Author: DamianLevy

'Shang Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings' (2021) Review: Martial Arts Marvel After crafting a universe spanning 24 films, multiple television series, the 25th film in the interconnected Marvel franchise attempts to go back to basics. Introducing a new face to its ever growing pantheon of characters with Shang-Chi, the first ever Asian leading a major American superhero blockbuster. As the audience meets Shang for the first time, we enter into a world that’s become all too familiar, almost to the movie’s detriment. It’s a difficult thing to evoke surprise in a universe where the impossible has been seen time and time again. The film acknowledges this in Shang Chi’s first fight. In it he battles a gang of experienced martial artists, and a man with a glowing blade for a hand, adequately named Razor Fist. Instead of shock and awe, the onlookers are mostly unbothered by what’s occurring. One character even seized the opportunity to live stream the event to his audience. The indifference of the citizens lets the action commence without consequence as Simu Liu tears through his opponents like a Jackie Chan tribute artist.The film’s attitude towards its more fantastic elements reflects the journey of Shang Chi himself. He’s a young, unmotivated millennial with no conception of anything close to a 5 year plan. As the movie progresses Shang is revealed as less of a hero in the making, but more of a reluctant one. As he moves closer…

'Respect' (2021) Review: Requiem For A Queen There are many roles that feel like the result of divine intervention. Actors who come along at the right time for the performance they were born to play. For Jennifer Hudson, that destiny is manifested in ‘Respect’, as she pays tribute to the Queen of Soul. Hudson was even selected by Franklin herself. Still, while the royal appointment was made, the rest of the film had the work of doing justice to the story of an icon. Thankfully, ‘Respect’ delivers. The film is a moving story that chronicles the journey of a young woman beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. From her controlling father to her abusive husband, much of Aretha Franklin’s story is portrayed as a tale of the world's strongest voices being silenced at every turn. The darker elements of this biopic give the movie a sense of despair, yet through it all Hudson gives Franklin a quiet resilience. There’s a confidence she has in moments of dread. Whether it’s confidence in her talent, or her trust in the Lord, Hudson moves with a faith that’s tested repeatedly throughout the film. The movie is also a who’s who of 60s and 70s. Legends like Dinah Washingston and Smokey Robinson make brief appearances. Beyond the music, the film makes a point of Franklin’s activism. ‘Respect’ is a wide reaching and expansive film that takes a person who…

'The Suicide Squad' (2021) Review: Dream Team For the uninitiated, comic books can be incomprehensible. They’re chock full of strange elements of a wide variety. Yet beneath the trippy visuals and concepts, lies an undeniable humanity in its characters, and their stories. The Suicide Squad is a film that embraces that truth, leaning into the weird and delivering a movie that has more heart than most blockbuster movies. That, and a giant bipedal shark with the voice of Rocky Balboa.‘The Suicide Squad’ depicts the latest mission of Task Force X. A team composed of the most disposable supervillains in DC comics. Villains such as Idris Elba’s Bloodsport, John Cena’s Peacemaker, and most importantly, Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn. The mission is simple. In the dead of night sneak into the island nation Corto Maltese, infiltrate their secret facility, and destroy the mysterious “Project Starfish” before it can be used as a weapon against the United States. Along the way they’ll encounter numerous obstacles, most of which are self imposed. The Suicide Squad isn’t the most accomplished team, but it’s by far the most entertaining. Their antics and mishaps are also profoundly bloody. The violence in ‘The Suicide Squad’ is visceral and gratuitous, lingering on grotesque imagery, but not quite long enough to process what you just witnessed. Viewer discretion is highly advised for the faint of heart. Despite it’s gore, the movie is also remarkably beautiful. It manages to create empathy for the worst of…

'Black Widow' (2021) Review: Marvel Gets Mature When on the run from the United States Government for her crimes in ‘Captain America Civil War’, Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff takes some much needed vacation time. Camping out in hiding doesn’t last long though, as she’s soon under attack by a living weapon, Taskmaster. An enemy with the capability to perfectly mimic its opponent. To survive, the Black Widow will need to confront the past she’s been running from her entire life.That past includes a contentious family reunion, and a reckoning with Natasha’s past sins. Sometimes at the same time. Florence Pugh plays Yelena, Natasha’s estranged and adoptive sister, who is an assassin herself. Their relationship is the most compelling aspect of the movie, with Florence Pugh almost stealing the limelight from her co-star. The movie brings humour in their sibling rivalry, but ultimately finds its way back to a heartfelt tale as they set out to confront their shared childhood trauma, and try to put a stop to it ever happening to anyone else. ‘Black Widow’ doesn’t try to make light of its story, and makes that clear from the beginning. The film opens in 1995 as a young Natasha Romanoff is taken from her idyllic family life into one of pain and suffering. A hard cut to 21 years later and ‘Black Widow’ sets the audience up for a film that puts away childish things. For the most part, Marvel films are disarming. Even…

'F9 : The Fast Saga' (2021) Review: Big & Boastful. It’s hard to think of a film series with more humble beginnings. What began as a gritty exploration of underground street racing, has evolved into a spy action adventure franchise with the kind of special effects one used to expect from movies with either superheroes or dinosaurs. 'F9: The Fast Saga' is the culmination of 20 years worth of history, but more than that unprecedented achievement, the series is now trapped in an unending pursuit of bigger and better visuals to justify its existence.Whereas Marvel films operate on a superhuman basis, Fast and Furious maintains that its protagonists are in fact human. The job of the film is to put these ordinary heroes into countless situations that by all accounts should leave them either intensely injured or fatally wounded. F9 is exceedingly good at visualizing these dangerous situations, but is less interested in explaining how exactly the crew does the impossible again and again.Truthfully, the film would be worse for it. The movie is most entertaining when it moves at a nitrous speed from one action event to the next. Any attempt to make sense out of it would surely kill the fun F9 brings to audiences. The film flexes the kind of self awareness to push the series into full blown parody, while still showing some mileage left. That mileage will run out once the films stop being fun. Fast 9 thankfully…