A World of Kino 30 | Annette, Candyman, Shang Chi & more

Welcome all to A World of Kino! Yes, I’ve decided to rebrand the series to better represent what this is all about, plus by dropping the ‘Weekly’ I’m no longer beholden to meeting a deadline every week. Do let me know what you think of the name, as if it doesn’t work I’d rather change it now before I’ve used it too much. But without further ado let’s get on with the reviews – which is unusually comprised of mostly new releases. 

The first film of the episode – Annette – is not kino however.

Annette is the story of Henry, a stand-up comedian, and Ann, a singer of international renown. In the spotlight, they are the perfect couple: healthy, happy, and glamourous. But the birth of their first child, Annette, will change their lives.

Oh dear, I was not expecting this to be a musical. Though honestly, even though I typically hate musicals, I could see myself enjoying this film if the songs were at least decent, as the plot was vaguely interesting. But they were simply the absolute worst! You can’t just deliver lazy, expository, repetitive dialogue in a sing-song voice and expect it to pass off as profound or some such nonsense. Bad writing is bad writing no matter the ‘style’, and the writing in this was utterly abysmal. Simon Helberg was genuinely the only saving grace, which is why it’s criminal just how underused he is. The scene where he’s conducting the orchestra as his eyes begin to swell with increasingly more tears while the camera spins around him was hands down the best scene inside an utter mess of a film. Well, that brilliant scene as well as the bit where some guy in the audience began to laugh uncontrollably when Adam Driver gets shot.

Speaking of which, I’m seriously dissapointed by Driver’s performance – he clearly was not enjoying himself at all. He’s just not suited to comedy, at least when it’s not those rare instances when being completely deadpan is actually hilarious, since all of the ‘jokes’ he was forced to do fell completely flat (though I wouldn’t be surprised if that was supposed to be some sort of silly meta commentary). Hell, I’d say he’s not even suited to ‘acting’ in the theatrical sense, as his talents clearly lie in just behaving naturally, because emotion and charisma just do not come easily to him. He has a superb natural state bordering the line between tranquil and melancholic, but as soon as he steps away from that thin line he quickly loses his balance. Driver is great to watch when he’s perfectly cast, but his range is pitifully small.

Annette herself was probably the most embarrassing aspect of the film however. I get the attempted metaphor behind her being a puppet… But she’s a puppet for goodness sakes! A hideous one at that, reminding me of the infamously abominable baby in Twilight. I realise that this film was purposefully made to feel theatrical – there were many moments when I thought it was rather Brechtian in style – but no amount of stylistic intent can hide the fact that this is simply an awfully crafted film and a most painful experience to sit through. It’s a shame, because I was hoping to watch Holy Motors sometime soon as I’ve heard great things about it, but Leos Carax couldn’t have given me a worst first impression.

Next up is the new Candyman film.

Anthony and his partner move into a loft in the now gentrified Cabrini. After a chance encounter with an old-timer exposes Anthony to the true story behind Candyman, he unknowingly opens a door to a complex past that unravels his own sanity and unleashes a terrifying wave of violence.

This film is shot phenomenally: mesmerising cinematography paired with impeccable editing and brilliant sound design to make the horror segments absolutely fantastic. Nia DaCosta certainly seems to be a promising new director, so perhaps Marvel’s The Marvels – which she’s set to direct – might be good after all. But the screenplay is simply atrocious! Putting nonsense, heavy-handed political messaging aside, the dialogue is groan-inducing and the performances laughably pathetic, with a multitude of scenes that had me wanting to shout at the film to stop being so idiotic. Not to mention how quite a few scenes reminded me of the equally poor film Velvet Buzzsaw with its depiction of the insufferably pretentious art scene (and the boring deaths happening there in). Now, I did like the original Candyman, but I felt it lost the plot towards the end. I think this one suffers in much the same way – only far more pronounced – as it’s genuinely amazing just how bad the writing kept getting as the film progressed, which is a shame because I truly do think this premise is brimming in potential.

A family drama with Jude Law and Carrie Coon now in the form of The Nest.

Rory is an ambitious entrepreneur who brings his American wife and kids to his native country, England, to explore new business opportunities. After abandoning the sanctuary of their safe American suburban surroundings, the family is plunged into the despair of an archaic ’80s Britain, and their unaffordable new life in an English manor house threatens to destroy the family.

Amusingly enough, this reminded me of Minari. A bit drier than that, and rather slow paced, but the relentless spiral downwards gripped me all the same. Great performances – especially from Jude Law – with some good pieces of directing here and there: most notably the restaurant scene, the scene inside the taxi, some horror-lite shots of the mansion, as well as many sequences of interesting parallel editing. It did feel like the boring preamble to a funny horror film that would later kill off all the characters, but then I guess that’s precisely the point, since the family are themselves the horror to themselves. While I did have to facepalm quite frequently at some of the stupid decisions being made, this was honestly a decent movie.

The Courier – also known as Ironbark – is a new spy thriller featuring the precious gem that is Benedictus the Cucumber.

Greville Wynne is a businessman who gets recruited by MI6 during the Cold War to help stop Nuclear War. With the help of Oleg Penkovsky, a Soviet defector acting as a source for the West, they try to put an end to the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Ok, I was really expecting this to be as boring as all the other spy thrillers I’ve tried and failed to watch over the years, but I’m amazed at the immense energy that this film exhibits in spite of the dry title. A fascinating plot, that – while predictable – is earnestly told and grippingly explored, with a remarkably clean visual presentation and an absolutely stellar score. Not to mention the performances, because while Cumberbatch has always struggled with putting on convincing accents, his delivery of the clever dialogue is simply brilliant, before then going above and beyond for all of the overwhelmingly emotional scenes towards the end. Buckley also gives a great performance as his intelligent and suspicious, but ultimately caring wife; and Ninidze plays the fantastic Russian defector keeping his cool even while the plan comes crumbling down, his chemistry with Cumberbatch cementing the enjoyability of every scene they’re in. Maybe I only liked this spy thriller so much more than most precisely because of its atypical lighter tone and ‘Oscar-baity’ performances, but I must say I found the unexpected successfulness at what it set out to achieve extremely satisfying.

I will now end this episode with 2 Marvel films – an old one and a new one. Now, these two are actually connected, though you will only know why if you’ve seen both films – which I will be spoiling, so leave now if you haven’t seen Shang Chi, then come back when you have because it’s a fantastic film. First up, however, is Iron Man 3 – which incidently is the only film in this episode that isn’t a new release.

When Tony Stark’s world is torn apart by a formidable terrorist called the Mandarin, he starts an odyssey of rebuilding and retribution.

I decided to watch this after the Ben Kingsley surprise in Shang Chi so that I could properly understand what he was referencing, and I have to say I really liked the twist. I don’t get why it was so polarising at the time as it was brilliantly played by Kingsley, plus it gives the writing an extra kick of entertainment and originality. That’s not even all though, as the movie was great throughout, with superb comedy, some nice action scenes, and a gripping plot. I particularly love just how vulnerable Tony Stark is portrayed in this, be it his anxiety attacks crippling him when he’s out of the suit, or the suits themselves malfunctioning and breaking at the most inopportune of moments, since his creative overcoming of these weaknesses allows the heroic moments to feel even more cathartic. RDJ gave a real spirit to the role, and it’s his magnetic performance that completely overrides any minor lapse in quality that the screenplay did suffer on occasion, as he – paired with the shaky but ultimately fun writing – made it a blast to watch.

And now the final film of the week: Shang Chi.

Shang-Chi must confront the past he thought he left behind when he is drawn into the web of the mysterious Ten Rings organization.

My expectations for this film were astronomically low… but I absolutely loved it! It was refreshing just how divorced this felt from the rest of the MCU – though still with its fair share of funny references (Ben Kingsley was an especially hilarious surprise) – allowing its own mythology and fantastical setting to have all the breathing space it needed. This is more so a martial arts movie than a superhero one to be honest, and it definitely excells because of that, since its many superbly choreographed fight sequences take place in the most exquisite of action set pieces (that bus sequence is almost as great as the one in The Villainess!). Every single character gets their time to shine, riffing off each other with superb chemistry while still being brilliant in the more sentimental scenes, plus I really like just how humanised the main villain is. And while the silly magical bits did get a little too cutesy for my taste, they did lead to an abundance of remarkably gorgeous sequences – thanks in no small part to Bill Pope’s stellar cinematography – with an explosive third act that actually stuck the landing. I didn’t think I’d say this, but I must say that this is an unexpectedly great blockbuster.