yet and proves he has more to offer than just his standard annoying comedy films. Bryan Cranston and Nicole Kidman are as always craftsmen in their art and help Hart make the transition from pure comedy.

Definitely an upside in Kevin Hart's acting career.

The Favourite (2018)

The Favourite - Well Not Mine

[3/10 · 19 January 2019]

Not my kind of movie, has all the feeling of a movie trying to win a arty movie award. I found myself wanting the movie to speed up as it never really gets going. Did I mention the music, sorry noise. In one part of the movie it is like nails on a blackboard.

Olivia Coleman is the one fantastic thing about this movie, her comedic side brings a smile to a godawful boring movie.

The Huntsman: Winter's War (2016)

Frolic in the Kingdom

[5/10 · 19 January 2019]

Hollywood's ingredients to make this movie 1 x Hunky Hero, 1 x Comedic Hero's Partners, 1 x Evil Woman

Add a dash of an extremely poor Sean Connery accent and a sprinkling of Disney (Frozen) Give to a director to ruin and you have a Bird's Eye movie.

I used Google translate to try and understand Chris Helmsworth,s drunken Scottish accent, being Scottish makes it even wors.

Mary Queen of Scots (2018)

Not as good as the 1970's version

[2/10 · 19 January 2019]

As with all recent true life movies recently, Hollywood has decided to embellish the story with lots of inaccuracies. That being said the acting is of an extremely high standard and the costumes and sets are amazing. The inaccuracies doesn't spoil the movie, they are simply not true events. I would recomend watching the 1970's version with Venessa Redgrave which is a better overall movie.

Dunkirk (2017)

Lost Opportunity

[4/10 · 8 August 2017]

I totally love WW2 movies, so when the trailers for Dunkirk came out it was a definite one to see. Dunkirk was a true testament to the British people who sailed out in small boats to bring home the BEF. This was a true story of heroic private citizens saving the day, so did the movie show the true scale of this remarkable feat. In my opinion it did not, you never felt the monumental scale of the evacuation or the danger that the BEF were subjected to on the beach. Instead the focus was on a few characters and what they went through, now this may have worked better if it wasn't for the fact that their stories and how the all interact doesn't happen at the same time. One minute you are at night with one character and then during the day with another, why the story wasn't filmed as each character went through their own individual stories is a missed opportunity. Dunkirk is at best a good movie but no classic war movie, so it will not end up there with the greats.

Law Abiding Citizen (2009)

Revenge with a twist

[6/10 · 8 August 2017]

Requirements for a good revenge movie

Family members killed - check Non threatening survivor - check Murdering baddies - check

Family members killed during robbery, husband survives (why he wasn't killed as well we never actually find out) System fails the husband / father in bringing the perps to justice, husband feels let down so let the revenge begin. What makes LAC different is how Gerrard Butler's character goes about it, he not only wants revenge on the killers of his family but also with the broken system that failed him. Jamie Foxx is not only a DA but a detective, explosive expert etc etc

Despicable Me 3 (2017)

Despicably Average

[4/10 · 8 August 2017]

Now is the time for the DM franchise to call it a day, it's not that there aren't some funny bits in this movie there just isn't enough of them. The few limited laughs occur when the minions are involved (this does not mean we need another Minions movie) and most of these are because of the mental minion language. Sorry guys but it is time for this franchise to go into retirement.

Wonder Woman (2017)

Not the Best but not the Worst

[5/10 · 28 June 2017]

Diana Prince receives a picture from ? She thinks back to her life and how she got to where the picture was taken, flashback time. Outside of the Batman movies directors and story writers don't seem to be able to have the same success as Marvel. It's not that these movies are bad they just aren't as good as their rivals. With Suicide Squad they at least seemed to finally got there, then came Wonder Woman. The movie is watchable but lacks any zing. Diana is born on an island (last ever born) to a race of women who's job is to defeat Aries should he ever return. Next we get the Aunt training Diana to fight, much against her mommy's wishes, fast fwd a few years and she has to fight off German who are trying to kill an American soldier after they get through the magic veil that hides the island - wow not. Kicks Nazi Ass, leaves with American, visits London, kicks more Nazi butts with the help of some weird but useless folk. Finally kills the baddie but wait he's not the real baddie oh no it's the auld geezer who is in fact Aries. Replay some of the Batman vs Superman end fight and Wonder Woman prevails. Fast fwd to present so that Diana thinks good and happy thoughts and can get it on with Batman so they can maybe make Bat Girl or maybe with Superman and make Super Girl or maybe I don't actually care